The Dink Network

Are we legally allowed to use music from other dmods in our own dmod ?
I mean, if it is not explicitly stated by a license. How about the following (hypothetical) scenario: I would like to use some midi from "Cast awakening: Initiation" or "Stone of balance", but there is no license to state the copyright. Can I use the midi ?

For the most part, yes, you can use music from other dmods in your dmod. Most of the music in most dmods was downloaded elsewhere, anyway.

Funny you mentioned Initiation - it's readme file contains the source of every midi file (with one exception).

In the readme.txt or the DMOD.diz file you should ALWAYS provide the credits to any additional things you use. It's just good manners.

General guidelines for copyright as I see it:

MIDI's - all should be fine to use. They're either not copyrighted or no one cares, but have a look at what the website you found them on says.

MP3's are a different matter, they will usually be copyrighted so try and look for Creative Commons licenses if you're planning on using them.

Graphics can depend a lot on where you find them and how they are used.

Anything from another D-Mod, try and ask the author who will usually be happy to allow you to use anything. If you can't contact them, just use it, it's fine.

In all cases it's right to credit whoever/wherever you got the file from.

Yep, I agree about the crediting. But I would put the credits completely in the d-mod, during the ending credits. Think about it, doesn't it feel a lot more professional to see long credits with lots of people contributing?

Problem with crediting, at least for me, is that I usually have no idea where the music is originally from. And by the time my D-Mod is finished, I'll have also forgotten which D-Mod/site I grabbed it from. So I usually just put "MIDIs from The Dink Network and the Internet" in the end credits/readme.

We've come this far with people just grabbing random MIDIs whevever they find them from and seldom crediting their source. As long as we don't throw an MP3 of Lady Gaga's new single in our D-Mods, I don't think anyone will mind.

I agree with Skull.... Midi files are the most difficult to keep track of when trying to remember who/which site to credit for their use. So I just use 'em!

Thanks for the feedback, guys.
Right, I should have checked the dmod credits first.
I will, of course, list my sources in the credits. I was just confused about the legal part of all of this.
Good point, Skull.