![[K] of Honor](/data/medal/1_1406930084l.jpg)
Of course in the end it's all up to you, but speaking as someone who makes original stuff, it'd really make our lives easier!
As this is largely an informal thing going around I understand if you honestly don't care, but as a creator it's really much better for us to know what we can and can't do with your banks! (Especially for someone like me, who likes to keep her options open in regards to commercial things and licenses and doesn't want to get smacked in the face by an unexpected requirement the creator isn't comfortable with.)
So just things like (and you don't have to delineate all these things, just the ones you're comfortable with):
And of course, this is even more of an optional thing, but if you had a streamlined system to grant us special permission for stuff it would make our lives even easier. (This is why I like the more recent trend of buying commercial licenses because it's the epitome of streamlining.) And if you are granting special permission for things, please put it in clear text in writing as a formal note...not necessarily because we believe that suddenly you're going to turn on us and start suing us but because the world of indie things can make other people start poking their noses in things they don't understand and it's good to have a hard copy of stuff.
I know this sounds horribly stuffy, and because of the informal nature of the UTAU community and all that's why this is just a casual request instead of some attempted PSA to kickstart a movement or something! But trust me, if you're more clear (and arguably boring) about what we can and can't do, ironically, laying out these restrictions makes us feel less restricted in using your UTAU because we don't feel like we're cautiously treading on nebulous terms that may or may not exist. The indie/doujin scene is full of uncertainty and legally grey areas as it is, so it'd be nice to make it less ambiguous! It also really helps if you suddenly drop out of the scene for whatever reason (you get busy or whatever), because if we don't have terms on what we can use your UTAU in, we might get scared to use the UTAU at all without knowing you're around to approve of our usage (which may be overkill compared to what you actually want).
By the way, legally (or at least under US copyright law, not sure about other places), you're allowed to be selective in your enforcement of copyrights (not trademarks, but that's a different story). So you could theoretically ban commercial usage of your UTAU's character in legal terms but then turn a blind eye to it if you so choose, then enforce it when you feel like you need to. I'm not sure if anyone would actually want to do this, though, since that's encouraging the awkward nebulosity I mentioned earlier.
Also, do note that what you allow legally doesn't have to be the same as what you're comfortable with. There are certain things I'd feel odd about people using Hana with, but my license for her is open to almost anything because I don't want to actually prevent people doing things; I believe in her use as a creative tool over anything to be used for the artist's expression and not my own. You may feel differently about your own UTAU, so what bars you want to set are up to you.
As this is largely an informal thing going around I understand if you honestly don't care, but as a creator it's really much better for us to know what we can and can't do with your banks! (Especially for someone like me, who likes to keep her options open in regards to commercial things and licenses and doesn't want to get smacked in the face by an unexpected requirement the creator isn't comfortable with.)
So just things like (and you don't have to delineate all these things, just the ones you're comfortable with):
- Whether commercial usage is okay or not, under what terms it might be okay (does it require credit?), and if it requires permission, how to possibly obtain it
- What kinds of songs or creative works we're not allowed to use the bank in (overly political/sexual works, etc.?)
- What applies to the voice bank vs. the character (for instance some might want to allow commercial usage of the bank but forbid the character, which is the current standard practice for most Vocaloids), and also what terms apply to the character art (as I currently use commissioned art for Hana's character design, I currently don't allow anyone to use the specific illustration on any of their commercial works for obvious reasons)
And of course, this is even more of an optional thing, but if you had a streamlined system to grant us special permission for stuff it would make our lives even easier. (This is why I like the more recent trend of buying commercial licenses because it's the epitome of streamlining.) And if you are granting special permission for things, please put it in clear text in writing as a formal note...not necessarily because we believe that suddenly you're going to turn on us and start suing us but because the world of indie things can make other people start poking their noses in things they don't understand and it's good to have a hard copy of stuff.
I know this sounds horribly stuffy, and because of the informal nature of the UTAU community and all that's why this is just a casual request instead of some attempted PSA to kickstart a movement or something! But trust me, if you're more clear (and arguably boring) about what we can and can't do, ironically, laying out these restrictions makes us feel less restricted in using your UTAU because we don't feel like we're cautiously treading on nebulous terms that may or may not exist. The indie/doujin scene is full of uncertainty and legally grey areas as it is, so it'd be nice to make it less ambiguous! It also really helps if you suddenly drop out of the scene for whatever reason (you get busy or whatever), because if we don't have terms on what we can use your UTAU in, we might get scared to use the UTAU at all without knowing you're around to approve of our usage (which may be overkill compared to what you actually want).
By the way, legally (or at least under US copyright law, not sure about other places), you're allowed to be selective in your enforcement of copyrights (not trademarks, but that's a different story). So you could theoretically ban commercial usage of your UTAU's character in legal terms but then turn a blind eye to it if you so choose, then enforce it when you feel like you need to. I'm not sure if anyone would actually want to do this, though, since that's encouraging the awkward nebulosity I mentioned earlier.
Also, do note that what you allow legally doesn't have to be the same as what you're comfortable with. There are certain things I'd feel odd about people using Hana with, but my license for her is open to almost anything because I don't want to actually prevent people doing things; I believe in her use as a creative tool over anything to be used for the artist's expression and not my own. You may feel differently about your own UTAU, so what bars you want to set are up to you.
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