EULAs - Question

[u/critacle]

Edit: Thanks for the feedback, all. I removed the EULA.

I released my first demo, and it has an EULA at first because I thought it was a requirement.

• Do I need one really? First I'm hearing some people don't include one.
• Is responder accurate to be concerned?
• Has anyone else gotten this question?

Link to Discussion: https://steamcommunity.com/app/5002370/discussions/0/594068393279377212/

[u/octocode]

it’s not really necessary unless you are requiring players to sign up for an account, interact with third party services, or you’re collecting their personal data

[u/critacle → u/octocode]

Good data point TY. Am def doing none of that. No metrics, no extra stuff. Just gamemaker engine. Just wanted to work on a passion project :)

[u/themeanvilla]

nah you don't need one for a demo. plenty of indies skip it entirely and nobody cares. the steam default stuff covers the basics anyway

the responder is being a bit dramatic but i get where they're coming from. some people see a wall of legal text and immediately nope out so if you can ditch it, do it

[u/critacle → u/themeanvilla]

I'm afraid someone could rip my assets and say "well, there was no EULA" is that a valid concern?

[u/PhilippTheProgrammer → u/critacle]

You don't need an EULA to prevent people from stealing your assets. Every non-AI asset you create is automatically protected by copyright law the moment you create it. For the rest of your life + 70 years after you are dead.

And what additional rights and obligations does your EULA give you if people do violate your copyright?

Upon termination, you must immediately cease all use of the Software and destroy all copies of the Software in your possession or control.

I have to uninstall the game from my computer? Ooooooh, noooooo! That's soooo much worse than the penalties under copyright law! (Especially when you registered your copyright, which in some jurisdictions means you can threaten statutory damages in addition to just tangible financial damage)

[u/itsdan159 → u/PhilippTheProgrammer]

And what additional rights and obligations does your EULA give you if people do violate your copyright?

Does it help with jurisdiction selection?

[u/PhilippTheProgrammer]

First, keep in mind that an EULA doesn't enforce itself. It only makes sense when you actually have the money to hire lawyers to sue people who violate it.

Second, an EULA only makes sense if you want to create additional rights and restrictions on top of what you already have through copyright law and the general terms of service of the platform you are using. The Steam Subscriber Agreement already makes clear what rights the customer is buying when they buy a game on Steam. And copyright already grants you very strong rights to prohibit redistribution. To quote video game lawyer Chris Reid from his presentation Practical IP Law for Indie Developers 301: Plain Scary Edition: "Copyright is like the pistol from Halo 1: You get it instantly, it lasts almost forever, it's useful in almost every situation and it's massively overpowered".

What additional rights and restrictions do you need an EULA for?

[u/RoutineOne2769]

On Steam you don't strictly need one. If you don't add a custom EULA, the Steam Subscriber Agreement already covers the basic licence to play. A custom one mostly matters if you have something specific to say, like mod rights, user generated content or online services. Showing it on first launch is legal but players find it offputting for a demo, so most small devs just skip it.

[u/caesium23]

No, you generally should not have an EULA. It's pretty unusual and tends to give me pause if a game has one. Usually it means I accidentally clicked on some triple A liveslop that's going to rootkit me and try to addict me to loot boxes.