Hello everyone, Im new here and I have a simple question I hope someone can answer. I'm a programer and I create 2d games. I foudn your site purely by accident and I was wondering about the legal use of the sprites on commerical and non-commerical games. Would it be legal to use them or are these not orginal works created by the submitters? If they are infact orginal works of art created byt he submiter Im pretty sure I could use them, otherwise I dont think I can use them becuase copyright laws. Just wanting to know before I get to excited about the sprite database.

Hi there. Lots of people asking about this lately, so I'll tell you what I tell everyone else. On the site's footer I have written:
Which I think sums it up nicely. More specifically, the vast majority of the sprites on the site are "ripped" sprites which means they are taken from a console/PC/handheld/mobile game whether by screenshots or some form of data extraction. So while it is up to the submitter to make the effort of gathering the sprites (one way or another) they are not by any means "original works". They are still the property of the game developer or publisher that made the graphics in the first place.

So...you can use copyrighted sprites (and since video games haven't been around that long, we can assume everything is still copyrighted) for noncommercial purposes. If you try to use them for something commercial, well, it's the same as any other case you can imagine. You could get away with it, you could get a C+D, you could get sued.

Wouldn't the ACTA apply for copyrighted sprites too?

Well, yeah, I assume. I admit I don't know as much about ACTA as I probably should but it's basically SOPA's big, secretive, international cousin, right? Even if we all end up living in a police state where Big Brother can send the KGB after "copyright infringers"... I just don't think dudes messing around with sprites have anything to worry about. There are much more worthwhile targets out there even for companies that can afford an infinite army of lawyers. If they shut down all the sprite websites (again - I don't see it happening) it'll suck but at that point EVERYTHING will be so fucked up it'd barely register as a mild inconvenience.

Also, I feel that I should point out, people ought not to take my advice on this TOO seriously. I say "you could get sued" but really? Nah. Probably not. I'm just covering my ass. I mean if it does happen, you can't say I didn't warn you. But I just don't see those companies getting riled up about some dudes making a couple bucks off their pixel men or whatever. That doesn't mean you should do it because, legal issues aside, it's pretty messed up (and uncreative) thing to do. Am I making sense? Hope so.

Not sure if this specific question has been asked already: If I take a ripped sprite and edit it, do the same rules apply? I've seen notes on one sprite or another asking that credit be given if the sprite as used, but does this, along with the restrictions on commercial usage still apply after the sprite(s) has/have been edited? Thanks in advance.

See ya on the flipside,

Tempest Desh

When sprite rippers ask for credit, they want people who are using the sprites they ripped to give a small acknowledgement. Making edits is one of the main uses of rips, so yes, if you were going to give credit at all that would be a good time to do it. Whether rippers deserve or should expect credit is an old topic that has been the subject of many embarrassingly impassioned debates, but here's my informed view. Ripping takes time and effort, but in the end it's still someone else's copyrighted materials. Give credit to the sprite ripper if you feel it's warranted, but remember that the copyright holder certainly deserves it more.

Copyright law still applies to edits, as I see it. Obviously if you make Mega Man's boots green he's still Mega Man, but when does it stop being Mega Man and become a distinct derivative work with its own artistic value? It's hard to say, and that's why it's best to avoid entirely. If you're actually planning a commercial project (I have no idea, so just take this as a hypothetical) it's best to invest the time, effort, and - if necessary - money for original, custom graphics.

Here's a nice example. Super Mario Bros. Crossover is pretty awesome and the creator is clearly a talented guy who could make a commercial game. And he is - but notice the original graphics this time.

Years ago, Psyguy (the owner of http://www.psyguy.com/ aka a community for sprite comics, sprite edits, hand drawn comics and such) used to sell things based on Sonic sprites and Sonic sprite edits, such as shirts, t-shirts and etc.

He got a C&D order from Sega and he had to take everything down or facing a very serious legal process he had no way possible to win. This case was shocking in several ways, since it proved that videogame companies ARE aware of sprite rips, sprite comics and such, and they will intervene if monetary gain of any kind is involved. It also created a legal precedent of a company ready to press charges for copyright infraction, which is one of the reasons for why so many people decided to shut down their makeshift stores to avoid getting their ass sued out.

So basically, you can use sprites as long you never receive a single cent for whatever you do with them. (This includes "voluntary donations" which is a popular excuse used by smug people whi think they can fool the law with semantics.)
The "Give credit" tag slapped on a spritesheet is basically a message to remind people who spent so much of his free time working so they could have sprite rips to work and do their stuff with. But as Grim said, this doesn't means they can force you to give credit if you don't want to (etiquette says you should, but that's up to you.)

Any guy demanding for permission for using his spritesheets is full of shit so you can ignore him and he can't do jack.
The ONLY type of "ownership" that could be added to a spritesheet is that only the sprite ripper has the right to choose which community gets to host his sprite rips and which one cannot, but that's all.

To me the give credits thing is just something to "Remember the guy who ripped this and that"...
The problem arrives when the sheets are secret for some project, example mugen...