Assets for Commercial Games

[Coren]

I've always wondered - many first-time kick-start commercial games get original art, but few of them start off with original music. If so, where do they get the non-original music tracks or backgrounds from, without violating copyright issues?

[TheGuraGuraMan]

Well, they find CC'ed music for commercial games.

[Coren]

Ah, I see, thanks. I was also kind of curious on the steps to making a commercial game - do people have to use agents like Plimus or BMT? If so, which one is better?

[papillon]

It's difficult to take money 'directly' online - merchant accounts aren't cheap and they're a pain to set up. You need some service that is capable of handling money processing, and they'll generally want a cut. While it's possible to set yourself up using only paypal or something similar to take money, it tends to make you look unprofessional (also, there are some issues with paypal that can make it unwise to rely on as your sole source of income). Plimus and BMT are not the only payment providers, there are lots - but if you're in the indie VN scene there is a benefit to using BMT as most of us do and it allows you to become part of the affiliate network we use to sell each other's games.

Analogue (before it got on Steam) used a totally different payment system, and that's why none of us list her game. It's not a snub, it's just that we don't have a setup to sell it ourselves.

Also a lot of people use stock royalty-free music rather than either original or CC. Stock can be fairly cheap depending on where you get it from.

[nyaatrap]

Many Japanese circles buy royalty-free music like them http://www.dlsite.com/eng/circle/profil ... 07477.html background also: http://www.dlsite.com/eng/circle/profil ... 03019.html Honestly, buying them is faster than digging not-NC free assets.

[jack_norton]

I'd recommend BMT over all other vendors, I use them since years and are the best

[Coren]

Ah, thanks. I'm a bit confused over the need for a business license - what makes, say, taking an art commission from online, different from selling a game? What if someone just wants to sell a single game and not make a business out of it, for instance?

[papillon]

Business licensing rules depend on your own country and your tax situation generally.

[Ryue]

Business licensing rules depend on your own country and your tax situation generally.

Some countries like mine have a rule that you can offer services for revenue (like creating music for someone else) without the need of a licence. But if you sell goods (like a game) you need a business licence.

But like I said that is the rule for one country I know (the one I'm living in), but different countries have different rules there.

[Greeny]

I've been doing some research and I hear a lot of good things about FastSpring...
Worth looking into I'd say.

[Tsuyuri]

I been hearing mixed responses from it. I'm actually responding to this topic because exactly the same question popped up during a conversation I had.

The situation went along the lines like this:

As someone with Autism and registered as a person with a handicap I get financial support from the government (Belgium). One of the concerns I had is, what if I someday release the game and ask money for it? Normally I can't earn a income (or how they call it in english) or it will affect my financial support. So far I received three responses.

1 As long as you don't turn it into your profession this in essence counts as a hobby and depending on your government and tax situation you're allowed to earn a certain amount of money a month before it starts to affect you

2 As soon as you earn money you need to register this with the government

3 (risky response) It depends on the amount you earn. Small amounts won't cause a problem but if we are talking about large numbers then.... it be best to get a license

of course I'm still rather confused and since my own project is still years from completion I do want to research things to keep it safe and legal so I'm going to ask someone in the family who is an experienced lawyer. I'll make another post when I receive their answer~