Re: GPL-3+ licensed test fixture (SVG/metadata) in BSD-3 project

On Tue, 17 Mar 2026 at 07:41:41 +0100, Mechtilde Stehmann wrote:
>and what happens if you go the way around. You have a non-GPL 
>(permissive or proprietary) game engine along with GPL assets?
>
>Where is the border between being a derived work or not?

The GPL doesn't have the authority to define what is or isn't a derived 
work, which is a question about copyright law. The members of this list 
aren't lawyers and can't give legal advice about copyright.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work might be a useful summary 
of some legal definitions of derived works from around the world. For 
example it quotes the relevant law in the USA:

     A “derivative work” is a work based upon one or more preexisting
     works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization,
     fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art
     reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which
     a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of
     editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications
     which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship, is a
     “derivative work”.

My guess based on that would be that the assets usually aren't a 
derivative work of the engine and the engine usually isn't a derivative 
work of the assets, but, again, I'm not a lawyer.

     smcv