“Provider may not use the Unity Asset Store to distribute or make available any Asset whose primary purpose is to facilitate the distribution of Assets outside of the Unity Asset Store.”
This seems kind of vague to me. I’m planning on selling audio assets from my audio library, many of which I sell on other platforms. However, I’m not going to sell anything that’s like “come to this other store instead.” What does it actually mean? Can I sell stuff here that I’ve sold/sell elsewhere?
I am concerned about watermarking though. I have watermarked previews of my files so they don’t get stolen, watermarked with my own business name, but it seems unity somehow discourages against watermarking files from this clause. Are watermarks allowed or not?
What do you think of when you read “facilitate the distribution of assets”? You think of a distribution service, right? Like the Asset Store itself. They’re basically saying “You can’t create your own asset store and then try to distribute the client for it in our store”.
No I think of items I sell on other platforms, items which customers may (and do) find on those platforms and buy from, instead of the unity asset store. I’ve seen platforms which explicitly state they don’t accept items that are sold elsewhere. I will take your comment into consideration, but one random tidbit isn’t enough for me to risk getting sued or losing the rights to my property. If there’s something you can cite containing an official response, that would suffice.
You are missing the word ‘facilitate.’ If you sell and audio pack on the Asset Store, how would that facilitate sales on a competing platform? An mp3 file or whatever can’t facilitate anything. I sell some of my assets on my own site. Unity doesn’t care at all. The only thing that bothered them is that I had a link to buy it on the same page as the web player,(back when the web player was a thing) that I linked to from the Asset Store. I was just an oversight on my part and totally reasonable for them to ask me to remove it. They specifically told me that they don’t mind me selling elsewhere, but don’t want me linking to a buy page from their store.
As @Ryiah pointed out, that clause is to prevent a sub-store. Like an asset that allows you browse audio clips, and then purchase them through a third party.
The EULA clearly states that by putting your assets on the asset store, you are granting Unity nonexclusive rights to sell them. You can sell them through other means. You can’t lose your property rights, you won’t get sued if you sell them elsewhere.
By seeing that they exist and simply looking on another platform to find the same sounds, a platform they may like more or already have an account with. But I like the point about the license grants specifically in section 6, I think that answers it.
Facilitate means to “make (an action or process) easy or easier”. Is the primary purpose of the audio file to make it easier to distribute assets outside of the store?
If it’s on multiple platforms then yes, someone could very easily see a sound or graphic or code here, and check then other platforms for that item which probably have lower prices or better licenses. I do that all the time when I’m buying 3D models, the big producers always sell their models over like 10 different stores.
Simply seeing an asset and deciding to check other stores for a lower price isn’t enough though. That the asset exists on multiple stores is not the important part. The important part is whether that’s the primary purpose of the asset or not.
An analogy to this would be a video on YouTube (can’t seem to find one now that I want one) that is intended to be a sample (whether a clip or an individual episode) of a full collection of videos that then links you to the full site at the end of the sample.