Commercial License Information

Using my Battlemaps in Commercial Products (And Free Products)

The Commercial License is available to patrons of both the ‘Friend of Dedu’ tier and the ‘’Stainer of Karbon’ tier. I would prefer you pledge to the ‘Stainer of Karbon’ tier if you want to use the commercial license but I know times are rough right now so use the cheaper one if you NEED to, just be cool about it please.

These T&Cs also apply to products released for free! Not charging for a product that utilizes my content does not mean you don't have abide by the terms and conditions.

Release

You are required to have an active subscription to the ‘Friend of Dedu’ or ‘Stainer of Karbon’ tiers at the time of release of your products.

My Maps

The high res version of maps created by Stained Karbon are to be used as watermarked reference within the text. High resolution maps are not for redistribution by themselves and should not be provided separately.

You are allowed to include the half resolution watermarked version that is freely available to the public separately (as part of the product), if you cannot find the free version of the map you’d like to use, message me and I will provide it to you. You can normally find the free version on the patreon release of that specific map.

Maps within your product are required to be watermarked. You will find a black, and white version of the watermark attached to the bottom of this post.

The watermark shall be placed at the bottom left of the map and should be at least one-quarter the width of the map.

There is a limit of TWO maps per product unless specifically granted permission by me.

A single map will require a minimum of 1000 words accompanying it, so using the max of 2 in a single product will require a minimum of 2000 words.

There is a limit of 3 products per month, this is to prevent people from signing up, releasing a ridiculous number of products with my content in and then bouncing.

Attribution

You are required to provide attribution should you use my maps for any commercial purpose. This also applies to products released for free regardless of where they are promoted. Both of the following is required:

- My brand name (‘Stained Karbon’ or ‘Stained Karbon Maps’) placed in the credits as cartographer or a similarly relevant title, such as: ‘Maps/Battlemaps by Stained Karbon’ or ‘Cartography by Stained Karbon’

- A link to my Patreon “patreon.com/stainedkarbonmaps” besides or beneath the map or in another prominent location close to the map.

This attribution must be in the description section if you are posting the product in an online store like (but not limited to) Roll20 Marketplace.

Applicable Artwork

All of the battlemaps provided on the Stained Karbon Patreon are available for commercial use. Should I ever collab on a map with another creator, such a collaborative map will not be covered by the commercial use license, I will update this area with specific names if need be.

Currently all maps are available to be used under this license.

The commercial use license only includes Stained Karbon Battlemaps. All of my other illustrative works are exempt from the license (illustrations, props, assets, tokens, etc.) unless specifically mentioned otherwise. If you would like to use my tokens in a commercial manner, please message me.

VTT Module Use

When using my maps in a VTT Modules/Addons (Walls, dynamic lighting etc) for Roll20/Foundry VTT or any other VTT, you are required to use maps that are watermarked, gridded and 50% the size of the full resolution maps. Basically this means use the publicly-free version.

Applying a watermark to the gridded version of a map and exporting it at 50% size is how I make the public version, follow this if you can't find the publicly-free version of the map you require.

Notification of Use

Notifying me of any use of my maps for commercial purposes is required as I would need to check that attribution is correct and also add said product to a spreadsheet to keep track of things.

Restrictions on Use

The maps are available only for use within other publications, for example: adventures, modules, world building and character supplements, etc. The maps themselves are not available for rehosting or resale as standalone items.

In addition:

1. Resizing to alter proportions, modify, adapt, or disassemble my maps in a way that distorts the original is not allowed. You ARE allowed to desaturate my maps for use in black and white/greyscale publications.

2. Maps cannot form the basis for any other digital or physical merchandise or promotional items. You cannot use my maps on items like (but not limited to) mugs, posters, t-shirts, cards, prints, etc.

3. You cannot use the battlemaps (in whole or in part) as a trademark, service mark, logo, or other indication of origin, or as part thereof, or to otherwise endorse or imply the endorsement of any goods and/or services.

4. You are not authorized to sub-license, sell, or lease the battlemaps, nor may you temporarily or permanently transfer your rights under this agreement to a third party. This includes displaying the maps in any format for download on a website, offering the maps for sale, or otherwise for distribution and/or sale to third parties.

5. I reserve the right to cancel this license, without refund, at any time for creators I deem to be damaging to my brand or reputation, or that I deem offensive or immoral. This includes but is not limited to any projects promoting racism, homophobia, bigotry, sexism, etc.

6. Use of the battlemaps in such a way that it falsely appears, whether implied or expressly, that Stained Karbon in any way approve, sponsor, are affiliated with, or are otherwise connected to you or your products or any of your other activities.

7. Maps and assets purchased on the Roll20 Marketplace can also be used in streams, online videos and "DM for hire" paid games. They cannot be used for published or paid materials. Buying Stained Karbon content on such a marketplace does not grant a commercial license.

8. Use in and/or along side projects that utilize AI is strictly prohibited. Due to the unethical nature of AI and the wide spread harm it is causing I am not allowing my content to be used in projects or products that use AI. 

Exceptions for Streaming and Paid DMing

While both tiers grant you a license, you aren’t actually required to have one to use my maps on a stream, video or podcast. You may use the high resolution, non watermarked maps in your games. You may also use any assets or creature tokens too.

You cannot distribute the maps, tokens or assets by themselves. You do not need to notify me of your stream, video or podcast but can do so if you wish.

If you are using my content for video/streaming purposes I expect the rules under Attribution to still be followed, for example: A link to my patreon and credit in the video description section.

You aren’t required to be but I would appreciate it if you were a patron at the time or stream/video/podcast is live.

All of the above applies similarly to Paid DM sessions where applicable.

In Perpetuity

Use of this commercial license will remain in perpetuity for any products released while being a patron in the ‘Friend of Dedu’ and ‘Stainer of Karbon’ tiers, even after your subscription ends. You do not need to stop selling old products once you subscription is stopped, but are require to subscribe again if you wish to sell new products.

Requests for Further Use

If you would like to use my maps/assets/tokens in a larger project such as, but not limited to, a kickstarter and/or would like to use the high resolution non watermarked version of my maps along side any commercial products, you must seek explicit permission from me.

This is offered on a case by case basis and I expect either a profit share option or flat sum offer in the email. Please email me at mrkranecreative(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Exclusive rights over any map or other content is not be provided. Unless you’re willing to pay an absolutely ridiculous amount of money!

Commission Requests

I am currently not taking on private commissions.

Contact

If you are unsure of anything that was written in this post or have further questions, please send me a private message, comment on this post, or send me an email at mrkranecreative(at)yahoo(dot)com.