No it is not. You are entitled to use whatever you want from source in your final project.
For our project we need to include functionality from Engine in our project. For reference we are creating a system for procedurally generating a level with landscape. To be able to do that we need to add some functionality from the engine folder into our own project folder.
Is this a violation of the EULA? We got concered when we read part 1.a of the EULA.
Thanks for the quick answer. Though I’d like to make it perfectly clear.
1 a. in the EULA says;
“… The Product may not contain any Engine Tools or any Marketplace Content Distributed in uncooked source format.”
What does that part mean if not that you are not allowed to included content from the engine?
You are pointing to the right part of the EULA. If a product is for general release (and not just to UE4 licensees), you are not permitted to include Engine Tools. Engine Tools is defined as:
(a) editors and other tools included in the Engine Code; (b) any code and modules in either the Developer or Editor folders, including in object code format, whether statically or dynamically linked; and (c) other software that may be used to develop standalone products based on the Licensed Technology.
So at a high level, you’re not allowed to use code from the Developer or Editor folders.
Thanks for that clarification =)
In a related area I’d like to ask you if you have any guidlines for how to determine if code written is inspired by someone else and what counts as a direct copy. Thereäs obviously a distinct difference between those two things but sometimes it can be difficult to actually define that line.
From my understanding there isn’t really a set line between copying and inspiration if u have looked at a game and maybe taken a small idea u should be OK
Ultimately that’s a matter for courts to decide. There can be direct evidence of copying or there can be indirect evidence - generally referred to as access and substantial similarity. So you’re really asking where is the “substantial similarity” line. You should read up on it, but ultimately there’s no purely objective test.