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Licensing FAQ
This is a simple FAQ written with the purpose of explaining to map developers how licensing their maps benefits both them and the community.
A license is simply a permission to use something. All intellectual property (including Minecraft maps) can be licensed to other people to use, adapt, remix, and share.
In both US and EU law, a work without a license is considered All rights reserved. This grants no permissions to use, adapt, remix, or share the work. This is harmful to users because it does not allow the map to be legally used, and it hurts the map developer because users wouldn't be able to use the map and provide feedback.
While this can work for some people, it isn't an option when the user is depending on the map, such as for development purposes. A license provides rights and conditions for the user, providing clear, immutable rules for usage. This way, the user can use the map without worries that permission would be revoked, and the map maker knows that certain conditions will be followed when using his work.
Freely licensing a map guarantees users the ability to use a map for any purpose, and guarantees the freedom to modify the map to suit their needs. Freely licensing also benefits the map maker, by ensuring that he will receive proper credit for his work, and allow the work to be used by the largest audience possible.
The recommended license for Minecraft maps is the [Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0] (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode). In short, this license permits anyone to use, adapt, remix, and share the map with others, with a few requirements. It requires that users give credit to the original map maker, and if they choose to share the map they must share it under the same license. This means that the map maker can use other people's changes if he wants. This license is recommended over other licenses because it is widely used and is translated to many languages.
It is very easy to license your your work. All you need to do is include a license file like [this] (https://github.com/CardinalDevelopment/Test-Maps/blob/master/LICENSE) with your map.