The Faithful Resource Pack Team is deceiving you
You may remember the massive drama surrounding the Faithful resource pack a few years ago, when community united against XMrVizzy/Vizzy, who essentially hijacked the artists' work, monetized it on the Bedrock Marketplace. Back then, they managed to set things right, and the resource pack was removed from the marketplace. Many people have forgotten about this, but now they release texture packs through their own website where they claim they are open source project. They also post source on GitHub.
Everything seems fine at first glance. But if you look closely at their GitHub repository and their self-made "FAITHFUL LICENCE Version 3 (2023)" (which is already pretty absurd for a resource pack), you will find a classic example of openwashing (pretending to be open-source) and corporate roleplay.
- They claim to be open-source, but their custom license explicitly states:
>"We reserve the right to: Refuse the ability to use, distribute, or modify any work made by us for any person or group."
And
>"Do not monetize content that contains any of our work, modified or not, under any circumstances."
This directly violates the core definition of open-source (OSI Points 5/6 - No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups/No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor). True open source means even if you hate someone, you cannot legally ban them from using your public code/assets or prohibit them from commercializing the product. Faithful built their current version using crowdsourced, free labor from community artists, and lock them behind licence what lets them do anything with their work.
They threaten legal action ("Take legal action if you do not comply"), which is a bluff. Faithful is a derivative work of Minecraft. They upscaled Mojang’s vanilla textures by 2x/4x. According to the Usage Guidelines, their work belongs to Mojang and Microsoft. And even if they decided to sue, who among them would do it? A group of admins and moderators? A consensus? After all, according to their own statement, the project is community-driven and has no single owner.
"Use Common Sense". My personal favorite line from their license:
>"Just be honest about what you're using, use common sense when in doubt, and you'll be fine."
"just use common sense, bro". I don't even know if there's anything to add here. The term "common sense" makes absolutely no legal sense. It’s not a license; it’s just chumminess.
- As the cherry on top, their documentation includes an entire page, packed with screenshots on how to properly present their brand (covering colors, silhouette, dimensions, placement, etc.). The page begins with these words: "Faithful is a community project that's not meant to be taken too seriously." As we can see, they approach it with almost authoritarian seriousness.
They’re making a fan-made Minecraft resource pack, yet they have Apple-sized ambitions.
Another funny thing is how much resentment towards Vizzy is lingering:
>"Do not monetize content... This includes locking your content behind a paywall (including the Minecraft Marketplace)..."
So, if you were thinking of becoming a contributor to this project, be aware that — at least according to their license (which holds no legal weight and isn't really a license, but rather a set of tips on how not to trigger them) — they saying you they can appropriate your work and forbid you from using it. It would certainly be quite entertaining to see them try to litigate that, though.
That's it. That’s just my take from side. It is up to you to decide how faithful it is.
TL;DR - Faithful is an openwashing project trying to play a serious company, yet its authoritarian, hastily cobbled-together license fails to meet open-source definitions and holds no legal weight.