I am not an artist, therefore the game I am writing needed graphics from somewhere. For now I am using graphics (textures) that are under a GPL license.  If I keep the graphics (textures),  will this prohibit me from submitting my game for sale via XBox Marketplace? I am not modifying the graphics at all.

That certainly sounds like you are asking legal advice to me (interpretation of a license). This is not really the place for such questions. A good place would be your local lawyer. Another good place could be at the GNU's website (authors of the GPL). Perhaps they have a forum or some sort of support where they can answer your question.

That is a legal question, and can't be answered here.

However, I can point out that the GPL says nothing about charging, or not charging, for content. It only talks about what you need to do if you ship your derivative product to other people -- mainly, make sure to make the source code necessary to produce the product available for free to any purchaser. Thus, some people may feel that it's OK to submit to XBLCG, and put a URL in the game credits, and have the source/assets for the game downloadable from that URL for interested users.

What actually goes in your particular case is something that you might want a legal professional to figure out. Or just ask the guy who made the art initially what license you can use -- that might be easier.

Maybe I should have worded this question a bit differently.  The question is:

 Will Microsoft permit games with GPL content to be submitted to XBLCG?

Microsoft will accept any content if you comply with the license..... nobody is going to interpret that for you unfortunatly.

Wow, that one is a touchy subject.  You would have to define what acceptable disclosure of source is.  Unless you include a section in your options menu that listed the entirety of your source code, it would be very difficult to attach the source, and even then it could be ruled as an obstruction to free access to your source.  A URL to the source is not considered a completely valid method, unless you can secure and maintain your code at a URL for the duration of the circulation of your game, which would be essentially indefinitely.  So, in my strictly non-legal advice conclusion, steer away from GPL'ed assets or real legal advice.

Considering that none of my source code is GPL, just the graphics, I don't think I have to provide access to any source code.  The "source" in terms of the license is the artwork (the textures I am using). I believe that the "mere aggregation" clause applies in my case as well. I am not altering the artwork, so I can direct players to the original source (I don't have to host my own copies of the original artwork). I am no lawyer, but I can't really afford to pay big $$$ for legal advise on every home-brewed project I make.

I think we've had enough speculation... I'm really liking how people are asking for non legal advice on a legal subject and getting the usual legal speculation...

Suffice to say that for DBP and Community Games its up to you to ensure you follow the license. This may mean asking the original author, or it may mean taking paid legal advice. If you choose not to do either then any fallout will be your responsibility.

Thread locked.