Dude, I've been gone for so long, it's not even funny...

I'ma put in my two cents:
This wouldn't have been argued about if he just gave credit and asked.
It's simple, eh? That's really the problem. You don't need to pay him or make a whole thread blow up because of it. All you need to do is ask, and if he says no, then don't. Simple. If he says so, and says to credit him, easy. You at best just need to put 2 lines, one with the Enter key, and one saying something as short as "Sprites:@SONIcsez1234" or something along those lines. If he says yes, and says you don't have to credit him (IF HE SAYS YES BUT NOTHING ELSE, ASK IF YOU NEED TO CREDIT HIM! THIS WILL LEAD TO THE SAME SHITTY OUTCOME AS WHAT HAPPENED.), go fucking wild. Hell, you could add EXTRA sprites if you wanted to! But if you want to avoid people being people again, simply take a look a this.
Hope I helped some people understand.
NOW BACK TO THE ETHER I GO!!! :DDDDD