Policies on uploading someone else's mods, when the author has been unavailable since the 90's

[DrStarchild]

This is the relevant quote in the guidelines.

 

 

Submissions must conform to the following guidelines:

• Submission of existing user-submitted content without obtaining permission from the original author(s) of said content is strictly prohibited.
• Proper credit to the original author(s) must be given unless the author(s) has/have specified that credit is not necessary. Please, be aware that the mere accreditation of an author is no substitute for receiving explicit permission to upload or modify someone else’s content.

 

A bit of premise:

 

The Creatures Community has been modding the Creatures series since the first game's release in 1996. Mods were hosted haphazardly on this and that Geocities homepage, and permissions were equally vaguely set. As you can imagine, many mods have been lost through the years, some surviving on community member's old cd roms and hard disks. As the largest remaining community website has succumbed (hopefully temporarily) to a software update, we've been moving to rehost mods on the Nexus, as a more stable solution. For now, we're sticking to everyone only uploading the mods they themselves have made, but there is so much stuff to save!

 

Essentially, I'd like to know if there is any easement of the policy on "explicit permission" in regards to really old games, and I'd like to see how the matter has been dealt with by other very old communities.

 

In some more detail:

 

1) many mods come with a readme stating "please do not reupload unless my site goes down and I cannot be reached". I would guess that those mods should be able to be rehosted without issue, so long as proper credit is given.

 

2) certain mods had no specified permissions, or have given informal permission on forums and sites that have been lost to the ages. Is there any chance these would be allowed to be uploaded, with clear attribution and a notice that the original author may contact the uploader at any time and request they be taken down?

 

3) we do not intend to upload mods that actually had a "no reuploading" policy.

 

What do you guys think? Should there be some kind of time cutoff on option 2, like "only if the creator has not been seen in over 10 years" or such? Again, it would be great to see some examples of other ancient games on the nexus and how they have managed "orphaned" mods.

[Thandal]

@DrStarchild; The only "expiration date" recognized by the Nexus is that of copyright:

 

As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.

Mod authors are under no obligation to remain available, much less active. And they do not lose their right to control the use of their works just because they choose to retire from the modding scene.

 

So our policy is if there was no explicit permission to use/re-distribute the work, and the author cannot be contacted to gain that permission, don't use/upload it.

[DrStarchild]

welp f* Disney, then :tongue:

 

Jokes aside, is there some proof we should bring then? The inclusion of the original read me, if there is one, or if permission was given on a forum (we have a sort of general permissions archive on the site that went down), a statement on the mod page that permission has been given should be sufficient?

Edited June 5, 2019 by DrStarchild

[JimboUK]

Mods without specified permissions are off limits, anything other than yes is no. For stuff where permission has been granted either here or elsewhere then be sure to keep evidence of it in the form of a screenshot and the URL if applicable. If you're in doubt about something then feel free to PM one of the staff.