Opinion Poll of CoAuthor Rights

[MontanaBlueSkies]

It is my intent to guage other members opinions on this subject. For the purpose of this poll all issues are hypothetical. Please dont mention any particular cases. I am genuinely interested in your opinion on this and intend to stay pretty much uninvolved in the discussion.

 

 

 

Question: If two or more modders are listed as "coauthors" of a given mod, and the content of the mod is equally representative of each (meaning that the mod could not exist in its current form with either modders work removed), should each "coauthor" have the right to remove the mod from Nexus or should only the "uploader" have that right? This assumes that one or more modders for reasons of their own, no longer wish for their work to be used in this particular mod, coauthorship being the central issue, and cases of "permission granted to use something from another mod" being non relevant.

 

 

edit: For the purpose of this discussion lets assume that such a collaboration exists and is published, and examine what rights the coauthor who is not the uploader retains.

 

 

Thanks

Montana

[LHammonds]

If a modder was to "go in" with another modder, it should be known up front that any work contributed to the project cannot be removed later. If that cannot be agreed upon, then you go separate ways and avoid the problem completely.

 

If this is not handled up-front, then too bad for the team. Said author can take his/her toys and run away if the mod has not yet been released.

 

The difficult part is after release. Once it gets out to the general public, one can find it quite difficult to undo. But still, if there is no agreement about the terms and conditions / use of the assets, the author can still have their work pulled down...and if that affects other authors that depend on those assets, then it is simply a sad situation.

 

Being in a "team" is no different than one modder asking the permission from another modder to use their assets. If you are going to use the work done by somebody else, you had better get the permission out of the way first so that it cannot be "revoked" later once you become dependent upon those assets.

 

LHammonds

[David Brasher]

It certainly would be best of all of those issues were discussed before the mod was made and released, but if that didn't happen, then I would say that possession is nine-tenths of the law.

 

Example: John and Joe make a cool mod. Trolls make John sad. John cries. John throws temper tantrum and pulls the mod off of TES Nexus. Gamers are sad and want mod back. Not to fear! Joe uploads mod again and doesn't give John editing access. Gamers are happy. Joe is happy. Everyone is happy except John. (Could anyone ever really make John happy?)

[Vagrant0]

My own personal, non-moderator belief in this is that some sort of fairness and maturity should be respected by both parties, regardless of actions, regardless of history or personal desires so that if there are any issues pertaining to the mod or disputes of ownership, the wishes of all involved should be respected. I know it's not always possible, but some attempt should be made. If you're just uploading a mod for personal fame or bragging rights, you probably shouldn't be working with others. If you are working with others, you should be cooperative or else why do it?

 

In regards to who uploads the mod, it should probably be done by the person who accesses the site more often, and can more directly answer questions and help users of that mod. If you aren't going to support your mod, you probably shouldn't be all that concerned about petty squabbles over who "owns" that mod. Any sort of kudos or props that the uploader gets is more of payment for having to handle all the hassles that can come with having a popular mod (or so I hear).

 

In regards to resources... That should really be decided before the mod even incorporates them. What sense does it make to work on a mod for several months just for the author of said resources to just decide to yank them and deny your ability to use it. If they aren't sure that they want others using resources, they should have probably refrained from allowing them in the first place. Once again, petty squabbles over stuff like this just demean and destroy the integrity of both those involved, and should be decided on unanimously before release or significant usage. That said, if the author of the resource does, at a later date decide to yank all their files, it is usually a good sign of faith and respect to discontinue their availability within other mods as soon as it is asked or otherwise stated (personally or publicly).

 

If a mod you're working on seems to be going down this road, you should probably either try to mediate the problem (finding an unbiased, mutually trusted party if possible) or just stop and acknowledge that you probably aren't right to work together. But ultimately, both would have to simply get over themselves.

 

My opinion as a moderator might be different depending on the situation and how ugly and public it becomes, but would be on a similar thread.

[BlackerrR]

My opinion is that the team should think twice before uploading. I mean, you can't return bought bread to shop if it is half-eaten, right? If I'm about to join some modding team, I would consider all conditions and their "requirements", then I would decide wether to join or not. All in all, no, one modder shouldn't have right to remove his part of mod if it's already released by the team.

 

Sorry for bad english, again. :confused: