Copyright Laws = Nexus

[CaptDirtyBoy]

Considering the Admin & a Moderator felt it reasonable to lock the other topic, I felt I should reply to them in a new topic.

 

Actually, you are the one who does not understand what copyright means. As an writer and musician, I have a knowledge about copyright that you are lacking. Just because something is uploaded to the internet, does NOT give it automatic copyright privileges. I wish that were the case. Then I would not have to spend thousands of dollars every year to copyright things I have made.

 

A party is guilty of copyright infringement if they violate one of the five exclusive rights given to copyright owners under the Copyright Act. Included in those rights are the right to prevent others from reproducing (or copying) a work, publicly displaying a work, or distributing a work.

 

In general, unless each individual who creates a mod gets permission, from ZeniMax, to copy, reproduce, display or distribute any portion of the game they are already breaking the copyright laws. Technically speaking, ZeniMax owns the copyright to everything within the game environment. When someone creates a works based on another person's or companies work, they can not claim copyright just by uploading it to the internet. If that were the case, there would be many people plagiarizing other individual's works.

 

After speaking with the legal department of ZeniMax, I have learned that every mod or change that has been created has been listed under the "fair use" exception of their legally binding copyright. They understand that Mods and items have been created by other individuals for use in their games, and they have the legal right to go after each uploader for copyright infringement, but they choose not to because it would hurt their company in the long run, hence why the mods and changes have been listed under the "fair use" exception. In essence, had it not been for the programming of the games, their would be no mods made by others. Also every mod created REQUIRES the ZeniMax game to operate properly, hence the reason no individual may claim copyright based on the work created by ZeniMax.

 

 

 

Do not take my word and do not read it from the internet... cause everyone knows if it isn't true they could not put it on the internet. Instead go to your local library and review the law books concerning copyright laws.

 

Oh, and that link you gave was about copyright laws concerning derivative works, phonorecords, music and other "tangible" works. Not about intangible items based on another companies works or computer coding.

 

Myth #3: “It is legal to copy a work as long as I give the author full credit.”

Nope. Under the provisions of the Copyright Act, the copyright owner, and only the copyright owner, has the right to reproduce the work unless it comes under certain limited exceptions, such as “fair use” (see Myth #6). Simply giving credit or attribution, without having permission, is the same as stealing Joe’s wallet and then saying, while using Joe’s money, “This came from Joe.” It’s still theft.

The copyright belongs to ZeniMax, but they gave others the "fair use" exception when the other person created the mod or texture change. Mods are listed under the exception of "fair use" & no individual may claim copyright to these items because they have already been listed as "fair use" by the copyright holder of the intangible objects, in this case the coding that was put together to create the game by ZeniMax.

If you do not want to allow others to re-upload these "fair use" exceptions as stated in the ZeniMax copyright notice, that is the decision of Nexus, not because someone is illegally claiming copyright on a "fair use" exception. If someone wishes to reply with a link to the file or they wish to re-upload the file to Nexus, they have the rights to do so because the item was created under the "fair use" exception of the copyright holder (in this case, ZeniMax).

I wanted to thank you for your response. It was fun to read the intellectually inaccurate response made by Moderator bben46 in my other topic located at: http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/2186169-nexus-mods/&do=findComment&comment=19157479

 

For Your Information:

 

See, e.g., Religious Tech. Ctr. v. Netcom On-Line Commc’n. Servs., Inc., 923 F. Supp. 1231, 1239

(N.D. Cal. 1995) (alleging infringement of copyright in two sets of works and misappropriation of trade

secrets in one set “which it alleges has been the subject of elaborate security measures”).

Compare 17 U.S.C. § 102(a) (West 2012) with 17 U.S.C. § 102(b) (West 2012). Only until

information is published, is protection available for subject matter within the § 102(b)

exclusion. Thus, in U.S. v. Aleynikov (Aleynikov III), 676 F.3d 71, 73 (2d Cir. 2012), as discussed

below, computer code that was protected by copyright also qualified for trade secret protection of

the designer of the computer coding.

See 18 U.S.C. § 1839(3)(B) (1996) (protects information that “derives independent economic

value, actual or potential, from not being generally known” (emphasis added)). But note that § 1832(a),

quoted supra note 41, differs in that respect.

See PAUL GOLDSTEIN & R. ANTHONY REESE, SELECTED STATUTES AND INTERNATIONAL

AGREEMENTS ON PATENT, COPYRIGHT, TRADEMARK, AND UNFAIR COMPETITION 28–29 (2012) (listing

48 states and other U.S. jurisdictions that have adopted the Act). Delaware is apparently the only state to

incorporate by reference the UTSA definition in its criminal code. See DEL. CODE ANN. 11, § 857(9).

N.H. REV. STAT. ANN. § 352:1, reads as follows:

Whenever any person, firm, association or corporation is the owner of any literary,

dramatic or composition and the rights of the author pertaining thereto, and such

composition has not been copyrighted, printed or published, or of any map, charter,

engraving, cut, print, photograph or negative thereof, statue, statuary, model or design,

which has not been copyrighted or offered for sale, it shall be unlawful for any other

person to publish, produce, print, or sell or offer to sell the same without first obtaining the

consent of the owner thereof.

Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co., 376 U.S. 225, 232–33 (1964); Compco Corp. v. Day-Brite

Lighting, Inc., 376 U.S. 234, 238 (1964) (holding that “if the design is not entitled to a design patent or

other federal statutory protection, then it can be copied at will”).

 

[LadyMilla]

If you want to play the Internet lawlyer, then at least you should make an effort to look up the legal terms and conditions that you are referring to, and check their applicability in the context of this 'debate', otherwise you just create a spectacular display of your own ignorance, which is evident because you are quoting Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co., 376 U.S. 225, 232–33 (1964); Compco Corp. v. Day-Brite Lighting, Inc., 376 U.S., which is about a design and patent related rights, and not about copyright.

 

Copyright protects a creative work from the moments of its creation.

 

Source: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/

 

§302 · Duration of copyright:

Works created on or after January 1, 19784

(a) In General.—Copyright in a work created on or after January 1, 1978, subsists from its creation and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and 70 years after the author’s death.

 

 

From the same source:

http://copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#automatic

 

„When is my work protected?

Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.”

 

 

 

While copyright protection is automatically granted to any creative work, enforcing your copyright requires registering it with the authority having jurisdiction in your state/country.

 

Second:

 

Modding (in this case Fallout/F:NV modding) is governed by the below License Agreement provided by Bethesda (and not by ZeniMax), and not by „fair use” (the concept of which you do not seem to understand at all) or the license agreement that you quoted.

 

http://fallout.bethsoft.com/eng/downloads/updates-GECK-fnv-eula.php

 

„This downloadable editor, titled The Garden of Eden Creation Kit™ or G.E.C.K. (the “Editor”), enables the end user (“You”) to create new or customized levels or otherwise adjust Your experience in using the copy of the Fallout®: New Vegas™ software product purchased by You (the “Product”). All uses of the Editor and any materials created using the Editor (the “New Materials”) are for Your own personal, non-commercial use solely in connection with the applicable Product, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

….You may not cause or permit the sale or other commercial distribution or commercial exploitation (e.g., by renting, licensing, sublicensing, leasing, disseminating, uploading, downloading, transmitting, whether on a pay-per-play basis or otherwise) of any New Materials without the express prior written consent of an authorized representative of Bethesda Softworks. This includes distributing New Materials as part of any compilation You and/or other Product users may create. You shall not create any New Materials that infringe upon the rights of others, or that are libelous, defamatory, harassing, or threatening, and You shall comply with all applicable laws in connection with the New Materials. You are only permitted to distribute the New Materials, without charge (i.e., on a strictly non-commercial basis), to other authorized users who have purchased the Product, solely for use with such users’ own authorized copies of such Product and in accordance with and subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement and all applicable laws. If You distribute or otherwise make available New Materials, You automatically grant to Bethesda Softworks the irrevocable, perpetual, royalty free, sublicensable right and license under all applicable copyrights and intellectual property rights laws to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, perform, display, distribute and otherwise exploit and/or dispose of the New Materials (or any part of the New Materials) in any way Bethesda Softworks, or its respective designee(s), sees fit. You also waive and agree never to assert against Bethesda Softworks or its affiliates, distributors or licensors any moral rights or similar rights, however designated, that You may have in or to any of the New Materials. If You commit any breach of this Agreement, Your right to use the Editor under this Agreement shall automatically terminate, without notice.”

 

 

1:

New Materials – content created using the Editor. While the License Agreement is worded with a sufficient degree of ambiguity to leave room for legal maneuvering, but still it is not unreasonable to say that any content that was not created by using the Editor (e.g. meshes, textures) falls outside the scope of the License Agreement.

 

2:

The License Agreement does not prevent you from enforcing your rights against parties other than Bethesda. The wording of the license agreement makes it clear:

 

„You automatically grant to Bethesda Softworks the irrevocable, perpetual, royalty free, sublicensable right and license under all applicable copyrights and intellectual property rights laws…”

 

and

 

“You also waive and agree never to assert against Bethesda Softworks or its affiliates, distributors or licensors any moral rights or similar rights, however designated, that You may have in or to any of the New Materials.”

 

The sentence recognizes the mod author as an actor who can grant rights to another party under all applicable copyrights and intellectual property rights laws. This is an indirect recognition of your copyright in the created content. These conditions are applicable to the mod author and Bethesda, but in no way do they prevent the mod author from enforcing their rights against third-parties.

 

Third:

Even if the above reasoning was disputed by Bethesda’s lawyers, Nexus is a private site, and it’s entirely within its rights to create rules that regulate the use of its storage space. And in this case, our rules are fairly explicit:

 

· “All files uploaded must have been created by the uploader or used with permission from the original author of the content. Such permission must be indicated in the Readme text attached to the file and/or on the Description page (or in the Description field for images), and must be obtained in advance, before uploading the file. If you cannot provide proof of consent then your file will be removed and your account is likely to be banned.”

 

 

 

The word “copyright” does not even appear in the above paragraph, and the above rule is not subject to debate.

 

Finally, as you expressed your intention not to use this website any more...

 

See -> http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/2169799-request-new-female-outfit-please/&do=findComment&comment=19116644

 

All I am getting is a bunch a hateful PM because I am a Proud US Marine Veteran. I won't be bothered using this website any more.

 

 

...you won't be bothered if I terminate your account now.