a question about paid mods and legality

[rkelly]

if a Modder that's a total dirtbag sells a mod that uses ripped stuff from a another game with out the game makers permission does VALVE get sued? or does the modder or beth get sued? or will it be a combination of the 3.

[Oubliette]

Bethesda is unlikely to be sued. However Valve as the host site and the modder themselves would both be open to liability.

[BigBizkit]

I assume the dev would notify steam to take down the ripped content. If they fail to do so they are responsible. This should not even touch Beth, all they do is give valve a license to host mods that can be monetized as long as they do not breach the ToS.

[Arocide]

...Well with the current model Bethesda has to actually give the go ahead for a mod to be monetized anyway they can't be sold (or even downloaded) without them being reviewed by Bethesda. If they reject it I believe it is automatically hidden (or taken down? one of the two) so the chances of Bethesda allowing a major slip like ripped content is pretty unlikely unless it was well hidden.

 

EDIT: I stand corrected it is an Automatic approvals process, if while a mod is under review it doesn't get any challenges then it will go up for sale, or so I have been hearing... can't say for certain.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Arocide

[TheDoubler]

Valve and Bathesda should be sued for 75% and the modder should be sued for 25% of the agreement.

Since they're the ones making money off it.

[fftfan]

...Well with the current model Bethesda has to actually give the go ahead for a mod to be monetized anyway they can't be sold (or even downloaded) without them being reviewed by Bethesda. If they reject it I believe it is automatically hidden (or taken down? one of the two) so the chances of Bethesda allowing a major slip like ripped content is pretty unlikely unless it was well hidden.

There is an approval process? I thought all the author has to do is set a price option and it instantly becomes a paid mod?

 

 

 

Valve and Bathesda should be sued for 75% and the modder should be sued for 25% of the agreement.

Since they're the ones making money off it.

If only..

[Fistitron]

 

...Well with the current model Bethesda has to actually give the go ahead for a mod to be monetized anyway they can't be sold (or even downloaded) without them being reviewed by Bethesda. If they reject it I believe it is automatically hidden (or taken down? one of the two) so the chances of Bethesda allowing a major slip like ripped content is pretty unlikely unless it was well hidden.

There is an approval process? I thought all the author has to do is set a price option and it instantly becomes a paid mod?

There is an approval process. Its currently getting slammed by people who have found the obvious loophole in the system.

 

As for it, I don't know if they'd be sued per-say. I think it'd generally be a DMCA takedown notice, and that would go from Valve to the person. Course given Valve's insistence to not remove anything from their servers...

[Levantinium]

It is already been made clear that Valve and Bethesda do not care whether the content creators approve their mods being used in user DLC. Their stance is that if you upload your mod for free then it is fair game. They are doing this to force people to upload them as paid content. Don't fall for it.

 

Anyways, it's been fun guys. Valve has killed free modding. How many good content creators will keep making mods if theirs will be stolen for profit and piracy gets sanctioned by both Valve and Bethesda?