Noob question

[ps2fan]

Nexus policy is you can do whatever you want to your own game - as long as you don't try to upload those mods here, or discuss using copyrighted material here, or ( this is a big problem) upload pictures using those copyrighted assets. In a perfect world we would be able to use any assets from any game for our mods - But lawyers being lawyers they get in the way and create problems where none really existed before they got involved.

 

There are some companies that do allow using their assets. If you find any, please let us know so we can spread the word. We do need some documentation to show those rabid lawyers though. :rolleyes:

Understood. I have a friend who can make meshes for me in blender to replace the ones that are copyrighted. Either that or I keep the mod to myself. c:

[DoctorKaizeld]

 

Would anything I'd do with the models be considered legal? Like if I used them as reference to make my own models to replace them with? I'd figure that using them to make a mod would fall under derivative works if I own both games legally and cite my sources.

if you're only using it as a reference then it is legal to an extent, the company may have a tantrum about even using the likeness. i will site the owners of LOTR for a good example.

 

 

And while I wouldn't consider it stealing, as when you steal something, you take it and it isn't there anymore, whereas with this, I'm making a copy of it and using the copy. So it's more like piracy than stealing.

piracy is stealing and both are illegal.

 

 

And no, I don't consider piracy stealing either, unless you take the original and do not make a copy, like if you steal a copy of Windows 7 from a store and start making ISOs out of it, that would be stealing because you took the original copy of the OS, instead of copying it and taking that instead.

piracy is by definition stealing. to make copies of and distribute an item you bought is illegal and stealing. you are taking someone elses work that they spent time and money on and giving it away. that's never okay.

 

 

If anything, it's a law that not many cops or so on would enforce, because it's something that a lot of people do.

lots of cops enforce it, all of them actually. there's a department in most police agencies that focus on stopping piracy. also a lot of companies have teams that scour the internet looking for stolen content and are constantly reporting people who do so. did you not hear about the owners of Pirates Bay being arrested? there's a reason for that.

 

 

Garry's Mod content on the Steam workshop

most mods for Garrys Mod are using assets from Valve games (the owners of Garrys Mod) and many others view it as a sign of pride to have someone put their stuff in the game. also GM gets a lot of DMCA notices for its mods too.

 

 

I think that as long as you don't charge money for it and don't claim ownership of it, then it should be fine, but then again, I'm not a lawyer, so I very well am probably wrong.

you're completely wrong, read this it'll explain it pretty well: http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

 

 

Wait a second, though-- if taking assets from a copyrighted game is illegal, then shouldn't it also be illegal to use a VCR to record TV?

you often pay for the channels through cable when you record through VHS, it is in fact illegal to hand anything you record on VHS to anyone outside of your household.

 

 

And fanart should also be illegal

fanart is protected by fair use and i believe parody laws... you've never looked any of this up before have you?

 

 

If this is true, and all of these things are against the law, then why is it that nobody gets arrested for them?

Is it because they are petty things that the law enforcement doesn't care about?

just off of fanart and VHS, you wouldnt be arrested. the former is legal and the later is only illegal if you share the tape and you can be arrested and sued. this actually happens all the time. and yes law enforcement does care.

 

 

Also, if my mod is illegal because it uses materials from a copyrighted game, shouldn't ALL mods be illegal because they use material from the game they are designed for?

bben kinda covered this already, a lot of companies encourage modding and are in full support of it. Bethesda being a large contributor of this. Also a lot of companies are against it and that is often one reason they dont share their games to the PC community (though it's mostly because of pirates) or they encode the hell out of it and make it a nightmare to mod.