A real world perspective on "stolen mods"

[RS13]

 

I'm not sure why you think "The best way to read the EULA in regards to ownership of mods is that the mod creator owns them unless Zenimax decides they don't." Where's your evidence? I gave you chapter and verse.

 

Second, while you are right that the EULA is designed to protect Zenimax, it doesn't mean that Zenimax can just require *anything.* In many cases, Zenimax qualifies their statements with "except as prohibited by law." The EULA can only protect Z as far as the law will allow.

 

And on that point, copyright law is designed to protect *creators.* Zenimax will never, ever, even after the bombs fall be able to have ownership of anything a modder creates. If all you do is change the weight on a weapon or change a game setting, they might have some claim to own that (though I doubt it). But they absolutely cannot have claim to models, textures, scripts, stories or new voice files added by modders.

 

 

To be protected under copyright law... you actually have to copyright your work.... filing fee's, paperwork, etc. It isn't your's just because you created it at least not from a legal perspective. You have to legally claim ownership which is a process I would bet many in the modding community don't do. They could even copyright protect the names of their mods as well.

 

 

No. That's absolutely wrong. Copyright is an opt-out system.

 

See: e.g., http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#what

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."

 

Registration is only required to bring a lawsuit for copyright infringement. It need not, however, come before the infringement, though there are advantages to filing before infringement.

 

"If registration is made within three months after publica­ tion of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney’s fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner. http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf Page 7 4th bullet under Copyright registration.

Edited June 7, 2016 by RS13

[RS13]

 

If someone else files [for copyright protection] first you have to prove that you are the original creator which can be a very long process.

 

 

 

That's just to say: you don't need to file; you just need to prove that you created it. And, in the present context, that proof would be trivially easy to produce. Exhibit A: Fallout.esm. "As you can see you honor, none of my files nor the information are included in them are included in this." Moreover, my file was published on a website Bethesda themselves designed specifically for user creations.

[marcmorr6]

 

If someone else files [for copyright protection] first you have to prove that you are the original creator which can be a very long process.

 

Great response!

 

That's just to say: you don't need to file; you just need to prove that you created it. And, in the present context, that proof would be trivially easy to produce. Exhibit A: Fallout.esm. "As you can see you honor, none of my files nor the information are included in them are included in this." Moreover, my file was published on a website Bethesda themselves designed specifically for user creations.