A question about the Construction Set and the EULA

[Kythrius]

According to the Construction Set EULA, any content that is made for Oblivion(including mods) is the property of Bethesda.

 

My question is:

 

If someone makes their own content and puts it in an Oblivion mod(NOT a derivative work), does Bethesda own the concepts in the mod as well?

 

Suppose you make a set of original textures and armor meshes from scratch and put them in an Oblivion mod. According to the EULA, the mod is Bethesda's property, but would the rights to the original textures/armor meshes also be transferred to Bethesda, or would the rights remain with whoever made them?

 

My purpose for asking this question is that I'm currently working on my own Oblivion mod. It contains over 280 abilities that I designed myself and are not based on anything. I understand that the mod(the plugin file) is the property of Bethesda according to the EULA, but do I get to keep the rights to the original concepts in my mod?

 

I would like an answer as soon as possible so I do not end up accidentally giving my ideas to Bethesda.

[shadowace]

As long as they aren't already made meshes or textures, and there completely self-made, all ownership to the meshes and textures belongs to you!

[Kythrius]

What about concepts for special abilities? I came up with a lot of ideas for special abilities for my mod.

 

People who use my mod may notice that I have said something that specifically mentions that the abilities from my mod do NOT reference anything from Elder Scrolls lore. This is so that the concepts CANNOT be considered a derivative work.

[nosisab]

According to the Construction Set EULA, any content that is made for Oblivion(including mods) is the property of Bethesda.

 

My question is:

 

If someone makes their own content and puts it in an Oblivion mod(NOT a derivative work), does Bethesda own the concepts in the mod as well?

So are the ways of the Copyright and and Intellectual property. I think there is no other area in human rights where you can state "ALL RIGHTS RESERVED" without need to define what is ALL. So, if you haven't more and smarter lawyers than then the answer is "yes".

[Kythrius]

I remember reading somewhere that there's a "gray area" when it comes to people who come up with their own concepts or artwork (for example: mods that completely change Oblivion into something else "total conversion mods" and mods that add original meshes/textures.

 

I'm asking this question because I don't want MY ideas to become Bethesda's property just for being in an Oblivion mod.

 

If Bethesda takes my ideas, I'm definitely going to pull my mod for good and quit working on it, not to mention that Bethesda would lose another customer.

[nosisab]

I remember reading somewhere that there's a "gray area" when it comes to people who come up with their own concepts or artwork (for example: mods that completely change Oblivion into something else "total conversion mods" and mods that add original meshes/textures.

 

I'm asking this question because I don't want MY ideas to become Bethesda's property just for being in an Oblivion mod.

 

If Bethesda takes my ideas, I'm definitely going to pull my mod for good and quit working on it, not to mention that Bethesda would lose another customer.

I wasn't interpreting, I don't know if Beth would prevent you using your concepts (chances are they would try if the interest arise).

The point is that Beth could and would use the ideas putted at a mod for their game with the rights at their side.

[Kythrius]

I remember reading somewhere that there's a "gray area" when it comes to people who come up with their own concepts or artwork (for example: mods that completely change Oblivion into something else "total conversion mods" and mods that add original meshes/textures.

 

I'm asking this question because I don't want MY ideas to become Bethesda's property just for being in an Oblivion mod.

 

If Bethesda takes my ideas, I'm definitely going to pull my mod for good and quit working on it, not to mention that Bethesda would lose another customer.

I wasn't interpreting, I don't know if Beth would prevent you using your concepts (chances are they would try if the interest arise).

The point is that Beth could and would use the ideas putted at a mod for their game with the rights at their side.

 

If they ever did something like that I would pull my mods permanently, quit working on them, and keep them for my own personal use. Furthermore I would also take the time to sign up for a Gamespot account just to give Elder Scrolls a bad rating if that happened. I would also spread the news to everyone who makes original content for Oblivion mods and advise them not to make any more.

[Vagrant0]

It's unlikely that Bethsoft would find reason to steal anyone's ideas, let alone a modder that nobody cares about. It's like humming a random tune while you're waiting in line, yeah, the person standing in front of you could go and take that tune to make a hit song, but the chances of that are pretty much nil. The reason is simple, there aren't many original ideas around, and just because someone happened to have something that workd doesn't mean that that idea really doesn't belong to someone else, who already published it.

 

For example look around here. Atleast once a week there is a mod request or "idea" about turning some existing thing, either novel related, anime related, movie related, or TV related and making an Oblivion mod of it. And these are often presented as that person's "idea", paired with a long explaination as to how "cool" it would be. Those ideas aren't theirs, and they're just ripping off from one source or another.

 

If you're afraid of having your little song stolen, don't hum while waiting in line. Just sit there silently. The tradeoff is that you're gonna be bored while waiting there, but hey, that's your call. Personally, while I might be a bit upset initially, I would eventually take it as a compliment that something I did was good enough to be worth stealing. Afterall, people don't normally steal things which are worthless. And if they manage to improve on something I started, all the better.

 

But really, Bethsoft doesn't have the time to keep track of modding projects, and the EULA isn't in there so that they can do this kinda stuff. This part of the EULA is there to prevent people from selling their mods to others. Morrowind had a similar EULA, for much the same reason, and despite the fact that many Morrowind mods were great in their own right, Bethsoft didn't steal any of them.

[nosisab]

I really hope not sounded as Beth would do or so... but if you mod for their game the statement is clear theiy can.

[Kythrius]

Bethesda probably won't do that. Even though they could do that according to their EULA, they would lose a LOT of support from the modding community and a lot of their fanbase if they did. Not to mention that no one would make mods for their games again.

 

The question is:

 

Do the ability concepts that I made still belong to me?

 

Currently, the way I see it is that:

The ability CONCEPTS and implementation belong to me as I came up with them.

Only the actual .esp file(plugin) for Oblivion belongs to Bethesda according to the EULA.

I would be able to transfer my ideas, concepts, and implementation to anywhere else I wanted as I came up with them.

 

Is this correct?