Do I need permission from modder to create a certain patch for his mod

[Skaruts]

More specificaly, in this case, a patch that removes the mannequins from a custom player home, so that the player can use mannequin mods instead. I tried contacting the modder about it, but he didn't respond yet, and I decided to not upload the patch because I don't want to be rude, but also because and I'm a bit confused about this.

 

The terms and conditions have only two lines that may be applicable in this regard:

• Absolutely no copyrighted work is to be used without permission of the original creator. (...)
• All files uploaded must have been created by the uploader or used with permission from the original author of the content. (...)

In a way I'm using his content, since I made a copy of the .esp file so that I could edit it with TESVedit, and delete all the records that weren't relevant to the mannequins. Which left me with the worldspace and cell records and the respective records from the mannequins, triggers and markers contained in that cell and worldspace, to which I made the necessary changes to hide them in game. The file consists of 27 records only.

 

But I'm not sure if this can really be considered as "using his content". And I'm not sure if he could be considered as the original author of the content in my patch, as it consists only of what I listed above.

 

Both lines state clearly that I need permission though, but I still wonder if there are exceptions, and if this might be one of them.

 

Any help on this would be apreciated. Thanks.

Edited February 26, 2013 by Skaruts

[Carah]

You have stated the "Terms and Conditions" but what are the permissions, if any, does the mod author state?

Just out of courtesy wait for a response from the original author. I would suggest waiting at least 2 weeks for a response.

[Skaruts]

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

He mentions nothing except "DO NOT UPLOAD TO OTHER SITES -----without my permission".

 

I'll follow your advice and give him some more time, though. I don't expect people to be looking into their mod's comments everyday. I didn't contact through pm, which probably wasn't the best thing... I am concerned that the modder might actualy have felt like accepting my request and do it (I doubt it, it's a bit of a petty request), in which case I think it would be rude of me to step ahead without even warning.

[greentea101]

 

He mentions nothing except "DO NOT UPLOAD TO OTHER SITES -----without my permission".

Where does he mention that? Have you clicked on the "Permissions and credits" icon? There should be a "Modification permission" section there.

[Skaruts]

Yes, I checked both there and in the description. That's all I could find mentioned by him.

This is the mod, by the way, in case you want to double check.

 

I'm in no hurry to upload my patch, by the way, I just had this issue in the back of my mind and I was wondering what I would do if I never got a response from someone I made a patch for. I'm taking this mostly for future reference, as this mod is recent so I guess the author shouldn't run away from it too soon, thus I'm not very worried about never getting an answer in this case.

Edited February 26, 2013 by Skaruts

[Deleted1308005User]

Yes, you need permission from original author, and I recommend sending PM.

Even if person is active in comment section, He'd still probably want "personal" message about it.

Only exception is if author has clearly said in his mod's page that the parts of his mods are free-to-use without any requests.

[greentea101]

Thanks for that link. It's odd that none of the usual "Permissions" sections show up. Maybe it's because the "Author notes" section was filled in (I just checked, and one of my mods has the same situation). If that's true, then that's not very nice behavior, and it's something that I would consider a bug.

[jet4571]

Shadowjin answered this one.

 

 

an issue with that mods description, He needs to edit the description and remove the please endorse part lol.

 

side note, you can upload a patch or addon for someone elses mod without permission as long as the original is not included. example would be someone makes a house someplace with a boring exterior. you upload a patch that adds some items to the exterior and removes grass. if your mod is used without the house the house and everything inside will not exist. another example, someone moves a wall and adds a room to a vanila cell but doesnt navmesh it. you can load the mod but not set it as active then do the navmesh to include the new room. this wont include the actual room and the original wall will be there still after it is saved.

[Skaruts]

Yes, the original is not included. I've never tested running the game without his file, actualy. I guess it may cause problems, as it will try to mess with stuff that doesn't exist. Maybe CTD... :smile:

 

I was sending pms to other mod authors and I sent one to this one too. So it's formally requested now, and I'll give it quite some more time. Like Carah mentioned, at least for the sake of courtesy I'll still ask for permissions even in a case where it's not really needed.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Skaruts

[steve40]

You should always assume that you do not have permission, unless it is explicitly given, and you must be able to prove to the Nexus admins that you had such permission.