Why it's not okay to upload someone else's mods

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

Wouldn't know, I guess/hope not.

 

I added the relevant part of the Steam Subscriber Agreement to the FAQ of my guide btw.

Looks good, only suggestion I would make is to move that to the top.

 

 

UPDATE on the thread:

 

[therevan789 7]

Flagged the mod too, he ignores some of the most respected modders on the community, then he claims that he will keep it on because of *his* opinion that it should be there, and it breaking the Steam Subscriber Agreement at the same time was the icing on the cake.

[Guest]

So it's a stupid rule to respect others' decisions and wishes, and to make sure someone doesn't try to claim stuff that isn't theirs? Right...

 

 

 

If their wish is that the mod be lost to time rather than be uploaded here and given credit then yes. 

 

I wouldn't let a painting rot because the artist when they were around didn't want it moved. 

[therevan789 7]

If there wish is that the mod be lost to time rather than be uploaded here and given credit then yes. 

 

I wouldn't let a painting rot because the artist when they were around didn't want it moved. 

Altough that's your opinion, the problem is this, it not only is he agaist the author's wishes, it's that you can get the mod through other options that work better, and it even breaks the steam subscriber agreement, therefore, going agaist the rules of steam.

 

(And on your example, the artist isn't around anymore, here the "artist" or creator, is around, and you can contact him)

[Guest]

Altough that's your opinion, the problem is this, it not only is he agaist the author's wishes, it's that you can get the mod through other options that work better, and it even breaks the steam subscriber agreement, therefore, going agaist the rules of steam.

 

(And on your example, the artist isn't around anymore, here the "artist" or creator, is around, and you can contact him)

 

I am not talking about Steam, I'm talking in general. 

 

Here, for other mods, like mods Shem made for instance. 

[1Leonard 134]

I am not talking about Steam, I'm talking in general. 

 

Here, for other mods, like mods Shem made for instance. 

Shem is still active on the LucasForums.

[therevan789 7]

I am not talking about Steam, I'm talking in general. 

 

Here, for other mods, like mods Shem made for instance. 

Well, Disco managed to contact Shem somehow, so it's not impossible to contact the original creator.

Altough yeah, on the occations where the author is not contactable, and the mod is unavaible elsewhere, one should be able to put the mod somewhere.

[kyrie 17]

Shem is still around over on Lucasforums last I knew. I asked for and received permission to upload a mod here because there were a few people that requested the mod.  


Edit: I was almost banned from here due to trying to include someone's mod that I made a patch for to work with TSLRCM, and the author of said mod is no longer active.

[Fair Strides 509]

To put it quite simply and in as clear a way as possible...

 

We do not steal others' work, we do not go behind their backs or against their wishes, we respect them and their right to what they do with their things, and we absolutely will not go back on our principles of upholding a standard and code of conduct in how we handle ourselves or treat our community.

[Guest]

Shem is still active on the LucasForums.

 

Pardon me, bad example then- I didn't know that Forum was still active at all. 

 

But you grasp my meaning.

[therevan789 7]

To put it quite simply and in as clear a way as possible...

 

We do not steal others' work, we do not go behind their backs or against their wishes, we respect them and their right to what they do with their things, and we absolutely will not go back on our principles of upholding a standard and code of conduct in how we handle ourselves or treat our community.

I think that it was understood on the first place, I'm trying to figure the logic on the case I described, but it was clear from the start that the site's stance.

[Fair Strides 509]

I think that it was understood on the first place, I'm trying to figure the logic on the case I described, but it was clear from the start that the site's stance.

If it was indeed understood, we wouldn't still have people saying, "But why can't we upload mods that aren't ours? Oh, and the author's read-me said 'No'..."

[therevan789 7]

If it was indeed understood, we wouldn't still have people saying, "But why can't we upload mods that aren't ours? Oh, and the author's read-me said 'No'..."

Well, at the very least (I) understood it, and (I'm) trying to figure what would the best choice be on the particular case (I'm) talking of.

 

I cannot speak for anyone else on this thread.

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

Well, at the very least (I) understood it, and (I'm) trying to figure what would the best choice be on the particular case (I'm) talking of.

As far as mods going out of style, there's nothing wrong with preserving them.

 

It needs to be done privately, not by uploading to an existing mod-hosting site.

[Guest]

As far as mods going out of style, there's nothing wrong with preserving them.

 

It needs to be done privately, not by uploading to an existing mod-hosting site.

 

I think that's a tad bizarre.

 

All I want is people to preserve mods like Nar Shaddaa backgrounds, even if they can not contact the author.  

[therevan789 7]

As far as mods going out of style, there's nothing wrong with preserving them.

 

It needs to be done privately, not by uploading to an existing mod-hosting site.

So basically, one has to do a site called "Thepreserver.com" or something like that, and add all mods that are on danger of being lost there until the creator communicates with them?

[NxBlaze 1]

So basically, one has to do a site called "Thepreserver.com" or something like that, and add all mods that are on danger of being lost there until the creator communicates with them?

 

And how diffirent is that from posting them on workshop with this disclaimer?

 

 

 

============================================================================== 

NOT MY MOD! ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO ORIGNAL OWNER. IF YOU ARE THE OWNER OF THIS CONTENT AND YOU WANT IT REMOVED BECAUSE YOU WANT TO UPLOAD IT YOURSELF PLEASE CONTACT ME. 

============================================================================== 

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

I think that's a tad bizarre.

 

All I want is people to preserve mods like Nar Shaddaa backgrounds, even if they can not contact the author.

It doesn't seem bizarre to me. Then again, I don't really have any mods that I'm in danger of losing access to mods, so I guess this doesn't apply to me.

 

 

And how diffirent is that from posting them on workshop with this disclaimer?

 

==============================================================================

NOT MY MOD! ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO ORIGNAL OWNER. IF YOU ARE THE OWNER OF THIS CONTENT AND YOU WANT IT REMOVED BECAUSE YOU WANT TO UPLOAD IT YOURSELF PLEASE CONTACT ME.

==============================================================================

First, Welcome to DeadlyStream. It's quite a long walk coming from the Steam forums. You must be exhausted! Please, sit down

 

Secondly, not advocating the upload of mods anywhere. Download them, save them for yourself.

 

Even if there was, hypothetically, another site to upload these old mods, it would inherently be 1,000x better than Steam because you would have to install them the way they were meant to be installed (with the TSLPatcher). Also, you wouldn't have people like ProfessorShroom hijacking mods out from underneath existing, active authors, essentially making a disclaimer like that meaningless

[1Leonard 134]

So basically, one has to do a site called "Thepreserver.com" or something like that, and add all mods that are on danger of being lost there until the creator communicates with them?

 

And how diffirent is that from posting them on workshop with this disclaimer?

As the current case has showed us, that disclaimer is worth jack when the uploader refuses to take the file down after multiple requests of the original author.

 

Besides, uploading a file without the original author's consent is still illegal according to this site's rules and the steam subscriber agreement.

[therevan789 7]

As the current case has showed us, that disclaimer is worth jack when the uploader refuses to take the file down after multiple requests of the original author.

 

Besides, uploading a file without the original author's consent is still illegal according to this site's rules and the steam subscriber agreement.

Even more, it's a different case, what I'm talking about is when a mod is on danger of truly being lost, the mods on the workshop aren't endangered, hell, they are on this site avaible to download, and you can contact the original modders to ask for authorization on this case (As seen with Hassat asking for it to be down). 

[NxBlaze 1]

 

As the current case has showed us, that disclaimer is worth jack  when the uploader refuses to take the file down after multiple requests of the original author.

 

Besides, uploading a file without the original author's consent is still illegal according to this site's rules and the steam subscriber agreement.

 

 

Yeah, was just pointing out it's pretty much same idea. 

 

Even more, it's a different case, what I'm talking about is when a mod is on danger of truly being lost, the mods on the workshop aren't endangered, hell, they are on this site avaible to download, and you can contact the original modders to ask for authorization on this case (As seen with Hassat asking for it to be down). 

 

I think no mod is in danger of truly getting lost. Most are still avaliable in one place or another. Worst case scenario there's always Lucas Forums request thread.

[therevan789 7]

 

 

 

 

Yeah, was just pointing out it's pretty much same idea. 

 

 

I think no mod is in danger of truly getting lost. Most are still avaliable in one place or another. Worst case scenario there's always Lucas Forums request thread.

 

There are some that are, mostly those obscure mods from kotorfiles that never were popular, and the author is not well known enough to manage to track him/her down.

[1Leonard 134]

d the author is not well known enough to manage to track him/her down.

I really don't believe that is true, kotorfiles has been "down" for what, two weeks now? People who are now advocating to reupload the "lost" mods haven't even tried to contact the original authors.

 

Sure, it may take some time before they react, so what?

[InSidious 237]

Plus, 98% of the time, what people want or are going to upload is not BillyBob9000's "PFHC03 With Slightly Bluer Eyes", or darth_malak_43v4's "Red And Black Sith Robes"; it's things like the Coruscant Jedi Temple by deathdisco, which are already mirrored. We've already been through this palaver once with PCGameMods, the mods I most recall being uploaded illicitly to KotORFiles from that site was ORD Mandell by RedHawke (which is available, by the way, from here), DeadMan's Movie Mandalorians (easily acquired by email), and AVol's Darth Vader, which plenty of people are (still!) able to share.

 

This talk about obscure and rare mods is, I'm afraid, a distraction at best.

[Vegan Meat 1]

It should be viewed as acceptable to upload anyone's mods in their original state to any site, particularly if the original hosting has died.

 

1. Publicly releasing files (and for free) means the author intends them to be used.

 

2. Nobody (unless engaged in untoward behavior) directly receives compensation for their files. At best, one can receive ad- or other revenue from the hosting website (I expect some people here receive this). I expect this is the best argument one could make in opposition; however, this perhaps treads the edge of legality if one were to closely examine the TSL's EULA [particularly points 6 and 10] (we and Lucasarts all know TSLRCM is what built this website), and more importantly, contradicts the notion that mods are made by fans for enjoyment. If one desired $, that modder should find a career in the game industry.

 

3. If nobody receives compensation for publicly released files, then what modders are concerned with here is something else. There are some characters, unfortunately present within a segment of the population which I'll cheerfully term "nerds", who utilize their positions among certain small communities to inflate their egos. By appointing themselves the sole holder of what other humans seek, people who are generally unimportant in their everyday lives can achieve some measure of superiority through artificially restricting the supply of a sought-after commodity.

 

Now, some people might declare that is the prerogative of the modder to do, since he is the one who created the file. However, I (and others) think that freely distributing publicly created files is the essence of modding as a community, and therefore should be engaged in even over the objections of some capitalistic, corporate-minded people, whether external to the community or inside of it.