Addon Author's Rights

[NonovUrbizniz (DayZ) 137]

Just going to link direct to the BI forum Thread, It's a group centered around authors rights education:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?167469-AMAR-Content-usage-and-sharing-FAQ&p=2542818#post2542818 


As an aside, I was really shocked and disappointed to see how Vilas was treated here when he posted about his addons. 

 

I don't want this thread to degrade into that sort of thread so lets leave it at that.


Please feel free to post comments here if you don't have an account on BI forums.

Edited October 29, 2013 by NonovUrbizniz

[Inception. 9443]

I'm not surprised he was treated the way he was. Vilas said that "addons are made to be free for gaming, not profit making of any type" and then goes on to say he supports Origins since they give him some of the money he makes.

And, really, anyone who supports Origins like that doesn't deserve my respect.

Edited October 25, 2013 by Inception.

[DemonGroover 8836]

I am all for the mods getting all the credit for their work.  Permission should be gained before anything is added to a map/mod.

 

However the same goes for the modders.  Can they seriously expect to make money off Hello Kitty skins and skins for BMWs, Audis etc and not to be seen as a hypocrite if they themselves never got permission to do these skins and sell them to Origins?

 

I would be very very surprised if Vilas got permission from Sanrio to use the Hello Kitty image and make money off of it.

[vilas@o2.pl 13]

However the same goes for the modders.  Can they seriously expect to make money off Hello Kitty skins and skins for BMWs, Audis etc and not to be seen as a hypocrite if they themselves never got permission to do these skins and sell them to Origins?

 

I would be very very surprised if Vilas got permission from Sanrio to use the Hello Kitty image and make money off of it.

 

 

i see that even team here lies, first of all that is Epoch which is using Hello Kitty car in Dayz , Origins doesn't use modern cars pack first of all, downloading Origins is easy and there is no inside addons which are used by Dayz Epoch , Origins doesn't have nor P85 cars, neither Modern European cars addon, weapons packs used by other dayz mods also are not used by Origins, taking look at Origins content is easy to check, so stop spreading lies, only guys earning money on Hello Kitty car are now Epoch mod 

 

so if you accusing me of "selling Hello Kitty to Origins" you simply LIE 

Edited October 26, 2013 by vilas

[-Gews- 7443]

Power to the people and all that. I hate it when people steal someone else's work or use/alter it without permission.

 

 

I still remember that Voodoo DayZ mod that used and edited Lingor Island without permission.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Gews

[vilas@o2.pl 13]

regarding Lingor units - they are also made by me but permission to IceBreaker was given

 

i made models of those soldiers, i made vehicles, IceBreaker reskinned them 

http://www.arma2base.de/content/images/lingor_units13_02.jpg

http://www.arma2base.de/content/images/lingor_units13_11.jpg

http://blog.realitygamer.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/vumz3h.jpg

 

is my content too :)

[DemonGroover 8836]

i see that even team here lies, first of all that is Epoch which is using Hello Kitty car in Dayz , Origins doesn't use modern cars pack first of all, downloading Origins is easy and there is no inside addons which are used by Dayz Epoch , Origins doesn't have nor P85 cars, neither Modern European cars addon, weapons packs used by other dayz mods also are not used by Origins, taking look at Origins content is easy to check, so stop spreading lies, only guys earning money on Hello Kitty car are now Epoch mod 

 

so if you accusing me of "selling Hello Kitty to Origins" you simply LIE 

 

Well if you haven't sold these skins to Origins then i apologise.  I am not condoning people's work being used without permission.  It has happened a lot with DayZ maps not being given the right permission from the mapmaker. As far as the Voodoo mod we actually helped out Icebreakr when he found out it was used without permission.

 

But you pretty much came on these forums all guns blazing saying only Origins are paying you so no one else can use my addons.  I dont think that was the right way to go about it.

Edited October 26, 2013 by DemonGroover

[vilas@o2.pl 13]

Origins has post-apocaliptic rusty cars made from scratch of fictional cars , from weapons Origins has crossbow, fictional shotgun, fictional AK, modern not-broken not-rusty cars not fit post-apocaliptic theme of Origins, 

and Origins is only mod which respects and first they asked, than when they get donation they offer to share due to usage of my models , so they thanked me for my models by sharing donations they get, other mods use whole my weapons packs, whole my cars pack, collect hundreds of dollars and not share, Epoch uses my cars pack and this Hello Kitty and this BMW and on their website they show also how many donations they get, not saying about those who earn money on servers for Epoch or other mods using my addons (server keepers), so those who monetize Hello Kitty symbol is DayZ Epoch mod (and probably other mods using my modern european Arma2 addon) 

 

second of all it is graphician choice who he eventually do model or not, graphicians are not obeyed to give anything to anyone 

 

issue is that dayz comunity never respected rules about addons ownership and only small percent of dayz modders ever asked any addonmaker, majority dayz modders do not asked about using, repacking, changing addons and monetize them unlike Arma2 military community does 

Edited October 26, 2013 by vilas

[PK Richie 507]

Vilas, I appreciate your work and respect the effort that went into creating it, what a great job you did :)

 

What i don't appreciate is you coming here saying that no Dayz mod can use your addons with the exception of Origins who are going to pay you a % of the money they make, that's pure bullshit.

So really what you're saying is pay you or don't use, Origins is as welcome as cancer because that's what they are and you jumped into bed with them :( No wonder your previous thread went to shit.

 

Regarding the Voodoo ripoff, It was me who called him out and it was me who emailed Icebreakr personally to inform him, see This Post.

 

Play fair Vilas and others will respect you, you're selling use of your addons to Origins for exclusive use and banning everyone else.

[DemonGroover 8836]

And what about Origins using DayZ mod assets without permission.  Does that even enter the equation?

[vilas@o2.pl 13]

it seems that another person doesnt understand what is intelectual property and graphics ownership

 

since ever in arma addonmakers had donations, first if i rememeber was IceBreaker or Vietnam War mod or other mods, orginal authors collected donations for WHAT THEY DID PERSONALLY and noone other has right to collect money on other person models 

so what is doing for example Epoch is against rules, they collect donation on my addons and other people addons, 

 

if they made models and textures and islands themselves - okay, let them have it (donations)

but if they earn money on other person work - they should share or remove this other work - best is to remove addons which are not made by their hands  simple but seem you not accept it , they should have remove addons and make addons themselves, before dayz started using other people addons for donations - in Arma we didnt have any problems since 2002 

 

problems with usage without permission and collected money for other people work began with dayz , in military Arma noone has such problems which dayz makes, for years noone wanted donations like now dayz mods want (using not their addons) in arma if anyone had donations than it was for his work (his addons given as free DLC to community) 

 

so simply in English (which is not my native)

i wanted all collecting donations (and not sharing them) to remove content which they not made, if someone shares with author it is good that he respects hours and days spent on model, if someone doesn't share , he should not collect money and donations, for 10 years of addonmaking for OPF, ARMA1, ARMA2, RTCW, AVP i was not collecting money , and noone was collecting money on my work , simple , dayz modders started to collect money on my work, on other people work , which is not good, so they either should share in reponsibility for content or stop using this content and let content remains free for Arma2 military players which can use it like they use addons since 2002 since Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crysis game (first BIS game) 

 

dayz mods, dayz server admins , dayz websites hosting addons take money - it is problem, if guys want player to pay, why the hell they not share with authors of content that they use to collect donations ? if they not like sharing , they should stop using and let it is used for free in military Arma without any relation to dayz servers admins who charge clans for dozens or hundred dollars every month , they can play Dayz Mod content, not ADDONS which were not made for profit of dayz moders/admin keeper/server keepers/etc. etc. 

 

for 10 years my addons were used for free by OFP, Arma1, Arma2 player, dayz want collect money for my work without will to share for my months of work, so let they remove and let addons made for Arma2 will remain in military Arma2 like it was before Dayz , for 9 years of addonmaking i didn't get dollar , Epoch for my cars get how much ? how many hundreds ? 

Edited October 26, 2013 by vilas

[-Gews- 7443]

issue is that dayz comunity never respected rules about addons ownership and only small percent of dayz modders ever asked any addonmaker, majority dayz modders do not asked about using, repacking, changing addons and monetize them unlike Arma2 military community does

I wonder how many of the DayZ offshoots have asked permission. It seems like a lot of them have gone on Armaholic and just downloaded whatever they wanted.

[Inception. 9443]

Origins is Origins, and I will never support nor respect them.

[vilas@o2.pl 13]

I wonder how many of the DayZ offshoots have asked permission. It seems like a lot of them have gone on Armaholic and just downloaded whatever they wanted.

yes, and later packet it and set Paypal button or like some websites which i linked befor - posted that they want xx dollars from clan per month for playing this or another mod 

 

in Arma we always respected those who make models and textures themselves, in dayz most respect is to those who haven't done single model and less to those who made models and textures themselves - opposite to Armaversum 

 

remove content which was NOT made by "mod" , i wonder how many Dayz mods would left and server keepers and hostings 

Edited October 26, 2013 by vilas

[DemonGroover 8836]

I agree.  If you have not given your permission then you have every right to ask that your addons be removed. But supporting Origins - which has used other assets without permissions as well...that doesn' sit right.

 

Have you messaged the creators of these mods (Epoch etc) which are using your work without permission?

[vilas@o2.pl 13]

first of all - afaik Origins uses DayzCode the same was every other dayz addon reworking it - so you should than demand EVERY dayz mod to be taken down (by the was as i looked in internet Origins is one of few who have their own models, textures, coding, oposite to others who do not have own work) , 

second - it is not author of addon who should investigate, roam and ask between mods, 

it is mod's duty to ask before use, and not use for money collecting, do not capsize situation, addonmakers are not investigators and begars, addonmakers create content and different moders first should ask and second use without making money or share money they made on other person addons (if mod in Arma collects donations, than they share within creators, probably the same works in Battlefield, GTA modding, Max Payne modding, all modding except Dayz where I do cars, someone use them and collect money either as "moder" or as "server owner")

it is not me who should ask kindly for removing my addon, it is their whom should remove it asap and not collect donations on other modelers work (by the way  they use RobbertHammer weapons pack, RH is just person who get permission to import CounterStrike moders model and textures to Arma, so authors of models are guys from CS, not RH, so paying RH for models which were made by dozen of guys from CS also not works or RH would put donations to them)in case of other mods you would be surprised how many mods get my models, i used Lingor units as example, Lingor tanks (Leopard tank), APC shown on screen, soldiers models, police models, van, fireengine trucks etc.

lots of mods get my permission in Arma2 , lots,  

now in other dayz mod to my surprise i found post that i agreed giving WW2 weapons (cause i also made world war two models) and i do not remember giving permission for ww2 weapons to dayz, i remember giving permissions to arma2 military mods 

Edited October 26, 2013 by vilas

[DemonGroover 8836]

I think the issue with Origins has always been - they didn't ask for permission (like all the private mods) but they started getting heavy handed with their own assets sending out threatening emails and so forth.

 

I agree that the DayZ community is very lax when it comes to using other's work.  A lot of DayZ modders/admins etc have never been part of the Arma community and unfortunately don't have the same sense of respecting other people's work and asking for permission before placing it in their mod/server.  A lot of people never knew Arma before DayZ and perhaps quite a few believed that any addons they find are fair game.  However this doesn't excuse not giving credit to the addon maker.

 

Hopefully the link the OP gave can help alleviate some of this.

[-Gews- 7443]

A lot of DayZ modders/admins etc have never been part of the Arma community and unfortunately don't have the same sense of respecting other people's work and asking for permission before placing it in their mod/server.

Reminds me of what DayZero did, reverse-engineering ArmA 2 MLODs and editing BIS models without permission... then claiming DayZ Civilian was "stealing" their stolen hospital. Huh.

[vilas@o2.pl 13]

about threating i only read about unauthorise edition of Taviana and tries of release untauthorized Taviana and i heard about selling Taviana by someone from Russia  - this what i know, if someone was selling Taviana like worldzombie.ru ( http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?142504-My-work-is-being-illegally-sold-on-World-Zombie-ru there is topic about worldzombie ru taking 250 rubels for download of Taviana !!!)

so if you  disagree that Martin should protect his 6 years of work for being sold like on worldzombie ru or edited by other person - there is something wrong with your thinking about copyrights, Taviana was is and will belong to man who spent years to create it and buildings models to it, 

if you support situation where worldzombie ru takes 250 Rubels for download of Taviana than... it is typical to dayz community it seems :/

for me legal notes to those who not want accept rules is okay, not something bad, and addon was EDITED without permission (if you change addon, you edit it - it requires PERMISSION) not even saying about payment for possibility to dowload FREE ADDON which is unacceptable, 

 

i work for several companies, few games i do not have time to investigate, even in battlefield people asked for my weapons and get permissions

 

and when you say about credits - credits are important in free game, if someone charges players for money it becomes business and credits are least important in business, credits in form of note in readme or on webpage are good when it comes to non-profit mods like military modding in Arma2,

so first of all dayz comunity should change to being non-profit if they want to use addons for credits with permission (not saying about development of Standalone which is typical game and is made to make money) , i wonder what amount of money collected all those who use my addons since months or i do not know how long dayz moding exist, year ? 

if they earn money on my models, they owe me money - simple , if they not earn - okay 

 

dayz community do not want to understand that author of addon is owner of addon and copyrights, as well as addons are delivering "free dlc" and for such activity can be (if anyone wants) thanked in form of donation (it exist like this in all modding for all games) and ONLY authors of content (model, texture etc.) can be thanked in such form for delivering free dlc for rest, not persons who just "use" it , there is and there never was in modding scene, anything wrong in having donations unless donations were for your own model and your own textures , donations is not selling, donations are thanks gifts for time spent on addons (which dayz copy-paste community doesnt understand, but for example creating map takes half year, creating 20 cars pack can also take half year of work every day like in daily job)

 

some people here says that sending ask for permission is equal giving permission - it is wrong 

 

Arma2 community is very angry with things that Dayz community makes with addons 

Edited October 26, 2013 by vilas

[DemonGroover 8836]

I don't think anyone supports work being taken without permission.  I totally agree that permission should be given by the author before the addons/models can be used.  No one here is arguing that point. 

 

The original DayZ mod was a free mod and never made any money.  It was when private servers and hives were allowed that the donations started to roll in to those servers. Then the modifications of the mod began including new skins and maps appearing such as Lingor and Taviana.   Was permission ever given to these?

 

Maybe the issue began because Rocket/BI didn't really say no to DayZ being modded?  There was a time when it was frowned upon but there was never any official word to say "Stop modifying my Mod!"  I think a lot of people took that silence to being allowed to do what they wanted - including taking anything they could find on Armaholic etc.

 

Look, i don't think anyones work should be used without permission.  And if you want your models etc not to be used by any DayZ mod then they should abide by your demand. 

 

There isn't really much we can do about it on the forums though.  Apart from say "Don't use others work without permission!"  We don't have that much influence or power.

[vilas@o2.pl 13]

but have you knew about this world zombie ru ? cause you all hate Martin so much here, while i wonder how you would act when you work 6 years on island and than see someone just edited it a little and sells it by pay-to-download for 250 Rubbles , woudn't you sent any legal notes ? 

or when  your six years of work would be edited by other persons ? if you blame him for taking legal actions than maybe you also hate police and legal enforcement ? because a lot of us from arma are either military or law enforcement too not teenager player

 

issue is to learn dayz community about rules of addons which we create (and now stopped doing addons because of dayz community and arma community suffers from it, cause i am asked for new cars and i cannot do them cause someone will start collecting money of them) 

Edited October 26, 2013 by vilas

[badluckburt 974]

Vilas, I wish you good luck with this. Some people here obviously don't know what they're talking about and should learn how to read.

[DemonGroover 8836]

Who hates Martin here?  I don't think anyone here encourages or condones someones work being taken and sold in Russia.

 

However i work for a software company and our product has managed to be hacked in Russia and given out by these hackers.  What can be done?

[vilas@o2.pl 13]

Vilas, I wish you good luck with this. Some people here obviously don't know what they're talking about and should learn how to read.

because they not know what is to spend 10000 hours on something

plus my not native English also complicates, but if you understood my english, is good 

[DemonGroover 8836]

Vilas, I wish you good luck with this. Some people here obviously don't know what they're talking about and should learn how to read.

It's not a very hard thing to figure out.  It ain't Rocket science.