Looking for Workshop content info and advice.

[TheWeedMan 132]

Hey all

Looking for a bit of knowledge from some of you that have experience in workshop content and its terms and conditions. 

Recently we have discovered a couple of mods that have been created that allows for the community to repack the mod into a server pack without permission.  However the author has left in the description that certain servers are not allowed to do so or risk being DMCA'd.  Are mod authors allowed to do such things?  Can they just single out certain servers they are in competition with lol

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by TheWeedMan

[Jappe Hallunken 16]

I believe they can.
Think about this:
Imagine they say, nobody is allowed to repack this without permission. Now everybody ask them and they allow everybody to repack their mod, except for, let's say, 5 servers.

They just did it the other way around, allow everybody to repack except some servers, so they don't have to answer so much repack requests 😉

[TheWeedMan 132]

Ah, cheers bud

[Funkmaster Rick 373]

On 1/29/2022 at 2:32 PM, Jappe Hallunken said:

I believe they can.
Think about this:
Imagine they say, nobody is allowed to repack this without permission. Now everybody ask them and they allow everybody to repack their mod, except for, let's say, 5 servers.

They just did it the other way around, allow everybody to repack except some servers, so they don't have to answer so much repack requests 😉

Not true, sir. The Steam Subscriber Agreement states that:
Workshop Contributions are Subscriptions, and therefore you agree that any Subscriber receiving distribution of your Workshop Contribution will have the same rights to use your Workshop Contribution (and will be subject to the same restrictions) as are set out in this Agreement for any other Subscriptions.

If they can download it on the workshop, you've given a kind of general permission for people to use it. There are no provisions for cutting that permission into pieces and selectively distributing it. You upload, Steam lets anyone download, and the Agreement facilitates that. Any DMCA request should be easily defeated by a link to Section 6 B.

However, if the author adds a EULA that might change. Such a provision is included in the Agreement. I suspect it would have to be somewhat complicated to both allow general use but deny specific servers, and I doubt a modder is going to invest the money into that. They might invest the time, though, but until then you're open for business.

[Jappe Hallunken 16]

We are talking about repacking, not using it on your server, Sir!