Policy on abandoned mods.

[ptbptb]

I believe that the present policy on mod re-use would not allow a mod to be updated or altered by a different user in the event that the mod's creator left the Transcendence community and became uncontactable.

This affects mods like The Almighty Wrench that are promising, but not fully usable at the present.

It may be that, for reasons of copyright, there is no alternative for existing mods whose creators have gone. However I do have an idea that would, without stepping on anybody's rights, open things up a bit for new and current users.

I suggest that the preferences in Xelerus include a "Mod will" checkbox entry. Something to the effect of ...

Code: Select all

[ ] In the event that I become uncontactable, and after a six month period 
of not logging in to Xelerus, I release my mods to the community that 
others may create updated/altered versions of them under their own account.

Obviously exact phrasing would need to be agreed.

[alterecco]

I like that idea. Personally I have put my mods in public domain, but I did not specify it in every mod... perhaps one should?

[ptbptb]

I like that idea. Personally I have put my mods in public domain, but I did not specify it in every mod... perhaps one should?

I think such information should be clearly visible, in a standard format, in the Xelerus entry. Otherwise people might be put off before downloading if they want to reuse most of your mod (as opposed to using it as a reference). (Mods in Developer's Vault are pretty much fair game, though IIRC).

[alterecco]

I agree it would be nice to have on xelerus. Would just require some effort from Bimbels side.

[LordSutekh]

I like this idea and agree that the Xelerus entry is the best place to put it.

[Song]

If taking an unfinished project made by someone who isn't here any more and finishing it will benefit both the way we can play the game, and give new ideas to new faces.....then sure, why not? It's a good idea.

[digdug]

I would like to take this opportunity and say that all my mods can be edited and reused anytime, as soon as the new author cites my name.

About mods like the almighty wrench, maybe what we need is a rule for upgrading mods to 1.01 ?
It would be nice to upgrade all the mods on xelerus.

[alterecco]

About mods like the almighty wrench, maybe what we need is a rule for upgrading mods to 1.01 ?

At the very least, we should be able to mark mods as "not working in current version". As for upgrading mods, that should be up to the original author, otherwise we will end up with several versions of the same mod, and that would be a mess, imo. For those authors that have left the community, perhaps we can come up with some solution.

[bimbel]

I'm currently reworking several things on xelerus though as my study takes up much of my time and I only have very limited free time it'll take some (more) time

[Atarlost]

Actually, I think abandoned mods can be updated under fair use. Derivative works are perfectly legal in the U.S. where most of the sites associated with Transcendence are based. If Germany's copyright laws are more stringent they may not be hostable on Xelerus, but I think the protection for derivative works is pretty much standard.

[ptbptb]

Actually, I think abandoned mods can be updated under fair use.

I can't find it right now, but (somewhere) on the Transcendence Wiki there's a bit about when you are / aren't allowed to reuse other's mods wholesale. So, legal position aside, there is still the policy side of things that needs to be clear.

[Atarlost]

Actually, I think abandoned mods can be updated under fair use.

I can't find it right now, but (somewhere) on the Transcendence Wiki there's a bit about when you are / aren't allowed to reuse other's mods wholesale. So, legal position aside, there is still the policy side of things that needs to be clear.

Yeah, but as long as the Xelerus terms of use have the standard "subject to change without notice" boilerplate the policy can be changed to allow abandoned mods to be adopted for some value of abandoned, and it can retroactively effect old mods. At least I think it can. I'm not a lawyer and certainly not a German lawyer.

[bimbel]

I guess I could write some decent T.O.S. to state these things and in order to upload things you need to accept these!

ALl the major companies do these things like you "you lose an right to the things you upload to our service"

THough it already aches my head now to transfer all the old mods to the new system

[Arisaya]

Actually, I think abandoned mods can be updated under fair use.

I can't find it right now, but (somewhere) on the Transcendence Wiki there's a bit about when you are / aren't allowed to reuse other's mods wholesale. So, legal position aside, there is still the policy side of things that needs to be clear.

the reason for that was that people were making duplicate mods and also stealing mods

[Prophet]

I say it should be a ToS when you sign up for an account on Xelerus. A simple little check box that says "I hereby acknowledge that any file(s) submitted to this site is released into the public domain and may be freely copied, modified, and/or distributed openly." in addition to any other legalese stuff like Xelerus.de will not be responsible for any copyright infringement of any file, document, image, etc... hosted on the site.
I am obviously not a lawyer