Is it opensource kind of free-for-all just say thank you in your Readme, or should I be asking permission if I borrow a weapon or something?

Typically if you look in the readme or post/page for the mod, the modder will have a small sentence or paragraph detailing how they expect people to use the content they've created.

If you plan on using anything really from another mod, definitely credit them in your mod, and unless the readme or post/page of the mod says otherwise, always ask for permission before hand, it's what's expected.

You should ask for permision. Anyway, some moders include the permision to use some of all the resources in their thread, page or readme.

on nexus and i think common sense in general: by default, permission = denied unless otherwise stated or if you ask directly

Always ask unless the mod's documentation says you don't need to. Common courtesy, morally right, and also legally required.

Unless the readme says otherwise, you must ask permission from the author.

Why is this? There is every chance that the mod author either made that model/texture themself (hence it is their property) or they could have even gotten it from someone else under another permission.



Mods are not opensource free-for-all.......Bethesda has a lot of powers over taking mods, but other modders have none.

There are some things you can borrow from other mods: ideas, techniques, and algorithms. Although even here, it's considered courtesy to acknowledge the source.

This means anything. Unless they explicitely state 'You can use this wherever, I don't care.' you should always ask them first.

Thanks guys. As it turned out, I don't like any of the weapons others have made that I've found anyhow. How many Buster Swords does the internet need?

I'm not sure if that was addressed at my post using PhineusMaster's as support, or just generally. Still, to expand on my point a little...

There's still no copyright on ideas or algorithms. If I've always wanted to do a mod with a race of neon-green kajiit and you release one first, you can't stop me from releasing mine just because you were first to release. Even if I'm directly inspired by your green kajiit, it's courtesy for me to acknowledge that, but I'm still not required to ask permission before making my own. Now if I take your meshes or textures unasked, then you have a clear cause for complaint, but if I make my own assets, I'm fine.

Similarly, if you work out a neat way of adding new animations, I don't need to ask you if I can use it. If I use your code without permission you can rightfully go ballistic, but if I make my own implementation of your technique, that's perfectly allowable. Courtesy demands an acknowledgment in such cases, but not permission.

See also recent discussion on http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1351411-voluntary-sharing-of-open-content-between-modders/page__fromsearch__1.

The idea behind open licensing is to protect authors, remove the overhead of asking for permission, and give everyone equal rights.

You can show your support for open content by making, using and promoting it.

Well yeah, to a point. New methods; do not need permissions to use. If it involves using the Creation Kit and it's tools, you aren't stealing anything, you are using a licensed tool in a convenient way. However, with ideas it depends. If it's a generic concept, that you also had, go ahead and do it. Like if i made new steel weapons, you could make new steel weapons as well, you arent stealing. You are making the same conceptual item. But if I make a Nord named Joe who goes to Crack Haven Mine to save his daughter Eliza, and you make a mod that adds a nord named Joe who goes to Brack Haven Mine to save his daughter Elize; it's going to be obvious you copied my idea and changed the names slightly, and I may go after you. That would be a dike move.

So ideas DO have 'copyright' (as far as not being a dike and stealing them) but not generic or conceptual ones, like how to use the tools, or an overall idea.

Rule of Thumb, ask for permission first and always give credit, even if you say, "This mod was inspired by XYZ Mod by ABC Modder"

Yes, plagarism is a bad thing, and yes, the edge cases can be very tricky to determine. And yes, blatant plagarism such as you describe is a valid cause for complaint.

All the same, I think my point was sufficient to demonstrate that your comment


... simply isn't true.

Now if you want to amend that to "this means anything apart from ideas, algorithms and techniques, but please note that plots and character names may be a grey area" and I won't have a problem with any of what you say. Otherwise I'll continue to take issue with the sweeping generalisation.

Hopefully I can say that without it being considered a "dike move".


It's a good rule of thumb. And as long as we understand it as such, it's excellent advice.

Giving credit is obviously good practice (and may even be a requirement, if, for example, an open source license applies).

If the author is silent about reuse, then perhaps a more neutral approach is to ask what their terms are.

That hopefully acknowledges sensitivity and diversity.

If the author indicates that the material is open, all well and good. Otherwise, we can decide whether to ask for permission or walk away.

In my experience, the "silent majority" includes both people who expect an authorisation request and others who think this hobby is about sharing.

P.S. The post I have quoted was in the specific context of how ideas are used, but my comment is a general one.

Hm yeah I noticed this, you get various requests from modders too. I was looking for a mod so I could put some crazy giant mushroom trees into my landmass of Morrowind I've made, and a guy had made some pretty cool ones - only problem was he stipulated that he did not want his mod circulating on Steam - just the Nexus. Personally I thought this prejudice against a certain method of distribution was daft, but it's his mod and since I'm personally unsure as to whether I would want to limit my distribution to nexus-only then as far as I was concerned my only option was to walk away.

The reason for this is misinterpretations of Steam's eula. Some feel that the terms of use are worded in such a way that uploading files to Steam gives them complete ownership of the mod and assets. There's been a number of debates about this - such as if another person uploads his assets to Steam, will steam still have 'control' over his assets. There's a lot of debates and I'm not sure if it's a good idea to start one up on this thread/

Quite agree, that would be off-topic. However, God_made_me_do_it gave an excellent example of the diversity of terms out there, and a situation in which we might decide to walk away. I'm sure there are many others.

Actually, if you check the EULA for the CK, all Skyrim mods belong to Bethesda...so the "Legally Required" above doesn't apply, though "Don't be a weaselly jerk and swipe someone's stuff without giving them credit" does.

Of course, that's another controversial and much-discussed assertion. Does it help the OP to go down that road again?

Again, let's not get into this as it generally goes nowhere; but that only applies to files made WITH the CK, as in the esp/esm files. If I pay a voice actor to record 200 lines of dialogue, or record some sword fighting sounds, it becomes disputable that I own the rights to my own material. (Made independantly of a Bethesda program)

Again, though, let's not get into it.

Just always ask for permission. If you don't get a reponse for like, two weeks, and it doesn't otherwise explicitely state anywhere that you must ask, then use at your own risk. If the person were to return and reply saying 'no', then you would have to cut their content out of your mod.

In any case, I http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1353641-tools-implementing-a-linked-list-in-papyrus/ how I did whatever I did (Even posting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Tf5-ksImgdemonstrating them in action)

By all means, use anything I post anywhere if it will help you make your own mods work better, and I don't care if I get credit or not, but by all means attribute me if you want in your readme or whatever.

Other modders may be less openly sharing though, so yah, ask permission if you don't want them getting in a snit.

Does telling them they're "Legalliy Obligated" to ask permission when they're clearly NOT help the OP?

Yes, because it can potentially help the OP avoid being shunned from the community as a thief, or perhaps even being sued should someone wish to pursue it far enough.

US Copyright law is crystal clear on this, and Bethesda's EULA can't trump that for things not generated using it.

I didn't say that. I find open licensing easier and fairer than the "ask permission" approach, though I recognise that some people prefer the latter.

The Creative Commons license requires authors of derivative works to give credit. The author's preferences (e.g. "please notify me if you use this") may also be considered as license terms.

The comment which I queried was "all Skyrim mods belong to Bethesda...".


Perhaps some people think all novels made with Office belong to Microsoft, too, but let's not go there. Unless you're aware of case law to support your assertion, the most you can say is that "some people interpret the EULA in this way, but that's widely contested and unproven". I hope that summaries both sides of the argument, so we can let this aspect drop now!