I'm not sure if this is the most optimal place for this thread, but there are other Workshop Threads on here so I thought it'd be a fitting place.

The Steam Workshop has been a great place so far in my opinion, to download simple mods and upload them there as well, while I still stick to the Nexus for overhauls n' such.

But recently the Workshop has me very worried, when I noticed http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198039875932/myworkshopfiles/ user has been uploading models ripped straight from Morrowind, he hasn't even retextured them at all. Obviously, this is in direct violation of the TOS of the creation kit. As we all know projects like Morroblivion have had to deal with the restrictions of being able to upload content owned by Bethesda.

When I saw the mod I immediately thought that it would be taken down in a matter of days at most, and went on subbing that day. But after two weeks I come back, and there are even more collections from him ripped straight from Morrowind, they even made it into the top 10 most popular list. So now I am genuinely confused, is there not a TOS policy for Steamworks which prevents this very thing? Or is the moderation of Steamworks lacking? I'm actually inclined to go with the former, since I have seen several child killing mods and the like removed within hours of an upload.

Does this mean all workshop users can start publishing other modders content as well? I mean, if you can get away with ripping Bethesda's content, I don't see what prevents modders content from being any more protected?

I don't know, the whole thing has me just a little miffed that he could get away with something like this for so long, between his mods Bethesda's content has been downloaded at least 5 thousand times now. And when hearing about the implications of possible issue the modder said

"no offence but i really dont care and Im the one who matters here."

Sorry, but shouldn't the modding community matter a bit more than the individual? And if this guy can get away with doing this, I think overhaul projects for Oblivion and Morrowind into Skyrim should be allowed to go forward without a hitch, at least they are about the community and not themselves.

Am I the only one feeling this way? Am I just getting a little worked up over something that is NBD?

As rightly miffed about the situation as you are, it really isn't something to dwell on. If you've reported the issue to the people who need to know (Bethesda/Valve/Whatsis) and nothing was done, well... now we know that their enforcement of TOS policy means diddly squat.

Me, I think maybe they're just slow to act, since somebody has to actually go in and test out if those weapons really are ripped copies from Morrowind. Since if they don't there will be even more drama about taking down a mod that only had similar weapons.

Why do you care?

It's not like Bethesda is actually losing anything from someone putting them into Skyrim...

Ripping content from one game and releasing it for another is illegal and not tolerated. If you find mods like this you should contact one of Bethesda's community managers (Gstaff or Nick).

I've alerted them to the mod you've linked to.

And going 120 down the highway just once might not get anyone hurt. The point is that it's illegal and doing it shows a blatant immaturity and lack of respect.

Some of this douches posts...

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198039875932 [author] Apr 8, 2012 @ 8:47am
I have...ways to get my games back

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198039875932

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198039875932 [author] Apr 8, 2012 @ 8:46am
You dont need to say sorry so far nothing has been done about it so I am content to continue doing this and honestly I dont care about legal concerns and nothing you say will change this I also dont care if this acount is banned

Bet he would care if he had a nice little lawsuit filed against him. Would also teach other tools like him a nice lesson. Makes the rest of the modding community look bad.

Except that's actually dangerous because you still have a pretty high chance of hurting someone. It's not a good anology, ripping models from a 10 year old game isn't doing that at all.

It's Bethesda's property and if they don't feel like doing anything about it, they don't have to. What's the problem?

Which is why you'll notice I didn't say 'But you shouldn't do it because you could crash' I focused on the other part of it entirely.

Well here's a better anology: It is illegal to http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/135172/new_black_panther_partys_bountybut some people do it anyway. Even if nothing is done about it, Does that make it right?

Hit the report button on each of the mods, let Valve sort it out. Enough reports, someone is bound to look into the issue.

If nothing gets done though, it sets a horrible precedent in the modding community.

Now that's interesting. I'm eager to see how that turns out. After all Bethesda surely has an interest in strengthening the workshop towards the Nexus and this is something which would be banned from the Nexus in no time I'm sure. How amusing...
Does anybody know if it would be at all legal for Bethesda to ignore or even endorse this?

They aren't yet ignoring it. They may not even know about it. And ignoring isn't endorsing, and nowhere would they endorse it. You seem to just love to slander Bethesda for no reason...

Oh my, so you're one of the real big fans. Reminds me of a certain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbU_YqGZF5Yfrom Oblivion (oh, and I adore Bethesda for that one...)
No, I only enjoy making a joke out of copyright, as it turns out to be more and more something absurd. And if software companies do the same thing then I enjoy this even more.
(This to the moderators: being against copyright in its current form is not similar to endorsing piracy but a legitimate political standpoint, so don't even think about it! I do not endorse piracy!)

But I must admit that I sometimes get a little mad at Bethesda, yes - but not because of this specific topic, which I rather find amusing. If they help undermining (the current) copyright in the long term then I don't know why I should slander them...

But the reason you shouldn't do it IS because you could crash and hurt someone or yourself, not because of the other part. The other part is totally meaningless. But anyway, it's not a philosophy debate thread, so this is my last post.

That's exactly what I'm saying, the other part isn't meaningless... It's illegal, so you should respect the law, and not do it. If you think it's a stupid law, do something to get rid of it.

As a modder, the reason you should care is because if they don't care about stealing content from Bethesda, they don't care about stealing from you either. These aren't the kinds of people we want in our community.

I would love to see gamesas give the green light to a SkyMorObilivion, and I've never understood why porting content from one Elder Scrolls game to another is illegal. But the law's the law. I especially don't like this modder's attitude. If he doesn't care about getting banned, what else does he not care about? The contents of the files he uploads? The modding community? The hard work of other modders?

I'm not going to explain the whole thing, but basically when they make the game, not all the content is created internally, and that which isn't is usually licensed to just that one game. Therefor they don't even have the rights to use some of the stuff in newer games. They could most likely easily obtain the rights to do so, (Or maybe legally they can force the rights or something) but the objects are not licensed to go into other games, which is why it's illegal.

Yeah, basically, imagine contract modeller Fred designs a series of goblin models under contract with Bethesda. Bethesda pays him for the right to use those models in Morrowind. That does NOT automatically give them the rights to re-use those models in later games like Oblivion or Skyrim. If they wanted to do so, they would have to pay Fred again.

If they Don't pay Fred, or they allow someone ELSE to use those models in one of their other games without Fred's permission, Fred can sue the pants off them.

Actually.... if you're against copyright, what other position is there than the advocacy of piracy? Surely you don't expect companies to just let the world go nuts and start making millions of copies of stuff, do you? Either that or software communism, but I can't really see how that works in modern society either.

May as well face it. It's here to stay, and it provides a perfectly legitimate protection to the authors. One so important it ended up as part of our Constitution.

That means companies get to license their stuff however they see fit. If that means you pay $60 for a copy of Skyrim, so be it. If that means only Bethesda is allowed to cross-port assets from one game to another, too bad. If that means they do something you think is silly, you're free to become a test case in court if you like. You'll lose though. You don't have that kind of money.

Many companies (from garage start-ups to Google) support Open Source these days, because they judge that it's often more cost-effective to share components.

Some modders use open licenses, too, valuing community creativity above the unlikely prospect of commercial gain.

Copyright really only got started when printing took off. The internet is another major technology change, so it's not surprising that some ask whether there's a better way of doing things.

None of that is about advocating piracy, which I condemn because it's killing the golden goose.

The Open Source movement is voluntary and non-dogmatic, generally recognising that copyright still adds value in some commercial situations.

So if Bethesda wants or needs to prevent the reuse of components from one game in another, that's fine by me.

I don't think that's why most people don't say 'Anyone can use my stuff wherever.' Take me for example, I don't simply say 'Take what you want, whatever.' but if someone where to ask, I would let them use damn near anything I make. Assuming they are doing their own thing with it, and I get some simple credit for what they use. I think that says a lot in itself, because I'm here for a job, yet I don't meticulously safeguard my work. I simply want to know where it's being used, and why. And I have a right to. I pour hundreds of hours into my works, so if someone 'stole' one of them, that would just svck.

Right, it's about EGO instead.

Open Source doesn't mean something has no copyright. Open modding is also built on the same foundation.

Both of them operate on a liberalizes license for permission to do certain things. Copyright attached the moment any of them produced a tangible work. Without a license, there is no right for anyone but the owner to do anything. So yes, again, there's no other real position to take if you're against the idea of copyright. There's no other alternative other than legal anarchy. History has proven that doesn't work.

No, it's about not wanting to spend 500 hours making something just to have someone else paste their name onto it. If you think me wanting credit for my hundreds of hours toiled away creating something makes me have a bloated ego, then so be it. Think that.