You misrepresented the truth then. If it was before you even discovered RSC, I have no idea how you could have made a post where you made the accusation you originally did. You did it for a reason, and your information is flawed. You might not know the timeline, but I do, and that's why you shouldn't be the one posting about it. Your original post made no mention of the fact that you could be wrong, you presented it as fact, which means it was wrong, and by every definition a lie. The information certainly wasn't correct, as I'm not sure how I could be involved in anything after I was no longer there, and not even involved in rF at all because I worked for someone else. C'mon yourself...
Great post. It leads back to my original post about modders getting hung up on ownership. The simple fact is, no matter whether you put "Copyright" on your mod, or big signs saying "This is mine, don't copy!", some people will take your work and either change it or convert it to something else. You really only have a few choices: You can keep all your mods to yourself, which is the only way to be absolutely sure they remain untouched. Even if you share them with your league, one of them will share your mods with a friend, and they'll be out there. This protects your work, but does nothing for the sim racing community. Or, you can put your mods out there and then attack anyone who tries to copy them or alter them. We've seen the result of that in rF1 with long, bitter, pointless wars between modders, with accusations on both sides. It splinters the community and no one ever wins or walks away satisfied. Or, like a few other forward thinkers, you can make your mods and put them out there with a message like "I made this. If you make improvements to it, or use it to make your own mod, please let me know about it and keep my name on it as the original maker." And you trust that most of the sim racing community will respect you and your work enough to do just that. It benefits the community as a whole, it helps new modders learn from the work of more experienced ones, and no one wastes their time and energy being angry and resentful. To me, the last option is the only sane one.
So basically what you are saying Wheelzpin is that no one should copyright their work as it would save lots of headaches down the road? I am sorry but why pander to those that disregard the laws rather than side with those that feel everything works better if everyone obeys the laws? The only change in the legal system that I would like to see as far as addressing this issue is that legal fees should always be paid by the loser of a contested issue. In that way, anyone who has a copyright claim can afford to pursue it to his or her satisfaction without worrying about running out of money and the people who are stealing would have to worry about huge legal fees should they be caught doing so. This alone would curtail a great portion of copyright infringements.
No, not at all. I actually agree with what you say in your post. Copyright is a very powerful and important tool for protecting creative works. I just don't think it works for race sim modders. Take a track builder, for example. There are a lot of questions around whether or not someone can even claim copyright on a track that is a replica of an existing track. Game developers spend a lot of money securing licences from the track owners for a reason. If you aren't 100% sure that you can claim copyright (which would mean hiring a solicitor to make sure) it offers no protection. In fact you may be the one infringing copyright. If you build a fantasy track or mod and are positive you can claim copyright, then what? In order to maintain your copyright, you have to defend it against all challenges. That means scouring the various sites and studying every similar work to make sure it isn't using your material. It also means you can't allow others to use your work without setting up licensing and legal agreements, etc. Because if you say "sure, go ahead and build on it", you immediately start losing control of your source material and, if it gets passed on to others, your copyright. It's a lot of effort to go through, and it increases exponentially the more mods and tracks you create. Now say you find someone who has taken your mod or track, and used it to build their own. You can send them a nasty letter, but if you want it have any weight, you need to hire a lawyer to do it. What if they contest it, or simply say "piss off"? In many, if not most, places copyright infringement isn't a crime. It's a civil matter. So you can threaten to take the person to court. If you're looking for money, most likely the case will never be heard. In order to sue someone for a copyright infringement, you must prove (a) you have lost income as a result of the infringement, or (b) the other party has profited. Otherwise, the court is likely to throw out the case because there is not "harm" (in the legal sense) from the infringement. Of course if you have deep pockets and just want the satisfaction of knowing you have a legitimate copyright claim, you can just sue them to stop using your stuff. If you want to create a mod or track to sell (please no payware rants), then it absolutely makes sense to take the time and expense to ensure you have everything in place to properly copyright your material. It also makes sense to do what you need to legally to defend your rights and, if necessary, sue those who infringe it. For the average hobby modder who just wants to learn how to create good mods and offer them freely to the racing community, it just doesn't make any sense to through all of that.
It's not about what you think - it's about what works for the individual modder or group of modders. And "improved versions" or technically flawed rushed conversions to other platforms are NOT to everyones liking - personally I'd hate to se my work molested by some random guy with 3DSimED. And the idea that the "sim-community" is ONE unity spread across multiple platforms is very far stretched... I actually just bought myself a Wacom Intuos 5, since I've recently been having an itch and wanted to get creative and modding again. But this thread sure is deflating everyones motivation...
You should not let that affect you. In the end you want to do modding for yourself. It might sound selfish but I think that is only "healthy" way of practicing this hobby.
I think of modding as throwing a party for a group of friends where drinks are on the house. Rules are pretty simple, leave the furniture where it is and don't steal or break the inventory - if you wanna borrow a DVD, CD or book, just ask. And if you get bored or drunk, go home don't trash the place or start a fight
LOL That was well said... I dont think I really got your point until this... I think part of the problem is that modders are our friends... And you don't screw over your friends...
