Geh

Also, and I need to make this clear, that if the shoe was on the other foot, and I discontinued a Mod, I would consider others' rights to revive it to be implicit . This isn't a "do as I say not as I do" thing. The idea of creating a free product for a community and willingly surrendering it to the owner of the video game it alters by publishing it should inherently come with an obvious agreement that the community should use it collectively. Even Electronic Arts does this in their EULA for "Sims" games.

If I made the Cringe Wonka Mod and wanted to kill it off, I would never throw a tantrum and tell people they can't discontinue it just because I got bored, and when they try to tell me that (let alone insulting me and their subscribers), my answer remains "make me".

Copyright DOES improve creative work. It is MEANT to protect the right of the producer (be it man or company) to produce it for their lifetime, or, in the case of software (which didn't exist at the time they last changed it), until its cancellation of full support.

The problem is that Disney adjusted the laws decades ago to protect themselves. Right now, groups like M$ can keep people from using code they discontinue, do not sell, and will never use again. They will come after you for using code from "Windows 3.1" or "MS-DOS", and there is no reprieve. I simply do not equate a layman's non-commercial derivative, that isn't legally theirs, that he made as a hobby for a video game with no intent or right to sell, with a book or operating system, and I doubt a judge would either.

Indeed, Valve has as much a right to command me to stop as Ludeon- they are the host -and if they did or do, then so be it.

Like I said, this bothers me so much because I have seen this community's treatment of my friend, who made CE Patches, presumably without permission. The way that the Cringe Wonka Mod's development board responded, and how they outright made it clear that they would not only not continue it, but spite those who use it by refusing to fix a V1.3 error , is what made me so mad at them.

The only entity with legal authority to tell me to take something like that down is Ludeon themselves, because they can enforce content and quality control, including stopping Mod development, with impunity. The makers of the Cringe Wonka Mod can appeal to Ludeon if they wish, and I'll do what Ludeon tells me.

To everyone else, once a Mod is discontinued, I say bluntly and fully: make me .

I said that was the last post on the Cringe Wonka Mod, so I won't respond there. I will respond to you, because you wanted to continue the discussion.

I'll just be honest with you, as you were honest to me.

"Windows VII" is a commercial, proprietary software of Microsoft's own design. It was created and patented by them, copyrighted for their exclusive use, and so on. They sell it to make money. It won't be Public Domain for seventy years. A MOD is not the same. A Mod is a derivative of something and is not proprieatory. It is not the same as an original work.
There is no enforcement mechanism, there is no redress in the courts, and there's no way the law would hold up non-commercial fair use, which doesn't need permission.