Hi, in my opinion, it's OK to republish existing outdated Mods if the author does not play the game anymore and will not use the report flag on the duplicate/republished Mod.


The original author must report for Steam Moderators to set a Mod hidden from public view, more info added to the Pin :

Copying Workshop Items (eg. Mods) Guidelines and FAQ
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/workshop/discussions/18446744073709551615/2793874853443195941/?appid=244850

Originally posted by Dan2D3D:

Hi, in my opinion, it's OK to republish existing outdated Mods if the author does not play the game anymore and will not use the report flag on the duplicate/republished Mod.


The original author must report for Steam Moderators to set a Mod hidden from public view, more info added to the Pin :

Copying Workshop Items (eg. Mods) Guidelines and FAQ
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/workshop/discussions/18446744073709551615/2793874853443195941/?appid=244850

this part of the current guidelines is the fundamental source of the issue im describing

[My favorite mod is dead, and the author doesn't respond!
Unfortunately that does happen. However that content is still theirs. Just because something is abandoned does not mean you have free permission to copy it. Remember, the creation is still theirs, you only have permission to use it unless stated otherwise.]

this paragraph does the exact opposite of what is needed to stop mods dying due to absent Authors

furthermore, there are a few truly Wretched cases where an Author lets their mod die but will continue flagging revival attempts because their Ego driven desire to be the Only one TM supersedes the reason they ever put the mod on the workshop in the first place

Worst case if you repiblish and the author reports you

= you will get a Steam Support warning and they will set your Mod hidden so you still can load for presonal use.

Originally posted by The Erubian Warlord:

Originally posted by Dan2D3D:

Hi, in my opinion, it's OK to republish existing outdated Mods if the author does not play the game anymore and will not use the report flag on the duplicate/republished Mod.


The original author must report for Steam Moderators to set a Mod hidden from public view, more info added to the Pin :

Copying Workshop Items (eg. Mods) Guidelines and FAQ
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/workshop/discussions/18446744073709551615/2793874853443195941/?appid=244850

this part of the current guidelines is the fundamental source of the issue im describing

[My favorite mod is dead, and the author doesn't respond!
Unfortunately that does happen. However that content is still theirs. Just because something is abandoned does not mean you have free permission to copy it. Remember, the creation is still theirs, you only have permission to use it unless stated otherwise.]

this paragraph does the exact opposite of what is needed to stop mods dying due to absent Authors

furthermore, there are a few truly Wretched cases where an Author lets their mod die but will continue flagging revival attempts because their Ego driven desire to be the Only one TM supersedes the reason they ever put the mod on the workshop in the first place

Many have proper terms.
Also, do ♥♥♥♥ off with your "I demand your works be owned by me, if You don't work for me for eternity", they put in the work, they put in the expense, they put in the time.
You did not, and want them to do all the work for you and then want them to be forgotten and their efforts to claimed by you for free.

If you really want a mod to be reborn, Actually make it yourself.
It is not ego, to retain the rights to your works.
It is ego to demand that you don't have to do the work to make it yourself.

Modding dies when people refuse to make anything new, and are reliant on others doing it for them.
If your favourite mod died, don't scream at the author that they are evil unless they give up their works to you -- Make your own, support authors that provide licenses for others to work long after.
All your screaming does is reinforce the desire to shut off access & to pull the mods.

If you accepted their terms, and stopped pirating free content, you'd have more mods that allowed reuploads & edits.
Support the authors that Allow the reuploads, and the best way is to actually follow their licenses.

The more people that ignore the licenses, the more that remove mods from steam.
Forcing authors with mods to constantly babysit their content, will result in botted responses and you will have Less content as people will be discouraged from spending the time making new things.


-- Edit :
And yes, before you rant.
My own mods have this reupload policy with basic terms : Link back to the original, and thats all it takes -- which is the standard policy for the last 5~ years.
Its called a reference.

Do you know what spurred so many modders to not allow even this reupload policy? Servers which rebundled & stripped all references to the mod authors, reuploaded in bulk and used the Author names for advertisment while ensuring the authors don't get any feedback past whenever that server bricks the mod.
So the authors got spammed with false error reports due to servers, their own numbers went down dramatically and the servers were using their work to farm donations.

If I found an unmaintained mod that I wanted updated, I'd build up a new one myself. If I didn't have the skills, then I'd find other interested players with the correct skill sets and with combined effort create a new one that is independent and better than the unmaintained one.

That said, I have always tried to appreciate the game without mods. If all my subscribed mods suddenly left, I'd continue my games without them with at most a shrug. I design ships/stations with the knowledge that the mod blocks might disappear at any time.

You always need to as original maker. BTW KEEN is doing this for years just make the mod popular and they Steal... make it vanilla for free

Originally posted by Rusted Droid:

You always need to as original maker. BTW KEEN is doing this for years just make the mod popular and they Steal... make it vanilla for free

They don't "Steal" workshop Mods, they did a survey where 5000 players voted and the majory voted on adding Workshop Mods to the game.

=
So they selected the most wanted Mods, contacted the authors, added the Mods and credited the authors,
-> we can see the Mod author names when we click the "Credit" button in-game.

There's a statement in the republishing rules about mods being abandoned. All we really have to do according to the rules is link and emphasize credit to the original author. I've republished mods that way. Feel free to surf my workshop and see them.

Originally posted by Jack Schitt:

There's a statement in the republishing rules about mods being abandoned. All we really have to do according to the rules is link and emphasize credit to the original author. I've republished mods that way. Feel free to surf my workshop and see them.

my issue comes when modders decide that isnt good enough and because X didnt manage to successfully contact them directly (despite god knows how many tries) that they are infringing and have the reupload struck down thus

A. adding a black mark to that person's account

B. causing all the people that might have been using the reupload's save to break

C. and as often such reuploads are made due to a bug or other issue unless they go out of their way to do the only honorable thing in my opinion for this situation and address said problem with either versioning or a fix depending if the issue is in bad code or implementation (E.G. if a previously vanilla weapon mod suddenly goes WC) then there is a net negative to the community as a whole as they have to reinvent the wheel over and over hoping their code doesn't look enough like someone else's to catch a false claim

what your describing as being Hard rules im fine with but all those "never ever publish this ever because id rather see it broken forever then not feel special" kinds are a blight on modding in any game as far as im concerned

Originally posted by Kreeg:

Originally posted by The Erubian Warlord:

this part of the current guidelines is the fundamental source of the issue im describing

[My favorite mod is dead, and the author doesn't respond!
Unfortunately that does happen. However that content is still theirs. Just because something is abandoned does not mean you have free permission to copy it. Remember, the creation is still theirs, you only have permission to use it unless stated otherwise.]

this paragraph does the exact opposite of what is needed to stop mods dying due to absent Authors

furthermore, there are a few truly Wretched cases where an Author lets their mod die but will continue flagging revival attempts because their Ego driven desire to be the Only one TM supersedes the reason they ever put the mod on the workshop in the first place

Many have proper terms.
Also, do ♥♥♥♥ off with your "I demand your works be owned by me, if You don't work for me for eternity", they put in the work, they put in the expense, they put in the time.
You did not, and want them to do all the work for you and then want them to be forgotten and their efforts to claimed by you for free.

If you really want a mod to be reborn, Actually make it yourself.
It is not ego, to retain the rights to your works.
It is ego to demand that you don't have to do the work to make it yourself.

Modding dies when people refuse to make anything new, and are reliant on others doing it for them.
If your favourite mod died, don't scream at the author that they are evil unless they give up their works to you -- Make your own, support authors that provide licenses for others to work long after.
All your screaming does is reinforce the desire to shut off access & to pull the mods.

If you accepted their terms, and stopped pirating free content, you'd have more mods that allowed reuploads & edits.
Support the authors that Allow the reuploads, and the best way is to actually follow their licenses.

The more people that ignore the licenses, the more that remove mods from steam.
Forcing authors with mods to constantly babysit their content, will result in botted responses and you will have Less content as people will be discouraged from spending the time making new things.


-- Edit :
And yes, before you rant.
My own mods have this reupload policy with basic terms : Link back to the original, and thats all it takes -- which is the standard policy for the last 5~ years.
Its called a reference.

Do you know what spurred so many modders to not allow even this reupload policy? Servers which rebundled & stripped all references to the mod authors, reuploaded in bulk and used the Author names for advertisment while ensuring the authors don't get any feedback past whenever that server bricks the mod.
So the authors got spammed with false error reports due to servers, their own numbers went down dramatically and the servers were using their work to farm donations.

Reference i have no problem with, its ones like Spacebar's and more importantly the ones like his that are no longer being provided maintenance by the original creator that cause unnecessary strife

Originally posted by The Erubian Warlord:

Originally posted by Jack Schitt:

There's a statement in the republishing rules about mods being abandoned. All we really have to do according to the rules is link and emphasize credit to the original author. I've republished mods that way. Feel free to surf my workshop and see them.

my issue comes when modders decide that isnt good enough and because X didnt manage to successfully contact them directly (despite god knows how many tries) that they are infringing and have the reupload struck down thus

A. adding a black mark to that person's account

B. causing all the people that might have been using the reupload's save to break

C. and as often such reuploads are made due to a bug or other issue unless they go out of their way to do the only honorable thing in my opinion for this situation and address said problem with either versioning or a fix depending if the issue is in bad code or implementation (E.G. if a previously vanilla weapon mod suddenly goes WC) then there is a net negative to the community as a whole as they have to reinvent the wheel over and over hoping their code doesn't look enough like someone else's to catch a false claim

what your describing as being Hard rules im fine with but all those "never ever publish this ever because id rather see it broken forever then not feel special" kinds are a blight on modding in any game as far as im concerned

I agree. It sucks when authors are like that. It's a game it's supposed to be fun.

Does a person really get a strike on their account if they republish an abandoned mod the community wants, uses, and loves that the author asked be taken down and remain dead?
I'll re-read the post on the workshop discussions and I'd be interested to see what a moderator says about that. There are apparently more moderators for SE than Dan2D3D. Dan's simply more active and participates instead of just moderating, I think.

Originally posted by The Erubian Warlord:

Originally posted by Kreeg:

Many have proper terms.
Also, do ♥♥♥♥ off with your "I demand your works be owned by me, if You don't work for me for eternity", they put in the work, they put in the expense, they put in the time.
You did not, and want them to do all the work for you and then want them to be forgotten and their efforts to claimed by you for free.

If you really want a mod to be reborn, Actually make it yourself.
It is not ego, to retain the rights to your works.
It is ego to demand that you don't have to do the work to make it yourself.

Modding dies when people refuse to make anything new, and are reliant on others doing it for them.
If your favourite mod died, don't scream at the author that they are evil unless they give up their works to you -- Make your own, support authors that provide licenses for others to work long after.
All your screaming does is reinforce the desire to shut off access & to pull the mods.

If you accepted their terms, and stopped pirating free content, you'd have more mods that allowed reuploads & edits.
Support the authors that Allow the reuploads, and the best way is to actually follow their licenses.

The more people that ignore the licenses, the more that remove mods from steam.
Forcing authors with mods to constantly babysit their content, will result in botted responses and you will have Less content as people will be discouraged from spending the time making new things.


-- Edit :
And yes, before you rant.
My own mods have this reupload policy with basic terms : Link back to the original, and thats all it takes -- which is the standard policy for the last 5~ years.
Its called a reference.

Do you know what spurred so many modders to not allow even this reupload policy? Servers which rebundled & stripped all references to the mod authors, reuploaded in bulk and used the Author names for advertisment while ensuring the authors don't get any feedback past whenever that server bricks the mod.
So the authors got spammed with false error reports due to servers, their own numbers went down dramatically and the servers were using their work to farm donations.

Reference i have no problem with, its ones like Spacebar's and more importantly the ones like his that are no longer being provided maintenance by the original creator that cause unnecessary strife

The solution to that, is to support the ones that have better terms.
Its not to screw over every author , the ones you're ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about : They will just automate updates or patches rendering your entire thing null.

While authors who do have good terms, they get stolen from inside a week as they didn't post enough patches to problems that didn't exist.
In 10 years, I still have mods that don't have anything to fix which means I can't patch unless I want to randomly tick a number on that screen expressively for the purpose of denying theft of the assets.

As when your request comes in, the Original author would get DCMA'd out of their own work.

Originally posted by Jack Schitt:

Originally posted by The Erubian Warlord:

my issue comes when modders decide that isnt good enough and because X didnt manage to successfully contact them directly (despite god knows how many tries) that they are infringing and have the reupload struck down thus

A. adding a black mark to that person's account

B. causing all the people that might have been using the reupload's save to break

C. and as often such reuploads are made due to a bug or other issue unless they go out of their way to do the only honorable thing in my opinion for this situation and address said problem with either versioning or a fix depending if the issue is in bad code or implementation (E.G. if a previously vanilla weapon mod suddenly goes WC) then there is a net negative to the community as a whole as they have to reinvent the wheel over and over hoping their code doesn't look enough like someone else's to catch a false claim

what your describing as being Hard rules im fine with but all those "never ever publish this ever because id rather see it broken forever then not feel special" kinds are a blight on modding in any game as far as im concerned

I agree. It sucks when authors are like that. It's a game it's supposed to be fun.

Does a person really get a strike on their account if they republish an abandoned mod the community wants, uses, and loves that the author asked be taken down and remain dead?
I'll re-read the post on the workshop discussions and I'd be interested to see what a moderator says about that. There are apparently more moderators for SE than Dan2D3D. Dan's simply more active and participates instead of just moderating, I think.

DCMA is a serious thing, so Yes. If a User on a platform, does infact do this and the proper legal paperwork filed (DCMA is an entire legal process), they can get striked or banned.

As its literally lawsuite papers.
As it doesn't matter if someone calls a mod "abandoned ", people do that inside a week or days if they want something.
Servers call any mod they can't republish under their own name "broken" for christs sake.

I usually specify on my Workshop items, all Worlds and Blueprints, that all can Republish but not the same for Mods and when the author specified not to republish.

I also saw VALVE Support preventing the authors of reported ship Blueprint from using the Steam Workshop while they investigate :
-> they take time to try both Workshop items and will set the Duplicate hidden with a warning to the member.
-> and reset back the Workshop access to the authors once investigation completed.

+
Ban the member from using the Workhop when doing it again so repblishing existing items where the original author do the DMCA report again.


EDIT

At the end
=
Always best to ask permission first.

Thanks, Dan.

I've been careful about republishing only the ones I have permission to OR that are abandoned and the author welcomes republishing. I do also agree with the complaint on this subject though.

I think where this can become an issue is when an author takes the recommended step of contacting the re-publisher first, request the copy is taken down, the re-publisher refuses or ignores leaving the author with no choice but to address it with DMCA.

It's peaceful in a perfect world. We can have a bubble if we want.
...and some a-hole can pop the bubble if they want.