I've more or less been referring to my Module as "PHoD - The BLACK BOOK" from the start due to a rabid inability to do anything without plastering PHoD all over it in an irritatingly unnecessary way... Though I've had certain Twisted Sinister Fiends in the film industry rip off my (non-NWN) work before now, more than once, I've never really thought about that sort of thing in the NWN Community and my ceaseless appellation of everything I do with overstated "PHoD"s everywhere was never intended to address such issues.
On the other hand, quite apart from the basic assumption that all the Modules on the ABC submission page would say "TITLE" by "AUTHOR" or some such thing, anyone that concerned about "ownership rights" could include their name in the Title for an extra bit of "evidence"... Like "John Carpenter's - The THING" or whatever.
Because let's be fair, true ownership rights don't exist in any legally enforcible way (so far as I know) for material freely submitted to an Internet site like this. The basic copyright laws worldwide are a pretty murky morass even when it comes to professionally released material.
If someone wants to rip off a NWN Community Module, make a few tweaks and stick it back out under another name, however blatantly, I don't think there's any legal recourse for the original author at all in such a situation, save asking the Vault to delete the vile, spurious, plagiarist entry. We, as a community, simply rely upon our fellows not to be Loathsome Sickening Parasitic W Anchors. Or at least that they won't want to be labelled as such.
And as for trying to defend such work from, say, some Hollywood studio who stumbled across it, liked the plot and decided to thieve it, you've got
no chance unless you've got millions of dollars and a lawyer as slimy as the ones they've got.
In other words, too much concern about such a thing is probably both a tad futile and a waste of time, however much it may disturb us personally as creative individuals... There is a very good reason that I have never submitted a Module to the Community before (save the odd little Demo for a Hak).
My "DEMONESS TALES" are based upon stories I've been writing in comic strip form for decades, some of the leading characters including the "Demoness" herself, cluttering up my home in nine foot tall fibreglass and latex glory just to prove how fixated I am - (a house filled with life-size monsters is a constant hazard to model makers, I might add, or maybe just the mad ones).
The series means so much to me personally, the characters, storylines and so forth, that I just won't take the risk of having the material ripped off and messed with by anyone by putting the Modules on the Vault. (Growls hostile fashion at the film industry again).
The ABC is the perfect vehicle for me to do something quick, silly and of no overwhelming importance. (NOT that I'd want anyone messing round with my Module without my permission, naturally).
If anyone has Modules, however proud they are of them, that they don't want to run the risk of being usurped in some way, don't submit them to the Internet, simple as that. Anything that gets posted, anywhere, is under some potential threat of somebody doing something with it we won't like. It's like getting in the ocean. Most sharks ignore you. Just be aware there may just be one who doesn't.
Modifié par PLUSH HYENA of DOOM, 17 février 2013 - 07:07 .
