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Comment by probablyfiction | Hacker News Reader

Because modders are using Bethesda's copyrighted intellectual property as the base for their mods. Bethesda deserves a cut because it's their IP.

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How are mods their IP? if you add an asset, or you REPLACE an asset. In most cases that's YOUR IP. When I added a M1A1 tank to Battlefield 1942 as a kid, I made the model, I made the textures, I wrote the code for it. The fact that a user places those new assets in a directory in such a way that someone else reads and uses them doesn't mean i'm using their IP.

So if a modder builds their mod on top of someone elses mod , charges for it and refuses the pay other modder you'd be ok with that?

We do the same thing with code and as long as the license is respected, things go smoothly. There's no reason it can't work with mods.

> as long as the license is respected

That seems to leave a pretty huge area for a license that requires payment.

I'd be very okay with it. Then I could charge for my mod, and if their mod is popular it would probably help me sell more.

You're still using their engine and their world. Just because I bring a dish to someone's house doesn't mean I own it. (Of course, in this case, you own the house and you're bringing the dish.. so.. doesn't really work as well)

Of course, this goes back to what was posted last week about true ownership of products (John Deere issue). I'd say you're still right because we've already paid them for their portion of it by buying the game. Not to mention, they'd likely make more money because people have to buy it to use your content.

They already got their cut for the use of their IP.

Still, Bethesda is notoriously greedy... I think many people still remember their Horse Armour DLC.

This silly item kickstarted whole DLC market. I'm not saying its a good or bad thing but its a very big market now.

If anything, modders create demand for the original product. You can't play the mod if you don't own the game. Something like DayZ was a major driver of ARMA2 demand.

How are all mods using Bethesda IP? Surely one could make a simple sphere, import it to the game (and any other game) and call it a mod.

It's the same as making a remix of a song. The base of your new version is still the original authors work, so the author deserves a cut. A mod is akin to a remix of the game, and that remix is still mostly Bethesda assets, not to mention running atop their engine.

The game still has to be paid for to play the mod. Bethesda _already_ got their cut when the user paid for the game before even considering the mod.

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