modding games? illegal? legal?

[jezza.boi]

just wondering guys but is modding games legal or illegal?

[Xeauron]

No, as long as you aren't redistributing the modified version of the game in question.

If you were to, say, release a patcher program which mods the game you'd be fine. However if you were to distribute modified files from the game then you'd be vulnerable from a legal standpoint.

Though I'm sure the game companies would argue that you don't actually own the material on the disc, more like you're licensed to play it. I would argue it's your game, so modify it till your hearts content.

To this day I don't think there has ever been a major law suit (or minor) which involved a user being penalised for modding a game he or she owned.

[garyopa]

No, as long as you aren't redistributing the modified version of the game in question.

If you were to, say, release a patcher program which mods the game you'd be fine. However if you were to distribute modified files from the game then you'd be vulnerable from a legal standpoint.

Though I'm sure the game companies would argue that you don't actually own the material on the disc, more like you're licensed to play it. I would argue it's your game, so modify it till your hearts content.

To this day I don't think there has ever been a major law suit (or minor) which involved a user being penalised for modding a game he or she owned.

This is the only famous case:

Gamasutra - News - Tecmo Settles Nude Patch Lawsuit

Moving this thread to our "PS3 Game Modding Section"!

[Muffy]

I think it is one of those "grey" areas. Back when i used to play online FPS games and in particular when Call of Duty first came out on the pc there were some extensive mods that came out.
The game developers then seemed to take the best bits of those mods and incorporated them in COD 2. So i think modding in a way has a beneficial side of it for the devs also they are not losing out on any sales when games are modded unlike when they are pirated.


The Tecmo incident Gary mentions is a rarity and they probably only kicked up a fuss because of the nudity issue.

[KainUK]

The only time I've ever known it be a legal issue is when the modders charge for the mod and thus make money. This is even more of an issue if any original game files are included.

Modding and distributing the files for free seems to be ok. Just look at all the Fallout 3 and Oblivion mods! Hell, even Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2 and Morrowind were heavily modded too!

[Xeauron]

This is the only famous case:

Gamasutra - News - Tecmo Settles Nude Patch Lawsuit

Moving this thread to our "PS3 Game Modding Section"!

I can kinda see where they were coming from, they probably had to take some sort of action for appearences sake. So it didn't look like it was something added in but unlocked by hackers like hot coffee.

Though the only difference being is that I'm sure R* didn't give a shit when that patch surfaced. If I remember correctly their attitude was "Well we locked it out....meh...."

[garyopa]

Well it seems Blizzard now has lawsuit going on now, with some smart Canadian hackers that been modding their Starcraft II game:

Blizzard sues Starcraft II hackers - News at GameSpot

Not sure how they are going to pull us Canadians into a USA court, but they are trying.

Again, modding games for fun does not seem to be problem if you do it for your own private usage, and keep it inside your home.

But it is problem now, if you go online and start selling this mods, and they are for games that are also online, then you can expect to see some nice lawyers in suits knocking at your door!

[jezza.boi]

its that i posted on nexon about fallout 3 mods for ps3 and some dude is like get heaps of cash and a lawyer then this other guy was like nexon doesnt associate with mods on the ps3 or something like that.. so i jsut had to find out if it was legal or not

[Ex-Cyber]

The legality of modding can be tricky. I only know some of the USA law on this. Altering a legit copy of a game is not illegal in general (the well-known ruling is Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc., aka "the Game Genie case"). However, in creating a mod you might violate the DMCA (by decrypting the original game assets if they are encrypted, which I'm pretty sure they are for any licensed PS3 game) and in distributing a mod you might infringe copyright on the game, depending on how the files are structured and how you went about creating them (e.g. if you distribute a patched version of one of the game's original files, or use a partially-stripped version of a game file as a template for your "new" assets). Even patch files sometimes carry context information that might contain copyright-protected code/data.

[jezza.boi]

The legality of modding can be tricky. I only know some of the USA law on this. Altering a legit copy of a game is not illegal in general (the well-known ruling is Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc., aka "the Game Genie case"). However, in creating a mod you might violate the DMCA (by decrypting the original game assets if they are encrypted, which I'm pretty sure they are for any licensed PS3 game) and in distributing a mod you might infringe copyright on the game, depending on how the files are structured and how you went about creating them (e.g. if you distribute a patched version of one of the game's original files, or use a partially-stripped version of a game file as a template for your "new" assets). Even patch files sometimes carry context information that might contain copyright-protected code/data.

what if im not distributing just for my own entertainment.. fallout 3 was the game i was trying to mod and from what i found on the disk its just about the same for the PC version. I dont beleive it was encrypted because there wasnt no coding involved.