Everyone holds the rights to content they created themselves, there's no reason to "file for copyright", it's given that you hold the rights to content you created yourself.

 

However, the problem aren't with copyright as such, it's with licensing, you don't have a license to release a model:

 

A licensor may grant permission to a licensee to distribute products under a trademark. With such a license, the licensee may use the trademark without fear of a claim of trademark infringement by the licensor. The assignment of a license often depends on specific contractual terms.
The most common terms are, that a license is only applicable for a particular geographic region, just for a certain period of time or barely for a stage in the value chain.
Moreover there are different types of fees within the trademark and brand licensing. The first form demands a fee independent of sales and profits, the second type of license fee is dependent on the productivity of the licensee.

Source

 

 

Modders are in direct violation of trade licensing as they have not obtained any license agreements from the real-life manufacturers, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on when talking legal matters.

 

Yes, you do hold copyright over the model you created, but you do not have a license from the license holder to release the model to the public:

The verb license or grant license means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.

A license may be granted by a party ("licensor") to another party("licensee") as an element of an agreement between those parties. A shorthand definition of a license is "an authorization (by the licensor) to use the licensed material (by the licensee)."

In particular, a license may be issued by authorities, to allow an activity that would otherwise be forbidden. It may require paying a fee and/or proving a capability. The requirement may also serve to keep the authorities informed on a type of activity, and to give them the opportunity to set conditions and limitations.

Source

 

 

The modding community relies on good faith between the modders as well as a community that refuses to use mods that are stolen, they can't take legal action in any form.

 

 

Photographers are also required to obtain a license if they are taking photographs on private property.

It's more complicated than that though, you cannot take a photograph of a random stranger and sell it, you need to obtain a contract (license/permission) from anyone who is in the photograph. It's more complicated than that.

interesting point you've brought up there nicolaiB

but i doubt license holder would go after people such as 3d artist and modeler mainly for the reason that if people are making money, if at all, its not that much to try and pursue it as the money the would spend on court fees would outweigh the money gained from the case.

the only time i really see license holders filing a complaint is with game devs such EA and what not purely because they're making a substantial amount of money off of their product. thus a equal understand in met by everyone in society, and really the only time you would really need to pursue a license for something is if your going to be making huge amounts of revenue off of it.

 

as for you last part of your statement it still stands

 

The modding community relies on good faith between the modders as well as a community that refuses to use mods that are stolen, they can't take legal action in any form.

 

 

Photographers are also required to obtain a license if they are taking photographs on private property.

It's more complicated than that though, you cannot take a photograph of a random stranger and sell it, you need to obtain a contract (license/permission) from anyone who is in the photograph. It's more complicated than that.

I cannot agree with Kevin's decision more right now. I can honestly say, I do indeed appreciate the work you do in the community. I myself have a whole deal of respect for you. Also, NicolaiB, you bring up every valid point right there. Hopefully with 5's release people will move on, away from the ways of SA and the ease of ripping/converting.

It's just said that people have to do this to other modders. We are all just here to have a good time and maybe make some new friends and play some GTA 

Edited February 18, 201313 yr by GTAIVCode3

At least people do agree, the whole situation is just uncomfortable at the moment but I do honestly appreciate the advice some of you have given. Keeping to the guidelines, lets get the thread back on track. If there are any developments or changes in my mindset I'll surely update it here. For the mean time though, I'm sticking to what I've said.

 

 

Does this mean that Accurate Studio will also stop making variants on your US-style vehicles, or is it just that *you* will stop doing them? Regardless, that sucks that people are stealing your models.

Edited February 18, 201313 yr by cp702

interesting point you've brought up there nicolaiB

but i doubt license holder would go after people such as 3d artist and modeler mainly for the reason that if people are making money, if at all, its not that much to try and pursue it as the money the would spend on court fees would outweigh the money gained from the case.

the only time i really see license holders filing a complaint is with game devs such EA and what not purely because they're making a substantial amount of money off of their product. thus a equal understand in met by everyone in society, and really the only time you would really need to pursue a license for something is if your going to be making huge amounts of revenue off of it.

 

as for you last part of your statement it still stands

 

The modding community relies on good faith between the modders as well as a community that refuses to use mods that are stolen, they can't take legal action in any form.

 

 

Photographers are also required to obtain a license if they are taking photographs on private property.

It's more complicated than that though, you cannot take a photograph of a random stranger and sell it, you need to obtain a contract (license/permission) from anyone who is in the photograph. It's more complicated than that.

     I was actually told by BPM's host company for his website( I can't post the e-mail because I had to give out a lot of personal data and somebody would say it was altered any way) that you as the creator of that model in particular ,while you do not hold the license for the actual name brand of the vehicle you hold what some may consider the poor mans copy right(as done in the music industry and upheld in court) by putting the read me files in with the model and stating your ownership of that particular model and if you state that you do not wish for it to be used on any other website or for any other game than the one you created it falls under a protected section of the law- no i'm not really saying sue the person, lot's of times these are just little kids .

But you can go after their websites and although they can just put up a new one eventually the rat gets tired of being chased, its how we reduced significantly the crime in NY through the safe city/safe streets program.                      The amounts of hits websites like these get are huge if one person that visits a website takes the responsible role these guys can eventually be retired.But it also falls on the moderators/owners of these websites to work together. 

    For example one of BPM's cars are being promoted on this very site through a skin/link for the car ,that should stop I know exactly how Kevin feels a car that I spent a lot of time modding was stolen and the person who stole it had the nerve to give me credit for giving him the car it is not a good feeling especially when most of them are snot face kids but something can be done it just takes a little bit of effort

Before anybody misunderstands what I have said I by no means am saying that this site promotes stolen models- the moderators can only see one page at a time and they have done very well "policing the site" but it should be made clear that a person promoting a stolen vehicle shall be given ONE warning if they refuse to abide by that rule they will be instantly and permanently banned.

   just know that there are lots of people that stand behind the modders and respect the time and effort it takes to put forth a high quality model

Reckless

                    

Just to make something

clear: we don't aid modders egos here; nor do we support any of the

bullshit the greedy modders out there are responsible for. On this site,

you are allowed to use ripped material or material without the author's

permission, as long as ALL credits are given where due. Ripped model +

wrong credits = instaban. Ripped model + credits = fine. Who cares if

you bruise a few egos, get over yourselves.

Strobe Modding is the new home for stolen modifications. Giving credit does not justify anything. The fact is that it's theft and the models are locked for a purpose. All of the GTA IV community would agree on that and the fact that if you had a brain that wasn't on drugs you would see it clearly; "A person commits theft if he or she knowingly obtains or uses, or endeavors to obtain or to use, the property of another with intent to, either temporarily or permanently deprive..."

 

If RecklASS got out of the house for once and stopped smoking weed(the first step before he tries crack cocaine), he might actually find creating his own 3d models a better enjoyment.

I honestly hate people who fuck up this community. People need to learn to ask for things, that's how I got many of my development stuff, it's not that hard.

 

 

@Kevin Do what you think is best man, take legal action or just ignore the whole thing and hope it "floats" away. I respect you, and your decisions. You have done amazing work, don't let any fuckface destroy your passion.

Edited February 19, 201313 yr by RobertB

I personally don't like locked models, but seeing as modders release their hard work for free, I have no real grounds to complain about anything they want to do with them.

I personally don't like locked models, but seeing as modders release their hard work for free, I have no real grounds to complain about anything they want to do with them.

i can see. It's kinda nerve wrecking to see something that you spent a shit load of time on that means something to you and something u care about and is your own that u produced. It's kanda heartbreaking to see that be ripped and stolen by someone else and clam it theirs.

Its only me that's not going to do it anymore, the other guys in Accurate Studio all use most of my lightbars and parts so they'll probably still be releasing. I'm just not going to supply anything for release anymore that I feel the rippers and stealers would want, that includes giving lightbars out.

 

I'm not taking legal action or anything, I'm just planning on watching the kiddies play in the sandpit and branding all my hard work in their names. Much like what ECH0 is doing with Matthias' old GTA-SA firetrucks.

Strobe Modding is the new home for stolen modifications. Giving credit does not justify anything. The fact is that it's theft and the models are locked for a purpose. All of the GTA IV community would agree on that and the fact that if you had a brain that wasn't on drugs you would see it clearly; "A person commits theft if he or she knowingly obtains or uses, or endeavors to obtain or to use, the property of another with intent to, either temporarily or permanently deprive..."

If RecklASS got out of the house for once and stopped smoking weed(the first step before he tries crack cocaine), he might actually find creating his own 3d models a better enjoyment.

Hope he knows the company that hosts his website goes not share his opinion

@evi you can send that to his host company since you are part of the group working on the car and they will have no choice but to shut him down

Edited February 19, 201313 yr by gatekeeper

Actually, they do have a choice. DMCA notices only really work if there is a credible threat of litigation. You certainly can't issue a takedown unless you own copyright, so the whole group would have to agree. Even then, they could ignore him, and he'd have to sue (which is completely out of the question - lawsuits are expensive, time-consuming, and uncertain; it can be worth it if you're actually making money off the product, but stuff distributed for free isn't normally worth a lawsuit). Technically, the notice puts them at risk of a lawsuit, but if they ignore it, you have to actually follow up. And this is exactly the kind of thing that would get companies like Ford (who *will* file lawsuits if needed) to take notice, which can lead to cease-and-desists.

TL;DR - The legal system is incredibly cubersome, and can lead to further issues, seeing as technically we're all infringing R*'s EULA and duplicating both trademarked names and copyrighted designs without permission.

Wow kinda amazing to see who the members of reckless crew

www.strobemodding.cu.cc

All kids, explains all

does this mean you will not be puting this truck up for download?

does this mean you will not be puting this truck up for download?

 

No, I won't. Reckless wanted that truck too so I'm not going to release it.

No, I won't. Reckless wanted that truck too so I'm not going to release it.

 Smart. You don't even want to see the bs he's been PMing me on strokemodding

Edited February 19, 201313 yr by stickyicky420

So...I pretty Sure your not going to release any more Caprice variations are you?

So...I pretty Sure your not going to release any more Caprice variations are you?

 

I'm not going to, no. Although it makes no sense not to release it since its already been ripped, you should consider that with most of my latest releases I've been adding all of my new scratch made lightbars and parts which those rippers are drooling over to get their hands on. ECH0 ripped EVI's Pierce Velocity from the FBI command center truck and publicly posted it on Strobe, after seeing that, I bet he has cold feet too.

 

Anyhow, I'm sure everyone should understand our positions. Literally anything that we feel they'd want to rip we're not going to release.

 

EDIT:

I've released the proper Hazard HAC5500 siren now for those who were looking for it previously.

 

Download Link

 

Edited February 20, 201313 yr by KevinDV