Space Voyager Posted September 18, 2012 Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 I'm posting this because I think modding should be free and without constrains, which is also in tune with the recent EU court ruling on ownership of bought software. Dear StrategyCore, I would like to inform you of a Lord of the Rings fan modification of the Elder Scrolls Skyrim, which has recently been issued a cease and desist letter from Warner Brothers Entertainment. The mod's name is MERP (Middle earth Roleplaying Project), which has been in development since before 2008 (though then for a different game). Since then, the team has matured and the mod has seen a huge boost in quality, fan support and developemnt experience. Now we need all the support we can get from fans, other modders, game websites, famous people and whoever can help to spread news about our current situation to show Warner Bros. how much everyone cares about our project. After contact with Warner Brothers, they did not permit us to continue the project privately with no public releases. We have contact with a lawyer who is trying to argue our case as transformative and under 'fair use', but we also need all the support we can get! Please help our cause, and spread the news and don't let this awesome non-profit project come to an end! We have a petition, facebook pages, and a twitter hashtag – #SaveMERP Facebook: Facebook.com Petition: Gopetition.com Our main news and blog site is: Moddb.com Please help us and spread the news! Together we can save MERP! --MERP fans and gamers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted September 18, 2012 Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 Maybe they should change the project location to china? They could also make it a closed project (not public) but it could be accessed by anyone if they will know how to look for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azrael Strife Posted September 18, 2012 Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 Maybe they should change the project location to china? They could also make it a closed project (not public) but it could be accessed by anyone if they will know how to look for it.That's not the point, the point is that WB does not have the right to do this, they're just trying to scare them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Voyager Posted September 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 Exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted September 18, 2012 Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 They have the rights because as I read Middle Earth is copyrighted so you can't use it in public without permission. The only thing I can agree is that this is just plain silly - but you know America... If you also follow some clues - there is a Hobbit pub in England that also was threatened, but I don't know how they handled this. So like I said the best way to solve this without having to battle the army of lawyers is to move the project to country who doesn't respect copyrights or go to underground so the project is private shared among "friends". It's just the same if you want a brand in game you have to pay licensing fee - that is sometimes you don't see particular cars in NFS or some weapons names in some games (for example Stalker) are changed. Another way for them to continue their work is just to change name - you know Middle Earth is also known as Midgard and I don't think that word can be copyrighted as it comes from Norse mythology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azrael Strife Posted September 18, 2012 Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 I think none of us are lawyers, so we cannot know for sure. I've read that if you make fair use of copyrighted material, they cannot sue you; a free mod for another game would probably constitute fair use. The same as Black Mesa recreates the original Half Life and they distribute it for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted September 18, 2012 Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 But they have blessings of Valve. Also Valve is nice to someone who uses Source engine. WB, Sony, and all others aren't that nice. You know that they have plenty of lawyers who don't know crap about gamin and stuff that is why in such cases you must find a way to bend the law instead of fighting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Voyager Posted September 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 I think none of us are lawyers, so we cannot know for sure. I've read that if you make fair use of copyrighted material, they cannot sue you; a free mod for another game would probably constitute fair use. The same as Black Mesa recreates the original Half Life and they distribute it for free.AFAIK the main problem is creating the material. If you have copy-pasted textures for instance it is a violation of copyright rights, otherwise it is not supposed to be. But you are definitely correct - I'm not a lawyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azrael Strife Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 Indeed, but projects like MERP do take good care in not using any of the source material, to be safe. I don't know if in the case of NOT using any source material, copyrights would be infringed. I suspect it's not, but big corporations try to scare you anyway, they have tons of money to waste in legal battles anyway, it's no trouble for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Voyager Posted September 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 Plus a simple denial of consent is free for all, he he he! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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