Institutional Hypocrisy: FtB's role in infringing Mojang's copyright.

[SilvasRuin]

Between the Mojang employee repeatedly seen playing with these mods on YouTube and more, Mojang's continued silence with regards to taking up legal issues with modders, the comparisons implied between Tekkit and FTB, and the name the OP chose, especially the name the OP chose, I have been unable to take the OP at all seriously.

There's a difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Mojang and Notch especially have demonstrated a philosophy that recognizes this difference and more often than not err on the side of spirit of the law. Anyone who attacks a mod community for not following the letter of the law of Mojang's ToS has clearly not paid attention to Mojang's actions and Notch's blog. It's not telepathy, it's paying attention. If you are trying to FORCE Mojang to take action to preserve their legal credibility, then bravo sir, you are an ass to them as well as mod communities in general. They aren't a bunch of ignoramuses that need anyone's "help" or "protection" in this regard.

 

[thesonofdarwin]

Quite a few people here are getting unnecessarily defensive. FTB was essentially advertised across the internet boards (by individuals on the modpack team) as a great pack because it had permissions. That's why, when choosing mods, I came here. The only difference between this and using mods without permissions is one was a violation of ethics and the other likely a violation of legality. All that needs done here is to acquire permission from one last author, Mojang. Lack of explicit response is not equatable to approval, otherwise this is where the hypocrisy enters.

Sure, the Minecraft site says don't do it. So do many mod author's pages. Yet, asking for permission seems to have worked in these cases. I'm glad to see the Slowpoke did what was right. I hope, however, that he doesn't accept no response as implicit approval to continue. Really, how's that any different than including a mod in your pack that specifically says "Do Not Use" when the author fails to respond to requests?

 

[arkangyl]

Really, how's that any different than including a mod in your pack that specifically says "Do Not Use" when the author fails to respond to requests?

Because in this instance, "no response" is the exact legal response that means "continue as previously." If they give express permission, it can damage further pursuit of people who maliciously use Mojang assets, therefore, they will not. By not pursuing legal action in this instance, they are approving what is being done without binding themselves legally to it.

It's different for mod authors because its a different legal relationship. The mod author doesn't have legal claim to their mod. Alblaka giving permission to redistribute his mod is not legally binding, because he never had legal claim to his code, because it is a mod of a closed source program, made out of goodwill. Not so with Mojang. They have a copyright to defend, and by taking action, they put themselves in a legal quandary. Either they lose their right to their assets, or they destroy the modding community that brings them so much publicity and cash. So they take no action one way or the other, and attempt to preserve both. Either way, it's not up to users or FTB. It's up to Mojang, what they do.

 

[SilvasRuin]

I'm far less concerned about hypocrisy than I am about someone's vendetta forcing Mojang to take action where they don't want to. As someone earlier pointed out companies have to show consistency and a willingness to defend their copyright or else they will be unable to later. Until now, they could have claimed ignorance of the mods and only had to start sending out Cease and Desist notices once someone actually tried stealing assets for another game. This Pariah person seems intent on forcing public attention on this so that Mojang is forced to take action for nothing else than protecting their legal credibility. I don't care about the whole Tekkit versus FTB legal debate, and quite honestly I don't care if some people might be hypocritical about it; this could have much bigger consequences than just FTB, and the potential for collateral damage from a vendetta is absurd.

Though at the end of the day, if worst come to worst, I think Mojang would sooner adjust their ToS than start spamming Cease and Desist orders, so it shouldn't be the disaster the OP seems intent to cause.

 

[thesonofdarwin]

Because in this instance, "no response" is the exact legal response that means "continue as previously." If they give express permission, it can damage further pursuit of people who maliciously use Mojang assets, therefore, they will not. By not pursuing legal action in this instance, they are approving what is being done without binding themselves legally to it.

Except that having knowledge of a breach of copyright and failing to act on it will also damage his ability to pursue legal action in the future as well. And if Slowpoke contacted him, there is now evidence that he is failing to pursue action. You can still give permission while retaining copyright, but in order to keep a copyright you have to protect it from misuse.

 

[arkangyl]

Except that having knowledge of a breach of copyright and failing to act on it will also damage his ability to pursue legal action in the future as well. And if Slowpoke contacted him, there is now evidence that he is failing to pursue action. You can still give permission while retaining copyright, but in order to keep a copyright you have to protect it from misuse.

Which is precisely why the majority of people in this community are miffed about it. Who knows why the nether this was brought up, but now that it has been, there's a very real possibility that it could destroy the entire MC modding community.

 

[DoctorOr]

, but in order to keep a copyright you have to protect it from misuse.

You are thinking of trademarks, not copyright, and are in error.

 

[thesonofdarwin]

Would I be incorrect in assuming that Mojang has attended Minecraft conventions? Where mods are showcased? Where there might be video evidence of him acknowledging existence of copyright breach? This incident surely would not be the straw to break the modding communities back. It wouldn't take an expensive legal team to find evidence that Mojang was complicit in the breach for years...

Again, Mojang can issue permission to use copyrighted materials. It is the responsibility of FTB to acquire this permission. I'm a little unsure why we are arguing about doing the right thing. This pack is the essence of doing the right thing and I'd hate to see it go any other way.

You are thinking of trademarks, not copyright, and are in error.

Apologies. What I really meant wasn't that the copyright office would yank it. What DOES happen if you willingly allow abuse of copyright is that you have less legal standing in pursuing action in the future. Your potential win in damages will be significantly less if it's shown you've allowed the abuse to continue for a prolonged period of time. Loss of legal power, in my mind, is pretty comparable to losing it completely. What use is a copyright you can no longer reasonably act on?

 

[slowpoke]

OK as stated, this thread will be locked now that people have had a chance to say their piece. I am more than comfortable with the stance that FTB and I are taking with regards to this issue. I do not feel any need to make any further comment other than what has already been said. People are free to make their own decisions as to what they wish to do going forwards.