No, you are not. But you may want to make sure to read this link:
http://wiki.pluspluspack.com/index.php?title=Copyright and see if that makes sense with what you want.
Assuming that data is correct, we'll see a fairly massive upset in the modding community. We will likely end up losing a few mods from authors that have, pardon my (Google Translated) French, tenir leur crosse (let's just pretend that said "stick up their butt", alrighty?). The rest of the mod authors will adapt, and that'll be that.
If it is not correct, then let's sit back and get ready to enjoy the fireworks!
Wow that link has so much wrong. First, let's start with
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use . His example doesn't apply in that the case was about if people had the right to modify games they had purchased. This is NOT the same as distributing mods made by other people. Also, due to the limitations of fair use, distributing a modpack can be said to NEVER fall under fair use. In the link above if you read the law you'll see this line:
for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research
Since mod packs for minecraft will effectively never fall under those criteria they would not be protected by fair use.
Their explanation of derivative copyright protection is also laughable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work . That page mentions the case brought up on the pluspluspack wiki and explains that they couldn't hold a copyright over the character in the toy model due to it being based on a character whom someone else had a copyright for and NOTHING ELSE. Basically, the design couldn't be copyrighted by them because they brought nothing new to the table.
Here's a small part from the derivative work link posted above:
A typical example of a derivative work received for registration in the Copyright Office is one that is primarily a new work but incorporates some previously published material. This previously published material makes the work a derivative work under the copyright law. To be copyrightable, a derivative work must be different enough from the original to be regarded as a "new work" or must contain a substantial amount of new material. Making minor changes or additions of little substance to a preexisting work will not qualify the work as a new version for copyright purposes. The new material must be original and copyrightable in itself. Titles, short phrases, and format, for example, are not copyrightable.
Basically, as long as something either changes the original work enough to be regarded as a "new" work or adds a lot of new content it can be copyrighted. This means mods such as Redpower 2 and IC2 could effectively be copyrighted as derivative works of minecraft, while something such as obsidian pressure plates wouldn't.
You put all of this together and what you get is Mojang has copyright of their own work and controls distribution of their work due to holding copyright over it. They can choose to give permission for others to adapt their work, but for modders they don't actually need permission to modify the code of the game they own. In doing the modifications modders can create a derivative work that, while based on the original work, can transform it enough and be able to have their own copyright over their mod for the game. In such a case, the modders then have a copyright over their coding and can choose who can distribute said coding. In other words, only mod packs that add very little content could be said to be "legal" due to low content mods not changing the game substantially. Throwing a bunch of mods together into a pack does NOT change the mods substantially and thus a modpack cannot receive the same benefits of a derivative work and thus not be copyrightable and, as mentioned above, does not fall under fair use. The only thing left then would them distributing copyrighted material against the will of the creator.
Now yes, it gets even more complicated than that if you want to go onto a massive debate, but quite frankly in the end there's nothing one can really do without wasting tons of time, effort, and money for what might amount to a paltry gain and bad press. Therefore this leans more towards a matter of respect for the mod authors and, quite frankly, going against their wishes is a dick move.
