General question about legal stuff
Hi!
Please note, this is not a thread about "Why wasn't "a" or "b" included in the enhanced version, it's purely a question about law.
As I've understood it, Beamdog aren't allowed to change certain things in the game due to contractual reasons with parties who were involved in the original BG. If they did, they'd get sued I suppose.
But, if a modder changes the game and then releases the mod, why isn't the modder sued? Is it just because a modder does it for free? If that is the case, could all Beamdog employees work on an "official mod" in their spare time (assuming they had spare time) and release it without risk of getting sued (yes, a very theoretical question but still, an answer would be interesting)?
Would it also be possible for Beamdog to buy the rights to a mod and then incorporate it into the game (assuming it works legally with the aforementioned parties)?
/J
Please note, this is not a thread about "Why wasn't "a" or "b" included in the enhanced version, it's purely a question about law.
As I've understood it, Beamdog aren't allowed to change certain things in the game due to contractual reasons with parties who were involved in the original BG. If they did, they'd get sued I suppose.
But, if a modder changes the game and then releases the mod, why isn't the modder sued? Is it just because a modder does it for free? If that is the case, could all Beamdog employees work on an "official mod" in their spare time (assuming they had spare time) and release it without risk of getting sued (yes, a very theoretical question but still, an answer would be interesting)?
Would it also be possible for Beamdog to buy the rights to a mod and then incorporate it into the game (assuming it works legally with the aforementioned parties)?
/J
0
Comments
WHO SENT YOU!?!?
i try a different approach.
1- the owners of the original game did not want that Beamdog could change the game in something completely different so put some limitations to the kind of changes Beamdog can do to the game, the original NPCs, plot and other stuff must not be changed.
2- the fact that there are modders doing free work that make the game more enjoyable for the players is one of the reasons why this game had so much success and longevity and, as long as the changes are completely optional and don't put money inside the modders pockets instead of the Bioware ones, there was only pros and not cons for the game owners. so, beyond the hypothetical possibility to sue them (i am not a lawyer) modding was tolerated to the extent of allowing total conversions, where all the plot is changed and basically only the engine is used.
3- what was true for Bioware is still true for Beamdog, people buy the EE cause new content and improvements are there, but also because there are mods out there.
in short mods are allowed/tolerated/welcomed because everyone benefits from them, players, the original developers and the EE ones.