Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Jan 12, 2018)

Talk and share anything related to Star Wars Battlefront 2. No maps or mod announcements here. Use Work in Progress forum.

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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by Teancum »

If it can be clearly proven that no assets were ripped from the actual game I don't see the problem.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by giftheck »

Should be simple enough to prove. I've seen the textures from rips myself, and beyond referencing from images taken from publicly-available sources, there's no resemblance (Sereja's textures actually use one texture for two or three guns and are definitely using different UVs). And the models are easily not the same, as they're much lower poly than the SWBFEA models (which go into upwards of 20,000 triangles) and for most of them, I've either seen the low-res models or no low-res model can be ripped.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by Atephious »

So say i were to make kamino, and make ALL of the assets myself, but based it off the original map and assets. I would still give credit to Pandemic.
I'm looking to hand create a level from kotor 2 that I really enjoyed but am going to need to create everything by "hand" in blender, as I don't know how to extract the assets from the original game.
I havent started on this project yet as im still learning the basics of both blender and the BF2 Modtools. But I'd like to know for when I start.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by WiseKitsune »

A few questions:

1. Lets say my mod requires another mod to be installed along side it for some features to work and I don't include that other mod in my download, am I causing copyright issues at all? Here's an example:
http://www.gametoast.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=32589 This user script needs the 1.3 patch [obviously] and the swbf1 conversion pack, but does not include them in its own download.

I'm terrible at making 3D models from scratch.

2. Therefore If I make an original character by editing an existing commercial 3D model, is it a violation of copyright policy? Does it depend in the thoroughness of the edit or amount of resemblance to the original?

3. same questions s 2 but If I make an original character by editing a non commercial model of a fan-made character.

4. If I lost the original download of a model and can't figure out who the author is after making a good faith effort to find them. EG I know what site I got it from, but the submission no longer exists. Can I post stuff using those assets and if so how do I credit them?

5. Are there a readme file requirements and/or a readme template posted somewhere?

EDIT
Sorry about the double post, I would have edited my previous one but it hasn't been approved yet and I felt this couldn't wait.

I was looking around to see what other companies had a known policy on user generated content and found this:

https://desk.thecontentcloud.net/inspir ... _PmnCSVEqI

I checked the youtube link and everything is still there.

If an entire fan game gets approved, why shouldn't a battlefront 2 mod be acceptable?
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by AceMastermind »

My opinion on this whole thing is Disney appears to be lenient with people using any Star Wars IP in game mods and maps regardless of where it came from. I think you won't have any problems as long as you aren't doing something silly with it that draws a lot of negative attention. That said, you can still use whatever is forbidden by Gametoast as long as you don't discuss or release it here, there are other modding sites you could post those projects on and none of this will come into question.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by Teancum »

I forgot to post this, but as the mobile game Star Wars: Uprising is going offline very soon it's assets are now fair use. Player models are around 1300 polys, so most people won't find it all that useful. However some of the models actually look pretty great for the poly count, and these would be great on PS2/Xbox/PSP. It's a Unity game so ripping models is fairly easy.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by AnthonyBF2 »

Teancum wrote:I forgot to post this, but as the mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is going offline very soon it's assets are now fair use. Player models are around 1300 polys, so most people won't find it all that useful. However some of the models actually look pretty great for the poly count, and these would be great on PS2/Xbox/PSP. It's a Unity game so ripping models is fairly easy.
If someone wants to help me with that I am willing to test them on SWBF2 for PSP. I have almost no knowledge in model applications and don't really intend to anytime soon.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by DylanRocket »

Teancum wrote:I forgot to post this, but as the mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is going offline very soon it's assets are now fair use.
Really? I didn't see any posts about that on their official forums/website. I assume you are referring to Star Wars: Uprising?
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by Teancum »

DylanRocket wrote:
Teancum wrote:I forgot to post this, but as the mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is going offline very soon it's assets are now fair use.
Really? I didn't see any posts about that on their official forums/website. I assume you are referring to Star Wars: Uprising?
Oops! Yep, that's the one. I corrected my post, thanks!

**EDIT**

But given that Galaxy of Heroes is a mobile game and the models aren't really useful aside from older devices, I could see that being fine as well.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by giftheck »

Hmm... I wonder if that applies to the other mobile games as well. Force Arena's models are of varying qualities but there are definitely higher-res models out there. The Force Arena ones sit somewhere between SWBF3 and TFU quality and the textures are actually 512x512 so the models themselves look pretty good for a mobile game. It's not an EA game either, but I think the EULA is written by the guys who did the game and not Disney. Or at least I can't find an EULA at this time.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by Teancum »

I'd say fair use still applies. But let's not go nuts just because it's possible to. A few models is fine I'd say, but many might be overkill.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by MissingTexture »

How about Star Wars Force Arena models? It's a mobile game aswell, would this not be allowed or it would?
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by giftheck »

MissingTexture wrote:How about Star Wars Force Arena models? It's a mobile game aswell, would this not be allowed or it would?
I literally asked that already - it started today's conversation.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by MissingTexture »

ggctuk wrote:
MissingTexture wrote:How about Star Wars Force Arena models? It's a mobile game aswell, would this not be allowed or it would?
I literally asked that already - it started today's conversation.
My bad, I've had an early day :funny2: I'll just look back.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by giftheck »

I'm sure there's a few posts missing because I remember Teancum saying no to that. Perhaps there's been a change of mind with regards to yhat - so long as we don't go overboard with it (ie we may be allowed to use parts of the Krennic model in a kitbash with stock or SWBF3 Imperial Officer model)
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by MissingTexture »

ggctuk wrote:I'm sure there's a few posts missing because I remember Teancum saying no to that. Perhaps there's been a change of mind with regards to yhat - so long as we don't go overboard with it (ie we may be allowed to use parts of the Krennic model in a kitbash with stock or SWBF3 Imperial Officer model)
Yeah, hoping that kitbashes will be acceptable! However, how much is overboard for Kitbashed models ?
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by ARCTroopaNate »

The rule as I'ce often heard it is "don't take what you don't need"
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by MissingTexture »

Question, would we be allowed to use assets from the FX Pinball games? (Ships, Props etc.)
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by Teancum »

The character models are like 7,000 polygons, which is too much for SWBF to easily handle. What specifically are you looking for? I can't think of much from the Pinball FX2/Star Wars Pinball tables that doesn't have a community-made equivalent, which is what we should always shoot for.
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Re: Copyright Rules (UPDATED: Feb 16, 2016)

Post by giftheck »

The Rogue One expansion has a U-Wing and TIE Striker. Aside from those there's nothing really in there that we would need to convert: the only other thing would be the AT-ACT and I did one myself.
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