Project:Open Modding Licenses/Articles

From Step Mods | Change The Game

Section 1: Declaration

I (the creator of this work) will allow you (the end user) to alter and utilize my work in your works, if you agree that any work produced and distributed from the assets of my work will also be released under the Open Modding Agreement. If you do not agree to this term, then you may not alter or utilize my work in any or your works, which are published either publicly or privately. If you only produce works from my work that are never published, then you are not limited by this agreement – please enjoy my mod!

  1. All users who develop works utilizing assets from any work released under the Cathedral Modding Agreement (CMA), and distributes it, are bound by the articles of the CMA. Thus, the developed mod must also be released under the Open Modding Agreement. If any users do not agree to the CMA, then these users are NOT granted permission to develop any works that utilize assets from a work released under the CMA, which are also planned for publishing.
    1. Users not agreeing with the Cathedral Modding Agreement may ONLY use CMA released works for their own, personal purposes, as long as there is no distribution of CMA assets.
  2. Users not developing works and are, thus, only using CMA released works to enhance their personal game playing experience are not bound by the terms of the CMA and may freely use and enjoy the works within their game.

Section 2: Distribution of Works

Distribution Type

  1. Open Distribution - authors allow their works to be redistributed, at will, on all and any mediums.
  2. Limited Distribution - authors limit the distribution/redistribution of their works to specific mediums, such as a single website, but distribution on the chosen mediums is still open and at will.
    1. Limited Distribution is allowed within the CMA terms to allow authors control over chosen mediums. Works released with Limited Distribution are still considered "open" distribution of the works.
    2. Limited Distribution is chosen at the original author's discretion.
    3. Limited Distribution is converted to Open Distribution in the event the specified medium for the Limited Distribution is no longer available, and the original author does not provide new Limited Distribution within a reasonable time period.
      1. The "reasonable time period" for authors to select a new medium for Limited Distribution is to extend no longer than thirty (30) days from the time the original medium is no longer available.
        1. When such "reasonable time period" has expired, works are considered transitioned to Open Distribution. At thus time, Author consent is implied for Open Distribution and further works must be distributed under the CMA.
      2. Works hidden from public view for the purposes of updating is allowed and will not be considered as an "end of distribution" event.
        1. The time frame for hiding works from public view shall be no longer than twenty four (24) hours, unless public notice is given as to the reason for longer delays.

Limited Distribution Expiration

  1. If the original author is not active within one hundred and eighty (180) days, neither on their work's main distribution medium nor via replies to any end user correspondence (e.g. PMs, emails, forum activity, etc), the author's work is considered retired and transitions to Open Distribution, with the following exception:
    1. Any retired works released under the CMA with Limited Distribution to a specific medium chosen by the original author must be retained on the original chosen medium until which time the original medium is no longer available or the author expresses Open Distribution permissions.
  2. Retired works may be forked by the community for the purposes of continuing the original authors work, to keep the work updated for compatibility, and/or create other works from the original work.
    1. Forked works must be released under the original Cathedral Modding Agreement; else, the fork is not authorized.
    2. If the original author should return to the original work, any forked works consisting of only compatibility patches/updates should be absorbed into the original work with credit given to the authors of the forked works for their support.

Distribution Permanency

  1. Once a work is distributed, it is permanent.
  2. Works can only be pulled from distribution within the following exceptions:
    1. A work may be pulled from distribution by the administration/owners of the distribution medium (e.g. Nexus moderators delete the mod for violation of their ToS.)
    2. A work may be pulled from distribution by the author, if the work is absorbed into a parent work or into a collection of works.
      1. If a work is pulled from distribution, the author has thirty (30) days to redistribute the work to a chosen medium.
        1. In the event the work is not redistributed with thirty (30) days, the work transitions to Open Distribution and Open Modification (see above and below).
        2. Once transitioned to Open Distribution, end users who have retained a copy of the work are allowed to redistribute said work to any chosen medium(s), following the CMA articles for Open Distribution and Open Modification.

General Terms of Distribution

  1. Downloads of works under the OMA must be provided "restrictions-free" when hosted on any website. There can not be any "ad click-through portals" nor "third-party logins/registrations" required to download the works.
  2. Adult content works must have a registration wall that specifically checks for minors/not-of-age visitors, and prevents them from downloading the adult content.
    1. Registration walls that consist of users manually entering their date of birth to determine age is an acceptable minimum. Clicking an "Over 18" button is not an acceptable form of age verification.
  3. If a CMA work is redistributed, then it must be redistributed with all assets intact including, but not limited to textures, meshes, scripts, readme, agreements, etc.
  4. If a CMA work is broken up into multiple parts for downloading convenience, then the CMA file must be included within each part.
  5. Authors are not allowed to block users from their distribution sources.
    1. Exception is given to users who's main intent is to "troll" and to users who are blocked via third-party moderation teams.
      1. "Trollers" may only be blocked after receiving written warning, and with sufficient evidence of trolling available for public review.
      2. Authors may not request third-party staff to block or remove users, unless said users are in violation of third-party rules and regulations.

Appendix

Distribution

Distribution refers to any public release of a work to any individual or group other than for the purposes of collaboration or testing. The mechanism of distribution does not matter. All forms of possible distribution are covered including, but not limited to, Bethesda.net, cloud share-links, e-mail attachments, Nexus Mods, Steam, TES Alliance, etc.
Collaboration
Collaboration in this context refers to the sharing of files for the purposes of development or review.
Testing
Testing is this context refers to the sharing of files for the purposes of bug testing/quality assurance.

Section 3: Assets

  1. For a work to be released under the Cathedral Modding Agreement, the entirely of the work's assets must adhere to the articles of the CMA.
  2. If a work contains assets that are from works who's permissions do not allow for free and open use of its assets, then said work must be released as CMA-Limited, due to it containing assets not available for Open Distribution and/or Open Modification.
    1. Such included assets may be distributed within CMA works, only if the author receives permission to distribute said assets.
      1. If permission is granted, such included assets must be clearly listed within a ReadMe file, and the author must clearly state the assets are not contained within the scope of the CMA.
    2. Such included assets must have credits, crediting the original author of the assets used.
  3. Works with multiple authors have "group-owned" assets under the Cathedral Modding Agreement.
    1. The entirety of the group/team is expected to fully adhere to the articles of the CMA for said works.
    2. If any single group member does not agree to the CMA articles, then the work may not be released under the CMA, with the following exception:
      1. If all assets created by the "nay" voting member are removed from the work, then the work can be released under the CMA by the remaining group members.

Section 4: Modification of Works

Modification Type

  1. Open Modification - authors allow their works to be modified, at will, without the need for obtaining prior permission.
  2. Limited Modification - the original author maintains artistic rights of their work until said works are retired.
    1. Under Limited Modification, all modifications of works are allow by any end user (third-party modifications).
      1. Third-party modifications which are considered extensions of the original work are to be submitted to the original author for consideration of incorporation into the original work, or uploaded as optional files on the original work's main medium of distribution.
        1. The original author must make due diligence to review all modifications submitted to them.
        2. The original author holds the decision making rights of whether submitted modifications are best incorporated or hosted separately.
        3. Under the CMA, no author has the right to refuse to allow a third-party works to be released, which is derived from the original work.
          1. If any author finds submitted third-party works disagreeable, the said works may be released and hosted separately by their respective authors.

Limited Modification Expiration

  1. If an author voluntarily retires the work, the work is converted to Open Modification and all future modifications should be incorporated into the original work when possible.
  2. If the author is not active within one hundred and eighty (180) days, neither on their work's main distribution page nor via replies to any correspondence (e.g. PMs, emails, thread activity, etc), the author's work is considered retired and transitions to Open Modification.
  3. Retired works may be forked by the community for the purposes of continuing the original authors work, to keep the work updated for compatibility, and/or create other works from the original work.
    1. Forked works must be released under the original Cathedral Modding Agreement; else, the fork is not authorized.
    2. If the original author should return to the original work, any forked works consisting of only compatibility patches/updates should be absorbed into the original work with credit given to the authors of the forked works for their support.

General Terms of Modification

  1. Any work that makes modifications to an original work should be incorporated into the original work, unless otherwise directed by the original author.
  2. Modifications that the author decides are best hosted separately as an individual work may uploaded by their original authors; not by the author of the parent work.
    1. Such works must be released under the CMA.
  3. All modifications are to be detailed within a changelog, regardless of their source.

Modifications Defined

  1. Levels of modification include, but are not limited to:
    • Error Corrections - ITM and UDR removal, grammar and typo corrections, fixing errors that break the game, fixes that result in better mod compatibility, etc.
    • Compatibility Patches - patches made for compatibility between two separate works, etc.
    • Standardization - dialogue standardization (e.g. "continue" to "Continue"), naming standardization (e.g. following a naming scheme), etc.
    • Re-drafting - taking what is an early draft of a work and redrafting it to be more complete, while sticking to the original author's intent for the work.
      • Redrafting allows for some degree of necessary artistic and logic interpretations.
    • Extensions - adding new material that is consistent with the original work and artistic direction.
    • Multi-pathing - adding content that allows users to take alternative paths from the original work's intent. Often this relates to quest related works within games with different choices or paths added, which affects the outcome of the original work (e.g. adding different options for players who roleplay as vampires).
      • The original path is left intact and is not diminished in any way, but the user is given a chance to take a different path.
      • Multi-pathing to the degree that it perverts the intent of the original work is only allowed under Open Modification, unless the original author agrees to such.
    • Artistic Conflict Resolution - correcting artistic conflicts within the work itself, between sister works, or within extensions.
    • Artistic Destruction is only allowed under Open Modification, unless the original author agrees to such. Artistic destruction is removing any element of a work for the intent of changing the artistic direction of the original work.
    • Perversion is only allowed under Open Modification, unless the original author agrees to such. Perversion is modifying a work in such a way that the work's intent is perverted from it's original intent. This is essentially vandalism of a work. (e.g. altering a dialogue mod that adds "Dogs are nice"; changing it to "Dogs are stupid").
  2. Artistic Destruction and/or Perversion via patch or alternative replacement plugin is allowed under Limited Modification, as long as the original work is left intact.
    1. If the original author is still actively supporting the original work, any patches or replacement plugins should be offered to original author for incorporation into the original work or hosted on the work's distribution medium.
      1. Credit is to be given to the original author of the provided patch or replacement plugins.

Appendix

Retired Works

A work can only be "retired" when released with Limited Modification status. A work is retired when the original author posts notification of their retiring the work or if the retirement conditions are met.

Alternative Replacement Plugin

An Alternative Replacement Plugin is a plugin which replaces the original plugin (has the same name). These types of plugins usually only amend the original with additions or corrections.

Section 5: End-User Support

  1. Authors releasing under the CMA must provide fair and equal user support for their works.
  2. Authors releasing under Open Distribution and Open Modication do not need to adhere to Section 5.1, 5.3, 5.5, 5.5.x, nor 5.5.x.x.
  3. Support may be provided by way of, but not limited to, PMs, emails, chats, forum threads, etc.
  4. In the event particular users are not complying with support requests from the author, the author may, at their discretion, cease to provide support to said users until users comply with author requests.
  5. In the event the author is not able to provide support the following must take place:
    1. The author may assign specific users as "support help".
      1. Any support helpers must be clearly defined within the support area so users will know they are considered official support.
    2. When support is no longer offered via the author nor via support help, the mod will be transferred to Open Distribution and Open Modification, if originally released as Limited.
      1. The time period for transitioning to Open Distribution and Open Modification, due to lack of support, is ninety (90) days from when the support is publicly requested.
  6. Authors releasing under the CMA may not block users from their support mediums with the following exceptions:
    1. Exception is given to users who's main intent is to "troll", and to support mediums that users are blocked or removed via third-party moderation staff.
      1. "Trollers" may only be blocked after receiving written warning, and with sufficient evidence of trolling available for public review.
      2. Authors may not request third-party staff to block or remove users from support mediums unless said users are in violation of third-party rules and regulations.

Appendix

Support Help

Support Help refers to users who have be designated by the author to provide official support for the work. These users reply to bug posts and help users having issues with the CMA released works. On Nexus Mods, these users are most often added as team members under the "User permissions" section of the mod's management settings.

Section 6: The Changelog File

  1. CMA mods must be packaged with a changelog file, else a changelog must be provided on the distribution medium. See example here.
  2. Changelog file may be either a text document or a HTML file. HTML is the preferred medium and a template has been provided.
  3. The changelog file must be a separate file provided with the work, or a separate section on distribution medium. It can not be incorporated into any other files.
  4. Changes entered into the changelog must be documented such that others not familiar with the mod can easily view and understand the changes made from version to version.

Section 7: The ReadMe File

  1. CMA mods must be packaged with a ReadMe file, else instructions for the work must be provided on the distribution medium. See example here.
  2. ReadMe file may be either a text document or a HTML file. HTML is the preferred medium and a template has been provided.
  3. The top of the ReadMe should have the standard header (see example).
  4. If the work is a modification of an existing work or contains assets from other works, full authorial credits to the original authors of any works must be provided within a 'Credits' section.
    1. Credits should be placed at the bottom of the Readme file.
    2. Credit listings start with the original author first and are followed by subsequent authors in alphabetical order (for fairness).
    3. If the work contains non-CMA assets or components, clearly and precisely list all assets or components that are not released under the CMA. Give the reason for them not being released under the CMA and state or link to the the license for which these assets or components are released under, if available.

Section 8: Other

  1. The CMA only covers works for the game/platform that the works are designed for (e.g., Skyrim mods only applies to the Skyrim game). Per the ZeniMax ToS, assets from one game can not be ported to another game.
  2. If the CMA is ever in conflict with the ZeniMax Terms of Service or the Creation Kit EULA, then those terms take precedence over the CMA in the areas of conflict.
  3. Authors releasing works under the CMA may be "blacklisted" at any time if there is a breach of the these articles for the works released under the CMA.
    1. Authors will be provided a 14 day grace period to comply to any notice of a breach before the author is blacklisted.
      1. Official notices may only be sent by one of the authorities listed in Section 9.
    2. This blacklist will be a publicly provided list of author's names stating the listed author breached the agreement in some manner. There is no legalities backing this list. It's simply a "list of shame" of author who have went back on their choice to honor these articles.

Section 9: CMA Governing Authorities

Below are the governing authorities over the Cathedral Modding Agreement:

  • Step Modifications Board of Directors

If you would like to be added to the list please contact one of the list authorities.

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