STEP:Mod Stewardship Service: Difference between revisions

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#** The Author will be added as an administrator of the mod page once ownership is transferred to Step.
#** The Author will be added as an administrator of the mod page once ownership is transferred to Step.
#* Mods hosted on other websites will be "handed off" to Step on a case-by-case basis and documented in writing via email and/or any relevant private messaging system that can be used to verify correspondence sources.
#* Mods hosted on other websites will be "handed off" to Step on a case-by-case basis and documented in writing via email and/or any relevant private messaging system that can be used to verify correspondence sources.
# {{Fc|salmon|Mods placed into Step's Mod Stewardship Service shall immediately adopt the Creative Commons (CC) "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike"[[CiteRef::CC BY-NC-SA]], effectively applying a cathedral-like policy to the mod.}}
# {{Fc|salmon|Mods placed into Step's Mod Stewardship Service shall immediately adopt the Creative Commons (CC) "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike"[[CiteRef::CC BY-NC-SA]], effectively facilitating cathedral-friendly mod governance.}}
#* Any existing license must be evaluated for compatibility with CC. If incompatible, Step will work with Authors to resolve on a case-by-case basis.
#* Any existing license must be evaluated for compatibility with CC. If incompatible, Step will work with Authors to resolve on a case-by-case basis.
#* This is done to protect Step (and everyone, including the Author) from any legal harm that could otherwise potentially be invoked by the Author (due to the capacity for any human to behave emotionally and irrationally).
#* This is done to protect Step (and everyone, including the Author) from any legal harm that could otherwise potentially be invoked by the Author (due to the capacity for any human to behave emotionally and irrationally).

Revision as of 16:49, August 25, 2021

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Mod Stewardship Service

A mod "stewardship" service for mod authors by Step Modifications

Step's Mod Stewardship Service is very similar to Nexus Mod's "The Care Taker" service, with some differences. The main difference being around licensing. Since Step operates under "cathedral modding" principles, mods provided for stewardship are converted to a cathedral-friendly license.CC BY-NC-SA By contrast, "The Care Taker" will retain the mod's license "as is," which could lock these mods into the "parlor modding" paradigm forevermore. Which service to choose is for individual Mod Authors to decide; however, Step encourages Authors to "open up" their mod licenses when retiring to allow others in the community to continue using these mods and to service/support them as necessary.

Step Modifications is a legally registered nonprofit, which relies on donations and other voluntary forms of community support. By using Step's Mod Stewardship Service over the Nexus Care Taker program, Mod Authors allow Step (and the larger modding community by proxy) to benefit from Nexus Mod's rewards system.

All Step staff and board members are unpaid volunteers, and Step never collects any membership or advertising revenues.

Current Mods Under Stewardship[edit | edit source]

SkyrimLE[edit | edit source]

Retired

SkyrimSE[edit | edit source]

Other[edit | edit source]

Terms & Conditions[edit | edit source]

  1. An Author who elects to place his or her creation into Step's Mod Stewardship Service agrees to transfer control of the distribution sourceSource mod ownership to Step.
    • This allows Step to service the mod and information pertaining to the mod at the original source if possible. Step is not a CDN, so it is always preferable that Step have authority to service all aspects of the mod at the distribution source or even to change that source if/when necessary.
    • For mods hosted by Nexus Mods, the stewardship transaction is complete when Nexus-specific "ownership" of the mod page is transferred from Author's Nexus Mods user account to the "StepModifications" Nexus Mods user account.
      • This allows Step to govern the Dontaions and other owner-specific administration.
      • Nexus Mods will not complete such transfers without written permission from the Author.
      • The Author will be added as an administrator of the mod page once ownership is transferred to Step.
    • Mods hosted on other websites will be "handed off" to Step on a case-by-case basis and documented in writing via email and/or any relevant private messaging system that can be used to verify correspondence sources.
  2. Mods placed into Step's Mod Stewardship Service shall immediately adopt the Creative Commons (CC) "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike"CC BY-NC-SA, effectively facilitating cathedral-friendly mod governance.
    • Any existing license must be evaluated for compatibility with CC. If incompatible, Step will work with Authors to resolve on a case-by-case basis.
    • This is done to protect Step (and everyone, including the Author) from any legal harm that could otherwise potentially be invoked by the Author (due to the capacity for any human to behave emotionally and irrationally).
    • Once the Creative Commons license applies, the mod is irrevocably tied to this license, granting Step's (and everyone's) right to irrevocably "... remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms."
    • All Step-mediated derivations of said mod(s) will retain the Creative Commons licensing and will follow Step's Versioning Scheme
  3. Mods placed into Step's Mod Stewardship Service will be opted into Nexus Mods Donation Points system.
    • Step refunds these rewards to help cover server and software operating expenses.
    • Authors who do not wish for Step to earn rewards from his or her mod(s) must state so in writing. Step will honor all such requests.

Signup for Mod Stewardship Service[edit | edit source]

  1. Contact Step via email with your desire to provide mod(s) for curation
  2. For mods hosted on Nexus Mods, private message the, Nexus Community Manager, who is aware of the StepModifications Nexus Account.
    Inform Nexus Community Manager of your intent to transfer your mod(s) to StepModifications

Mods not accepted for stewardship include, but are not limited to:

  • mods containing nudity or sexually explicit content
  • mods containing content not relevant to the game subject (e.g., political mods)

{{#scite:Source mod ownership |type=ref |citation text=If a mod is hosted on a CDN like Nexus Mods or some other source for distribution or sharing, then Step will need irrevocable authority to govern that source in place of (or in addition to) the Mod Author. Since source policies may differ, transfer of control methods and outcomes may vary and must be avaluated on a case-by-case basis. }} {{#scite:CC BY-NC-SA |type=web |citation text=See Creative Commons licenses: "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Thus, upon the licensed authority of proprietary content allowing --in a written statement-- Step to host said content, said content automatically adopt(s) the CC BY-NC-SA license to override any previous license that may pertain. Thus, there will be no restrictions placed on use of said content outside of this license. }}