Terms of Service
Last Updated: 2023-09-04
1 Acceptance of Terms
2 Modification of Terms
3 Registration and User Accounts
To access most features of the Website, you are required to register for an account. You must choose appropriate usernames and profile images. Inappropriate usernames and images, including those that are offensive, impersonating, or discriminatory, are prohibited.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized access or use of your account.
You must be at least 18 years old to use this Website. By accessing or using the Website, you represent and warrant that you are 18 years of age or older. If you are under the age of 18, you may not use the Website.
You have the right to delete your account at any time. After an account is deleted, the associated username cannot be reused by you or any other user. This policy is in place to prevent impersonation and confusion within the community.
Each user is allowed to create and maintain only one account at the same time. Multiple accounts created by the same user are not allowed. You are allowed to register a new account after the old account is deleted.
4 User Content
The Website allows users to upload and share content, including but not limited to video game modifications, images, text, and comments ("User Content"). You are solely responsible for the User Content you submit to the Website. You agree not to submit User Content that is discriminatory, defamatory, harassing, illegal, or violates the rights of others. Submitted User Content must be properly tagged and categorized.
Prohibited Content
You are not allowed to submit:
- Content, violating End-User License Agreements with game publishers.
- Any copyright infringing content. This includes mods, published without granted distribution rights.
- Personal information of other people.
- Duplicate or repackaged mods, already uploaded to the Website, without any added value.
- Mods, focusing on current events and therefore losing relevance with time.
- Broken, non-functional mods.
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Mods, scripts, and applications:
- not functional without internet connection,
- hiding functionality behind any kind of payment or incentive,
- functional only in multiplayer mode,
- affecting balance or giving advantage in multiplayer mode,
- containing viruses, trojans, spyware, or other malicious code,
- protected by password.
All uploaded files must be related to game modding and intended for public distribution. You may not use the Website as your personal file storage.
Content, illegal in Poland and the European Union, including but not limited to sexual violence, bestiality, necrophilia, child pornography or indecent portrayal (including animated and fictional characters), torture, racism, xenophobia, promotion of fascism, communism or other totalitarian systems, violating privacy regulations, is strictly prohibited and may result in notification of Polish authorities.
Modpacks and Collections
You may upload modpacks, if you have permission from authors of all included works.
Unauthorized automated mass downloading of mods is not allowed and may result in account suspension. This includes the use of Wabbajack, userscripts, bots, and other methods. Distribution of materials, accomodating automated mass downloading, is not allowed.
Source Code Requirement
If you upload or distribute compiled programs (including installers), libraries, or scripts (including embedded into mods) on this Website, you are required to make the corresponding source code available to the community in unobfuscated and unencrypted form. You shall provide access to the source code by including it in the same mod as the compiled binary or by providing a clear and accessible link to the source code repository or download location. Failure to provide access to the source code may result in the removal of such content from the Website. You must have the rights to disclose the source code.
5 Mod Licensing and Copyright Compliance
You are required to choose an appropriate license for your mods. The chosen license should not infringe upon the copyrights or intellectual property rights of others. You must ensure that you have the necessary rights or permissions to upload and license your mods on this Website.
By choosing a license for their mods, you acknowledge that they have read, understood, and agreed to the terms and conditions of the selected license. You are solely responsible for ensuring that your chosen license complies with applicable copyright laws and respects the rights of third parties.
You understand that the consequences of your choice of license are binding, and any violations of the chosen license may result in legal action or other appropriate measures by the copyright holder or affected parties.
We reserve the right to remove or take action against mods that infringe upon the copyrights or intellectual property rights of others.
You retain ownership of your User Content, but by uploading or submitting User Content to the Website, you grant us an additional worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable license to use, copy, distribute, modify, relicense, and display your User Content. You have the right to rescind these additional rights by deleting your files from the Website. Once you delete your files, our rights to them become defined solely by their license.
You understand and acknowledge that while we will cease using your User Content upon deletion, copies of that User Content may persist in our backup systems for a reasonable period as required for backup, legal, or administrative purposes.
To be protected by copyright, a work must be original and the result of the author's skill, effort, creative activity. Game modifications by definition make changes to works already under copyright protection, copyright can be applied only to changes and new materials you create. You do not automatically become an owner of modified assets.
We view game mods, containing protected content, as subjects to partial licensing. While the base content remains under copyright of game publisher or other creator, you have the right to choose how people can use your own work.
Publishing a mod on ModPub, you can:
- allow only private use,
- apply an open license (see Choosing a license at Wikimedia Commons, Choose a license by GitHub),
- waive your rights using a public-domain-equivalient license (outcome may vary in different jurisdictions),
- assign the EULA mark if your upload is not eligible for copyright.
6 Licenses for Private Use
Some authors prefer to retain control over distribution rights. None of the commonly used open licenses can be applied in this case. Without a license, nobody else is allowed to use, distribute, or modify protected works. To accomodate distribution for private use, we have published special purpose public licenses, Non-Commercial and Private Use, which:
- grant users the right to use and modify your mod for private purposes only,
- allow them to make and distribute patches, extensions, translations, and other add-ons, working only in conjunction with your mod,
- disallow commercial use of your mod,
- waive warranties, including obligation to support and update the mod,
- disclaim liabilities.
The difference between the two licenses is in permission to profit from add-ons to your mod; the Non-Commercial license prohibits any commercial use of third-party patches, the Private Use license allows it via omitting the corresponding clause.
Example:
A modder created a translation for your mod and published it behind a paywall. You
would like to keep the ecosystem around your mod free of commercialization. Instead of reacting
postfactum, you can apply the Non-Commercial license beforehand.
7 Copyright-free Content
Some kinds of uploads are not considered eligible for copyright on ModPub due to lack of the creativity and complexity components.
Types of such mods include but are not limited to:
- savegames,
- screenshots,
- configuration files,
- game settings,
- generated LOD,
- BodySlide presets,
- bashed patches,
- game assets, processed by different kinds of optimization or conversion programs,
- repacked game archives,
- cache files (grass, shaders, etc.),
- patches, generated by Synthesis,
- output of xEdit scripts,
- trivial modifications.
Without new creative elements, use of such mods falls back to the End User License Agreement (EULA) of the game you are modding, meaning allowed reuse and modification without mandatory credit. This does not mean the uploader shouldn't be credited, it is still encouraged for ethical, historical, and feedback reasons.
To recognize a trivial modification, ask yourself the question: "If another modder would try to produce the same effects without knowing details of my implementation beforehand, is there a reasonably high chance of producing an identical solution?" If the answer is yes, then the mod is not complex or unique enough to have copyright protection, and you should choose EULA as license.
These uploads often contain or are based on protected content. Examples:
- Bodyslide presets aren't results of creative work, but the models Bodyslide modifies absolutely are.
- DynDOLOD output isn't protected, but the LOD models are. If you used your own LOD models, you have copyright of them and should publicly declare it.
In case it is a modified copy or part of someone else's mod, please, use an equivalent license, get permission to post your modification, and credit the author.
8 Prohibited Activities
When using the Website, you agree not to:
- Violate any applicable laws or regulations.
- Discuss or endorse pirated content.
- Use the Website for commercial purposes.
- Manipulate metrics and statistics, or encourage doing so.
- Use the Website for any illegal or unauthorized purpose.
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Website or its systems.
- Engage in any activity that disrupts or interferes with the Website's operation.
9 Termination
10 Disclaimer of Warranty
11 Limitation of Liability
We shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or relating to your use of the Website.
We do not endorse, control, or take responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, legality, or quality of User Content shared by users on this Website. Users understand and acknowledge that the Website may host a wide variety of User Content, and we do not assume liability for any errors, omissions, or violations contained therein.
Users access and use User Content at their own discretion and risk. We shall not be held liable for any loss, damage, or harm arising from the use, reliance upon, or interpretation of User Content.
We do not conduct pre-screening of User Content, and we cannot guarantee the safety or suitability of User Content for all users. Users are encouraged to use their judgment and exercise caution when engaging with User Content.
Any disputes or legal issues arising from the use of User Content are solely the responsibility of the parties involved. Users agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claims, damages, or liabilities related to their use of User Content on the Website.