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Apparently Bethesda ripped off a New Vegas mod for a Far Habor Quest in Fallout 4

aliengmr

Member
It's a new story with new characters in a new location. Can you apply the reason why Anderson lost his case to this incident? I don't think you can. If the script of this mod could stand on its own without violating copyright then this is different.

Are you serious? Its a mod, in FALLOUT: New Vegas.

Trying to make legal arguments about this is pretty silly.
 
Really disappointing of Bethesda to do this, and I hope they get in trouble for it one way or another. This could result in a really interesting and positive precedent to set regarding the legal status of fanworks.
 

Mudcrab

Member
Can't really blame Bethesda for this, they knew they couldn't come up with anything better than this mod so they decided to give their customers something of quality.
 

Tal

Member
This is a real bad look for Bethesda. The most charitable scenario I can think of for this is that it was just one person that stole the idea and presented it to others who were genuinely unaware of the source. I should hope Bethesda apologizes and compensates the original creator in some way.
 

horkrux

Member
The Russian Character was a new character in the Rocky franchise.

The assets used to create them are copyrighted. These new characters still exist in a copyrighted Fallout universe.

Well, ALL characters would have to be new. There shouldn't have been a connection to the Rocky franchise at all for it to not be derivative.

The assets also don't matter if you focus solely on the script - using the assets was just one way to make something out of that. But you are right that it still exists in the Fallout universe since there's clear references to that and it probably couldn't be seen without it.

Are you serious? Its a mod, in FALLOUT: New Vegas.

Trying to make legal arguments about this is pretty silly.

It doesn't matter whether it's a mod to Fallout. There is mods like Dear Esther after all, which had nothing do with Half Life. But this isn't so I rest my case. Hell, I mean it says 'Pip Boy' on one of the screenshots, no second opinion really.
 

Tal

Member
When it comes to legality, unless the original creator is super rich they're not going to be able to really challenge zenimax lawyers. But they could come to a settlement.
 
It's not theft as it uses Bethesda's IP and assets, people really need to get off their high horses here.

Its creative theft. Failing to even give a shout out or say "We got the idea from this cool fanmade quest by X user" is really gross. Just because legally Bethesda is in the right doesn't mean it's not shitty. This is the company that tried to push for paid mods to begin with, remember? They clearly have zero respect for the mod creators to begin with.
 

Reebot

Member
When it comes to legality, unless the original creator is super rich they're not going to be able to really challenge zenimax lawyers. But they could come to a settlement.

The guy has no legal right to anything here. It wouldn't matter if he could hire an attorney.

Bethesda might do something as damage control of this story picks up, but legally they're in the right.
 
Well, ALL characters would have to be new. There shouldn't have been a connection to the Rocky franchise at all for it to not be derivative.

The assets also don't matter if you focus solely on the script - using the assets was just one way to make something out of that. But you are right that it still exists in the Fallout universe since there's clear references to that and it probably couldn't be seen without it.

You don't have any claim if anything you create involves anything copyrighted that's unauthorized and unsolicited. ANYTHING. Create your own stories with your own characters in their own universe if ownership, credit, or compensation is what you're after. People who write fan fiction or create mods should know this.
 

laxu

Member
This is a real bad look for Bethesda. The most charitable scenario I can think of for this is that it was just one person that stole the idea and presented it to others who were genuinely unaware of the source. I should hope Bethesda apologizes and compensates the original creator in some way.

I would not be surprised if this was the case. Now that Bethesda is finally officially pro-modding this would be very bad PR to send all modders the message that they are happy that people are making mods but have no problem taking said mods and turning them into something they can sell.

I still haven't bought Fallout 4 because I was wanting to give it more time to get the DLCs and some great mods that fix any glaring issues in the game but now I'm not sure if I want to give Bethesda any money in the first place.
 
I wonder how something like this would affect paid mods and vice versa. On the one hand Bethesda being willing to take whatever they want from modders and incorporate it into paid DLC undermines the entire idea of paid mods, but on the other hand if the mod wasn't free to begin with then maybe it would discourage companies like Bethesda from taking such liberties with them.
 

Tal

Member
Bethesda's response will definitely depend on how the media picks up on this. Legally this may not be a big deal for them, but it may well hurt them on a PR level.
 

ultrazilla

Member
Bethseda should have just asked the modder if it was o.k. to use his ideas and worked out some type of compensation or credit. Everyone is happy, it's a non-issue.
 
I find it hilarious how Fallout 1 and 2 have retroactively become more high-brow then they really are. Fallout 1 is Babby's First CRPG and Fallout 2 only sold 100k before Fallout 3 came out and people actually heard of the series.

You know what Legendary is? Baldur's Gate, by the same publisher, which sold only about 20 times as much as Fallout 2 in the same year.

Bethesda took a massive gamble buying the Fallout IP to begin with. TESArena and Daggerfall sold better than Fallout 1 or 2 ever did.
Lmao. Look, more argumentum ad populum.

Funny how that's a common theme with Bethesda defenders.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Theres a reason its called dota 2

And Riot iirc owns the dota name? Or they successfully blocked Valve from using it

DotA All-Stars filed for Dota, unaware that Valve had actually filed for it first (Valve made no attempt to trademark Defense of the Ancients). DAS then filed for Defense of the Ancients in a bid to ruin Valve's day, but failed. DAS was actually awarded the trademark, though (which was left to wither and die), so you could say that while Valve owns Dota, it's Riot (by way of later hiring Feak and Mescon) that owns Defense of the Ancients.

Companies don't need to seek separate trademarks for numbered sequels. In fact, the USPTO will actually deny such superfluous applications.
 

Mudcrab

Member
I find it hilarious how Fallout 1 and 2 have retroactively become more high-brow then they really are. Fallout 1 is Babby's First CRPG and Fallout 2 only sold 100k before Fallout 3 came out and people actually heard of the series.

You know what Legendary is? Baldur's Gate, by the same publisher, which sold only about 20 times as much as Fallout 2 in the same year.

Bethesda took a massive gamble buying the Fallout IP to begin with. TESArena and Daggerfall sold better than Fallout 1 or 2 ever did.

Is there anything more shameful than shitting on Fallout 2 to defend this?
 

A-V-B

Member
Unbelievably shameful. I'm gonna think thrice before buying another Fallout or Elder Scrolls game again. (And glad I didn't pickup FO4 right away. Won't now, that's for sure.)
 
SMH You can't rip off something that wasn't theirs to begin with.

snLplqq.jpg
 
I'm not necessarily defending Bethesda, but people should know that when they create derivative works of other people's copyrighted material they have no claim to it whether they're mods, fan fiction, etc... if the copyright holders decide to use it. The sooner you accept that, the less you'll get upset when it happens.

Marion Zimmer Bradley.jpg
 

GavinUK86

Member
It's a shame if it's true. Sounds like they took the core idea and made a side mission, that I only played myself just recently, out of it. But Fallout is Bethesda's baby so I'm not sure it really matters in their eyes. The quest wasn't very good anyway and judging by screenshots of the mod, that doesn't look any better.
 

Exactly. LOL

A more accurate depiction would be if the guy on the right created the ball, then copyrighted it and sold it and said, "I made this". Then the guy on the left buys it and adds another pin into the ball and says, "I made this", and the guy on the right takes it and says, "I made this" and then sells it, and the guy on the left screams ,"Plagiarist".
 

A-V-B

Member
Exactly. LOL

A more accurate depiction would be if the guy on the right had the ball first, then copyrighted it and sold it and said, "I made this". Then the guy on the left takes it and adds another pin into the ball and says, "I made this", and the the guy on the right takes it and says, "I made this" and then sells it, and the guy on the left screams ,"Plagiarist".

Reducing this guy's work into adding a pin on a ball? Damn, dude. That's harsh.

But when using a political cartoon as basis for an argument, I suppose the outcome is a one-way all-expenses-paid ticket to Cruelty Land, California.
 

Hektor

Member
Exactly. LOL

A more accurate depiction would be if the guy on the right created the ball, then copyrighted it and sold it and said, "I made this". Then the guy on the left takes it and adds another pin into the ball and says, "I made this", and the the guy on the right takes it and says, "I made this" and then sells it, and the guy on the left screams ,"Plagiarist".

A more accurate depiction would be if there would be a third guy in the middle who made the ball, then sold the ball to the person on the right, than the person on the right makes a new ball that looks extremely different then gives the guy in the middle the right to make a yet another new ball who then gives the ball to the guy on the left who puts a pin on it and gives it back to the guy in the middle, which then ends with the guy on the right making yet another new ball, copying the pin from the ball that was made by the other people to the middle and left and put that one on his own, new ball.
 
A more accurate depiction would be if there would be a third guy in the middle who made the ball, then sold the ball to the person on the right, than the person on the right makes a new ball that looks extremely different then gives the guy in the middle the right to make a yet another new ball who then gives the ball to the guy on the left who puts a pin on it and gives it back to the guy in the middle, which then ends with the guy on the right making yet another new ball, copying the pin from the ball that was made by the other people to the middle and left and put that one on his own, new ball.

Ballout 4
 

tuxfool

Banned
Exactly. LOL

A more accurate depiction would be if the guy on the right created the ball, then copyrighted it and sold it and said, "I made this". Then the guy on the left takes it and adds another pin into the ball and says, "I made this", and the the guy on the right takes it and says, "I made this" and then sells it, and the guy on the left screams ,"Plagiarist".

You really don't understand how any of this works. Do you?

A better way of putting it is that the guy took lots of balls from bethesda (implicitly licensed to him for this purpose). Arranged those balls in a creative way and added some of his own balls.

Bethesda then takes his entire assembly wholesale then calls it their own.

What you're essentially saying that the brickmaker is entitled to own the building, just because he made a component that goes into the entire structure.
 

Kaji AF16

Member
I find it hilarious how Fallout 1 and 2 have retroactively become more high-brow then they really are. Fallout 1 is Babby's First CRPG and Fallout 2 only sold 100k before Fallout 3 came out and people actually heard of the series.

You know what Legendary is? Baldur's Gate, by the same publisher, which sold only about 20 times as much as Fallout 2 in the same year.

Bethesda took a massive gamble buying the Fallout IP to begin with. TESArena and Daggerfall sold better than Fallout 1 or 2 ever did.


I wasn´t referencing the sales. F1 and F2 weren´t as "high-brow" as other series but their quality was undeniable and they constructed a strong, appealing universe. Fallout 3 built on that. Fallout 4... well, regardeless of how much it sells, is to go down in history for other reasons, and most of them are negative. It tarnished a legacy, strong sales or not.
 
Really, the kicker for me here is that Bethesda tried pushing paid mods with Skyrim and stating that they believed modders who create good work should be rewarded.

And then a year later they fully take a mod and incorporate it into their own game with zero mention of the original creator.

What's that say about mods, paid mods and Bethesda, really? I guess they were just bullshitting, but it is Bethesda and that's what they tend to do best.
 
You really don't understand how any of this works. Do you?

A better way of putting it is that the guy took lots of balls from bethesda (implicitly licensed to him for this purpose). Arranged those balls in a creative way and added some of his own balls.

Bethesda then takes his entire assembly wholesale then calls it their own.

No, you don't understand how this works. You cannot create something new on top of something copyrighted, especially if it's unauthorized and unsolicited. At least if it was authorized and solicited by the copyright holders, the creator then would get credit and compensation for their work, but not ownership.
 
No, you don't understand how this works. You cannot create something new on top of something copyrighted, especially if it's unauthorized and unsolicited. At least if it was authorized and solicited the creator then would get credit and compensation for their work, but not ownership.

Bethesda actively tries to court and support the modding community though...

It seems the majority of people ready to defend this are coming at it from a legal or corporate apologist angle so of course you'd end up on Bethesda's side but from a creative angle it is really disgusting that a company that would pride themselves on their modding community would take from it on the back door with no recognition.
 

Backlogger

Member
Sorry if I am playing devil's advocate here because I actually don't know how this stuff works but doesn't Fallout 4 have a pretty big team? Is it possible an individual or a group of individuals tasked with creating side content decided to use content from the mod without their superiors knowing? I mean, maybe that is a long shot, but I am just feeling a little surprised that Bethesda as a whole would purposely go out of their way to do this and seems more likely that a lazy individual or group of individuals may have done this.

Sorry if that seems naive, maybe it is, but I don't really know how these things work.
 

zashga

Member
Legally, I'm sure Bethesda is alright here. Ethically, not so much. Would it be so hard to give the modder a link or a special thanks in the DLC?
 
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