So let's imagine a hypothetical scenario: You have a woman, aged 30 or so, and she spent five years of her life writing a book. She did tons of research for the book, poured resource after resource to make sure the book was finished and published. And when she published it, it became a huge hit: number 1 New York Times Best Seller, Oprah Book Club Sticker, a movie deal with Paramount Pictures, the works! Then some 15 year old kid reads the book, saw the movie, and went to her own computer and started typing down a fanfic. Twenty chapters long, it's a sort of sequel to the woman's book, where the main character's daughter leads her own adventure. The girl thinks about publishing it on a website, but then opts for another idea: get it published as a book, and sell it. Now, here's the question: should she be allowed to do that? The answer to that question should be the same as to the question of whether mods should be paid for or not.
Right now, there's a huge debate going around the PC gaming community in regards to the ethics and legality of commercialized mods. For those not in the know, a mod is a modification of an existing game. Sometimes it's a simple thing, like adding a different color palette, and sometimes it's a huge difference, like making Iron Man playable on Grand Theft Auto 5. Grand Theft Auto 5 took years of work to create, with millions of dollars invested to create a truly great gaming experience. Then someone with a PC decided to hack the code, make Iron Man a character in the game, and charge people for it. Should this be allowed? That's the burning question.
Let's analyze the common arguments for paid mods. They take a lot of work, they are a burden for their creators, and so the creators of the mod ought to be compensated for creating the mod. This technically true; as modding a game takes a LOT of know how, time, and effort. Now, as I myself am no mod, I can not attest to what kind of effort it truly takes to make a mod, so I'm just going on a limb here, making an educated guess based on the amount of effort to just make a game.
But question: does the mod belong to the modder? That's a BIG question, and it ties to fan fiction. In a lot of ways, game mods are no different to fanfics: they are original works made by fans of a work, based on the original work. And therein lays a huge conundrum: who owns the mod/fanfic? The creator of the mod, or the creator of the original work? And the answer to THAT is the key to answer the question of "should people be paid to make mods?"
Consider the notion that the mod would not exist without the original game. With that notion, that'd mean that the modder would have to surrender a portion of their earnings to the original creators, which again leads to another question: how much? This problem could well be solved with contracts which modders could sign, giving the original creators a percentage of the earnings a sold mod could make. But this is assuming two things: that mods could be made for a profit (which we haven't even gotten to yet) and that gaming companies and creators would be OK with some third party making a profit from simply modifying the work they had placed so much effort into for years (which we haven't even BEGUN to talk about!).
This leads to bigger issues. How much should a modder charge for his/her mod? Where will he/she sell said mods? And if the mod is sold in some site, would said site also seek a percentage of the sale? And if yes, how much? Should gaming companies have the right to decide which mods should be sold? Should the game's creator hold the right to decide which mods should be sold? Can the game company overrule the game creator's wishes when it comes to mods?
And of course, this all leads back to the original question: CAN a mod be made for profit? If yes, then this opens up the large can of worms we just discussed. But if no, then this opens up another set of conundrums that need to be addressed.
Consider the notion that a modder works long hours on their mod. A mod takes skill to create, and it consumes time and effort. It makes sense, then, for someone to be compensated for investing their time and effort into creating a product.
But then this leads back to the notion of WHO owns the mod: the modder, or the creators of the original game? For that, we return to the fanfic writer. Who owns the characters? The original creator. And the world these characters live in? The original creator. But who owns the fanfic? The fanfic author. The fanfic author owns that fanfic, but everything else belongs to the original creator. But because everything except that one story belongs to someone else, then the fanfic author cannot sell the work because it's not their intellectual property.
Intellectual property means creations of the mind. Things like artwork, music, and even video games count as intellectual property.
In a way, mods are a violation of intellectual property, because it's tempering someone else's work and calling it your own. It doesn't matter how much time you spent on that mod, because it would not have existed without the original game, and this is meant literally.
By this logic, one can safely conclude that a paid mod is no different than a published for profit fanfic. And in my personal opinion, mods should remain free, labors of love by fans and enthusiasts who want to create a better gaming experience for their fellow gamers. I believe that it is possible for individuals to be able to impress gaming companies sufficiently that they can ask for special permission to create commercial mods, but in all honesty, I don't see it happening in a way that'd benefit both equally.
And of course, this all leads back to the original question: CAN a mod be made for profit? If yes, then this opens up the large can of worms we just discussed. But if no, then this opens up another set of conundrums that need to be addressed.
Consider the notion that a modder works long hours on their mod. A mod takes skill to create, and it consumes time and effort. It makes sense, then, for someone to be compensated for investing their time and effort into creating a product.
But then this leads back to the notion of WHO owns the mod: the modder, or the creators of the original game? For that, we return to the fanfic writer. Who owns the characters? The original creator. And the world these characters live in? The original creator. But who owns the fanfic? The fanfic author. The fanfic author owns that fanfic, but everything else belongs to the original creator. But because everything except that one story belongs to someone else, then the fanfic author cannot sell the work because it's not their intellectual property.
Intellectual property means creations of the mind. Things like artwork, music, and even video games count as intellectual property.
In a way, mods are a violation of intellectual property, because it's tempering someone else's work and calling it your own. It doesn't matter how much time you spent on that mod, because it would not have existed without the original game, and this is meant literally.
By this logic, one can safely conclude that a paid mod is no different than a published for profit fanfic. And in my personal opinion, mods should remain free, labors of love by fans and enthusiasts who want to create a better gaming experience for their fellow gamers. I believe that it is possible for individuals to be able to impress gaming companies sufficiently that they can ask for special permission to create commercial mods, but in all honesty, I don't see it happening in a way that'd benefit both equally.
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