Where do YOU draw the line?

[Paul Anderson]

I've seen posts:

I've modified this with the permission of the author. (no problem)
I've modified this with the permission of the deceased author's spouse (again, no problem)
I've modified this but couldn't contact the author after many tries (borderline for me, would probably still use after awhile).
I've modified this (and/or converted), sorry author if you don't like it. (could wait awhile on this)
I've made this. (original author credited at the end, no permission requested)
I've made this. (obviously not if you know the original)

If it's out there (especially if good), how do you decide?

Not just stirring the pot, (bet it does) I've seen some great mods and unsure about the wording and implications. If I like it and don't see lawyers circling overhead, I will probably download and at least try.

(damned conscience)

[stiz]

i'm not against uploading a file/mod if its left intact. So say the author put their stuff in their dropbox folder and linked that, then someone uploaded it to say avsim/flightsim/soh etc but left it intact and did full credits. However i am totally against these port over uploads that are touted as fsx aircraft (even when credit is given) as there usually not done properly and have bits missing (like a certain prop group does ..) that really annoys me. Especially as it leads to "fsx is broken, its not displaying props!!" posts all over the place!

[Dangerousdave26]

I've modified this with the permission of the author. (no problem)
I've modified this with the permission of the deceased author's spouse (again, no problem)
{ Great big space } |---------------------------------------------->
I've modified this but couldn't contact the author after many tries (borderline for me, would probably still use after awhile).
<------------------|
I've modified this (and/or converted), sorry author if you don't like it. (could wait awhile on this)
I've made this. (original author credited at the end, no permission requested)
I've made this. (obviously not if you know the original)

Somewhere about there.

Normally I would say you must honestly get permission from the author or legal representative.

However in one instance I did not. I emailed the author and did not get a reply. I believe that I know him well enough as we had spoken on Teamspeak for many hours. I included his common textures in the collection of B-29 paints I modified for Morton and posted here. Morton created the textures for CFS2 I tweaked the pack to fit FS9 and included Tom Kohler's common textures.

That is technically a gray area even though we are only talking about simple common textures.

[srgalahad]

I've seen posts:

I've modified this with the permission of the author. (no problem)
I've modified this with the permission of the deceased author's spouse (again, no problem)
(line) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------(end of line)


I've modified this but couldn't contact the author after many tries (borderline for me, would probably still use after awhile).
"Abandonware" is a myth and the urge to upload it comes from a desire to be important under the guise of 'helpful'.


I've modified this (and/or converted), sorry author if you don't like it. (could wait awhile on this)
I've made this. (original author credited at the end, no permission requested)
I've made this. (obviously not if you know the original)

If it's out there (especially if good), how do you decide?

Not just stirring the pot, (bet it does) I've seen some great mods and unsure about the wording and implications. If I like it and don't see lawyers circling overhead, I will probably download and at least try.

(damned conscience)

In most cases there is no restriction on modifying a file for personal use, but the act of distributing it is another matter. I've encountered a couple of instances where I asked a designer/builder if they were aware of an uploaded file without credit or apparent permission and the answer has always been "no" or "yes but they won't remove it even when asked". (Obviously, if I could ask, so could the person who modded/uploaded the file).
In one case I pointed out a questionable file and it's original read-me to the owner of a website. Within minutes it was down and I got an email back thanking me for catching something their staff had missed - and I believe him.

I can't imagine any mod that is so important that it justifies ignoring or defying copyright, but we all know of websites and their denizens who think nothing of it. It gets easier when you see the same names popping up time after time. With the ability today to read many of the text files before downloading I don't spend a lot of time wondering... my rule is: when in doubt, don't.

What do people get out of it? If nothing else they can go around saying "I uploaded a bunch of files and some have been downloaded xxxx times! Aren't I wonderful?"

Let's not start a discussion about 'victimless crime'.

[PRB]

(line) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------(end of line)

"Abandonware" is a myth and the urge to upload it comes from a desire to be important under the guise of 'helpful'.
Not always.

We had one of our SOH “Summertime in between the RTW Race Event” events a few years ago, and I wanted to fly the Stewart Green G4M “Betty”, but is was deemed “a bit too speedy” by the “race committee”, of which I was a member. After some research, I concluded that the “race committee” might (might) be correct, and I took it upon myself to “adjust” and “tweek” on a few FDE parameters to slow it down a teeny weeny bit. While I was the only one who wanted to fly this plane, I still thought I should contact Mr. Green before I flew it in the race. I made what I considered a valiant attempt, to no avail. I thought a lot about it and asked for opinions from the other members of the committee. I eventually made the modified FDE available to the race committee members for evaluation without Stewart's permission. I still have it as the FDE for my install of Stewart's G4M, but I won't upload it anywhere as “my work”.