Steam Subscriber Agreement
The Steam agreement is something most of us just click past and forget about. We have all done it. Just tick the "I agree" box and click the next button. And that is fine. But if you are planning on uploading anything to the Steam Workshop there is a few things you really should know.
- The Steam agreement covers your interaction with Valve and the Steam Service. By clicking "I Agree" you are entering into a legally binding agreement.
- The terms and conditions of the agreement grant you a "licence" to use the service. You do not actually own anything you download through it. There are regional consumer rights to consider here, they do vary a lot region to region. But by agreeing to use their service you are also agreeing to abide by the laws of the State of Washington, U.S.A.(Section 10)
- If you upload ANY content to the Workshop you need to either LEGALLY OWN it or have AUTHORISATION to grant legal rights to Valve to distribute and modify it as they see fit. (Section 6D)
- By uploading any content you do not own you are:
- Commiting a legal offence. (IP Theft)
- Breaching the Steam Agreement - which is grounds for termination (Section 9C)
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| Section 10: https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/ |
This means that no matter where you are, the terms and services you agree to by using Steam are governed by the Laws of the State of Washington, United States of America. This is the power of a License to override your local laws in some cases. There are of course exceptions where regional laws may override this. For Example EU Consumer Rights and Privacy laws prevent contracts form removing your rights if you are an EU resident. But there are provisions for that in the rest of the contract. (That’s a whole other rabbit hole and we aren’t going there today)
So lets step through the licence agreement section by section.
Section 1 - Registration as a subscriber; application of terms to you; your account
This section is about your account and your contract with the Valve Corporation and the Steam service. It explains the basic terms and conditions of the service and to some extent your responsibilities.
MYTH: There is a myth about the Steam agreement overriding Community made Workshop Content. This is rubbish. This agreement is between YOU and VALVE for use of the Steam service. It does not apply to any other content delivered via Steam or the Workshop
While it is important to you its not really important to our theme of Arma IP issues. So I'll skip on.
Section 2 - General Content and Services License
This section is about your rights to use content you purchase a licence to use via the Steam service. And its about covering Valve's ass in a legal sense if the software or services have issues.
Section 3 - Billing, Payment and Other Subscriptions
This is obvious, covering paying for games, the Steam wallet and trading and sales. And of course your right to refunds. All pretty common among online retailers.
Section 4 - Online Conduct, Cheating And Illegal Behavior
Again, obvious but you should read this if you are in the habit of being a keyboard warrior and posting insults and abuse when you don't get your own way. You can lose your account and all your games. Simple tip for keeping your account: Follow Wheaton's Law - "Don't be a dick"
Section 5 - Third-Party Content
This is just Valve covering its arse just in case someone gets offended by something they see in a game. They are distancing themselves from the Studios and Game devs that make the content. And this includes workshop content too.
Section 6A - User Generated Content
And this is why we are here. Section 6 is the most relevant to the Arma3 Modding community. Well any modding community really. So lets start by debunking a bit of a myth. One that i actually have a part in.
The myth is that once you submit any content to the Steam Workshop, Valve has full control of you content. Now under the current license (January 2020) this is simply not true. Originally there was a license for Steam and a seperate licence for Workshop. And both were worded differently than today.
HISTORY: If you want to know about the original debate you can read up on it here You can see what my part in all of this myth was. And how other people felt about the original licence. The BI forum debate sparked BI to give feedback to Valve and Valve updated their Workshop agreement to clarify their intent. Changing the open ended interpretation to the entire paragraph. Obviously I now use Steam Workshop. Once Valve changed the licence again after 2014 to further clarify their intent my IP lawyer gave the green light (with some grumbling caveats).
So no, they don't own your rights. You just grant them a license to use your content in a specific way. But by uploading ANY content to the Workshop you are granting them the right to use your content to promote Steam and any Games on the platform. I choose to see it as payment for hosting.
Section 6B - Content Uploaded to the Steam Workshop
This is about Steam's obligations toward content you upload. Basically saying they have the right to distribute or remove content from the workshop for any reason they see fit.
They define the uploaded content as subscriptions and are legally allowed to update and remove them without notice or restrictions.
This paragraph is key to the reasons that I began to use the Workshop service. It explains the conditions that Valve/Steam is allowed to modify and redistribute your contributions. It also goes onto to explain your right to remove any content you upload and how that will terminate the licence agreement between you an Valve for that item. Effectively returning full control back to you.
Section 6C - Promotions and Endorsements.
Not really relevant to the Arma modding side of things but relates to your ability to review and promote someone else's game/content. The intent is a bit vague to me but it there for some reason.
Section 6D - Representations and Warranties
Now this is THE most relevant clause for steam workshop users.
This paragraph is saying that to upload to the Workshop you MUST:
- Either be the owner of ALL the IP or have sufficient permissions to be able to give CONTROL OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS TO VALVE.
- You can legally claim to be or represent the owner of the content you are uploading.
- Are authorised on behalf of content created by a group or team or other contributors to the content you are uploading.
- You legally acknowledge that you are not breaking any other legal contract, law or license.
Bottom line, its saying: If you did not make it or do not have the legal rights from the Author to upload it. You should NOT be uploading anything.
Section 7 - Disclaimers
Not relevant to IP Rights - This is about regional variances of consumer rights.
Section 8 - Amendments & Agreements
Not relevant to IP Rights - Some regional changes to the agreement and conditions. But in essence Valve is again covering its own arse and setting further terms for the use and termination of services
Section 9 - Term and Termination
Not relevant to IP Rights - Clear terms for the duration and Termination of your account and services from Valve.
Section 10 - Applicable Law/Mediation/Jurisdiction/Attorneys’ Fees
For Non-EU users. Clarification that by agreeing to the the Steam Agreement that you agree that all legal transactions are conducted subject to Washington State law. USA.
And for EU Customers it explains the disputes process and provides links to the relevant areas.
Section 11 - Dispute Resolution/Binding Arbitration/Class Action Waiver
Excluding IP Disputes and For Non-EU users - You agree to settle disputes with Valve/Steam only by arbitration and not resort to legal action immediately.
Section 12 - Miscellaneous
Some wonderful legalease, restating Steam/Valve's insistence that all disputes must be arbitrated. Its subscription terms are not intended to confer any rights or legal loopholes upon the end user. And further statements about how Valve has obligations are all subject to law and you agree to abide by all the terms set out above.
Reference Links:
- https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/
- US - Digitial Consumer Rights - https://www.rocketlawyer.com/gb/en/quick-guides/consumer-rights-when-purchasing-digital-content
- UK - Digitial Consumer Rights - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rights-for-consumers-when-buying-digital-content
- UK - Digitial Consumer Rights - https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/can-i-get-a-refund-on-a-digital-download
- EU - Consumer Rights - https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/consumers/consumer-contract-law/consumer-rights-directive_en
- EU - Digital Consumer Rights - https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190321IPR32116/parliament-boosts-consumer-rights-online-and-offline
- https://www.attorneyatwork.com/wheatons-law/
