Your rights as an End User
This is going to hurt...Simply put. In the ArmA/Addon end user scenario.
You really don’t have many. Only what the creator gives you.
At least my License does, as do many others. Legally speaking the important part here is “personal, nonexclusive license to use the Software”. This means:
So, let’s start with the Private part. In legal terms Private is defined as:
So straight off the bat,
You really don’t have many. Only what the creator gives you.
- You do not own anything.
- You do not control anything.
- And you have no rights to modify anything.
At least my License does, as do many others. Legally speaking the important part here is “personal, nonexclusive license to use the Software”. This means:
- You are free to play with it,
- to develop missions and test features etc. Nothing more.
- No ownership of the addon is implied or granted to you.
“Fair use” aka Fair Dealing (UK)
If you’re using this as justification for modding someone else’s work. Make sure you really understand what you are claiming. In my experience 99.99% of fair use claims are rubbish excuses to justify stealing someone’s content. Fair use rarely applies to Creative works.
Fair Use or ‘Fair dealing’ (in the UK) is a legal term used to establish whether a use of copyright material is lawful or whether it infringes copyright. It is not a legal right. There is no statutory definition of fair dealing under EU, UK or US law. This means that what is or is not classed as "Fair Use" often depends on the opinion of the courts. However there are several classifications and clauses that help define fair use. Rarely is a "Fair Use" ruling granted when content is taken from one source and used in another without good reason.
I have a dedicated page just for this definition. Fair Use and a number of real Arma related examples.
PERSONAL/PRIVATE USE VS PUBLIC
Another common claim related to fair-use is that “it’s only for Private use with is allowed under fair use”. And, yes Private use for the purpose of Research is allowed under law. But modifying an addon for 'Private Clan Use' isn't something that you can legally use the fair-use defence for.I have a dedicated page just for this definition. Fair Use and a number of real Arma related examples.
PERSONAL/PRIVATE USE VS PUBLIC
So, let’s start with the Private part. In legal terms Private is defined as:
So straight off the bat,
- Private is for your own personal, individual use.
- A “private group” isn't really a legal thing. its better to say 'Closed' or 'Members only group' as groups like this are legally considered a public community.
I've provided some real-world Arma case studies to look at here: Case Studies Tag
Links:
Sorry this isn’t a defence for IP infringement either. Interesting fact; It’s only the US that recognises this. The UK and EU laws don’t really distinguish between commercial and non-commercial use. And non-commercial use isn’t a defence under fair-use or if you are caught ripping content either.
In practical fact the issue of Commercial vs Non-Commercial use really only affects compensation/penalty the court levies. Especially, in our use-case the Creator’s Moral rights to be recognised as the owner of the work is the core issue. And the Creator’s right to assert control over his or her creation which is covered in basic Copyright Law.
What this means is even if you are in the US (where monetary loss is a key factor in the Fair Use defence) and you are not making money off someone else's work you can still be successfully sued under the Moral Rights sections of Copyright law.
I had one case wear someone ripped some of my FS work and was passing it off as his own. He tried the non-commercial ruse too. The Court acknowledged my "Moral Rights to be identified as the Author" and granted me £150 compensation + £750 Legal costs. The court wasn't impressed by the attempt to "misuse legislation". I didn't exactly make money, in-fact I was actually £40 out of pocket the end but it does illustrate that stealing someone's content even for 'non-commercial use' could end up costing you money. 😎
Links:
- https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Private
- https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Personal
- https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Public - In the Arma-use case = Community
Sorry this isn’t a defence for IP infringement either. Interesting fact; It’s only the US that recognises this. The UK and EU laws don’t really distinguish between commercial and non-commercial use. And non-commercial use isn’t a defence under fair-use or if you are caught ripping content either.
In practical fact the issue of Commercial vs Non-Commercial use really only affects compensation/penalty the court levies. Especially, in our use-case the Creator’s Moral rights to be recognised as the owner of the work is the core issue. And the Creator’s right to assert control over his or her creation which is covered in basic Copyright Law.
What this means is even if you are in the US (where monetary loss is a key factor in the Fair Use defence) and you are not making money off someone else's work you can still be successfully sued under the Moral Rights sections of Copyright law.
I had one case wear someone ripped some of my FS work and was passing it off as his own. He tried the non-commercial ruse too. The Court acknowledged my "Moral Rights to be identified as the Author" and granted me £150 compensation + £750 Legal costs. The court wasn't impressed by the attempt to "misuse legislation". I didn't exactly make money, in-fact I was actually £40 out of pocket the end but it does illustrate that stealing someone's content even for 'non-commercial use' could end up costing you money. 😎
