Updated EULAs for Star Wars games on Steam

[commanderawesome]

This was brought to my attention by Eezstreet over at JKHub HERE. Apparently this applies to all Star Wars games on Steam. This section in particular is of interest:

User Generated Content

The Disney Services may allow you to communicate, submit, upload or otherwise make available text, images, audio, video, competition entries or other content (“User Generated Content”), which may be accessible and viewable by the public. Access to these features may be subject to age restrictions. You may not submit or upload User Generated Content that is defamatory, harassing, threatening, bigoted, hateful, violent, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, or otherwise offensive or that harms or can reasonably be expected to harm any person or entity, whether or not such material is protected by law.

We do not claim ownership to your User Generated Content; however, you grant us a non-exclusive, sublicensable, irrevocable and royalty-free worldwide license under all copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, privacy and publicity rights and other intellectual property rights to use, reproduce, transmit, print, publish, publicly display, exhibit, distribute, redistribute, copy, index, comment on, modify, adapt, translate, create derivative works based upon, publicly perform, make available and otherwise exploit such User Generated Content, in whole or in part, in all media formats and channels now known or hereafter devised (including in connection with the Disney Services and on third-party sites and platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter), in any number of copies and without limit as to time, manner and frequency of use, without further notice to you, with or without attribution, and without the requirement of permission from or payment to you or any other person or entity.

You represent and warrant that your User Generated Content conforms to these terms and that you own or have the necessary rights and permissions, without the need for payment to any other person or entity, to use and exploit, and to authorize us to use and exploit, your User Generated Content in all manners contemplated by these terms. You agree to indemnify and hold us and our subsidiary and affiliated companies, and each of their respective employees and officers, harmless from any demands, loss, liability, claims or expenses (including attorneys’ fees), made against us by any third party arising out of or in connection with our use and exploitation of your User Generated Content. You also agree not to enforce any moral rights, ancillary rights or similar rights in or to the User Generated Content against us or our licensees, distributors, agents, representatives and other authorized users, and agree to procure the same agreement not to enforce from others who may possess such rights.

To the extent that we authorize you to create, post, upload, distribute, publicly display or publicly perform User Generated Content that requires the use of our copyrighted works, we grant you a non-exclusive license to create a derivative work using our copyrighted works as required for the purpose of creating the materials, provided that such license shall be conditioned upon your assignment to us of all rights in the work you create. If such rights are not assigned to us, your license to create derivative works using our copyrighted works shall be null and void.

We have the right but not the obligation to monitor, screen, post, remove, modify, store and review User Generated Content or communications sent through a Disney Service, at any time and for any reason, including to ensure that the User Generated Content or communication conforms to these terms, without prior notice to you. We are not responsible for, and do not endorse or guarantee, the opinions, views, advice or recommendations posted or sent by users.

[AnthonyBF2]

I am not good with this sort of stuff. Is my PSP project fine?

[commanderawesome]

I am not good with this sort of stuff. Is my PSP project fine?

As far as I can understand, what it's saying is:

• No offensive mods. (IE. Racist, Pornographic, etc.)
• Disney owns the rights to the mods, and reserve the right to promote them if they want to.
• You can't charge money for mods.
• We must create our own content, except
• We can use content from any game Disney owns the copyright for. <-- The reason I brought this up.

So, your PSP mod should be safe.

[TWINKEYRUNAWAY]

So basically we are granted to still make mods? Im assuming we could use assests or other creative works as long as they are from disney and they dont contain vulgore or offensive garbage?

[AnthonyBF2]

So basically we are granted to still make mods? Im assuming we could use assests or other creative works as long as they are from disney and they dont contain vulgore or offensive garbage?

That would be sweet. But I would recommend trying to contact someone important to see if it would be allowed to use things from modern games like EA Battlefront before just flat out assuming we can and do it and get in trouble.

[giftheck]

So basically we are granted to still make mods? Im assuming we could use assests or other creative works as long as they are from disney and they dont contain vulgore or offensive garbage?

Correct. In all reality this arrangement isn't much different to the arrangement before. But it does throw into question one thing: we have mods on here using other IPs (IE Mass Effect), and there are some IPs that allow you to use their characters without explicitly-needed permissions, just that you don't make profit from them (IE Halo). Are those now forbidden by default? It does, however, appear to allow you to use characters from Disney's entire library. How long before Mickey Mouse appears in a match of Hero Assault?

In all seriousness, let's take a look at the most interesting passage:

To the extent that we authorize you to create, post, upload, distribute, publicly display or publicly perform User Generated Content that requires the use of our copyrighted works, we grant you a non-exclusive license to create a derivative work using our copyrighted works as required for the purpose of creating the materials, provided that such license shall be conditioned upon your assignment to us of all rights in the work you create.

What's curious is the way the passage can be interpreted. They're giving you permission to use whatever you like from their IPs. So, it looks a bit like the copyright rules might need to be readdressed here, at least to clarify whether that is actually what is being said. Ultimately, Disney owns anything Star Wars related. That includes any assets used in official games. I'm not saying that's carte blanche for us to start ripping away at models from games we've classified here as being 'too new', but it's an interesting passage nonetheless. I personally take it to mean "it's okay to use the likenesses" rather than "it's okay to use the exact assets".

I'm also curious as to whether this overrides the EULA of the original releases or is an addendum. If it's in addendum to it, then surely it's just parroting what was already there.

[TWINKEYRUNAWAY]

"you grant us a non-exclusive, sublicensable, irrevocable and royalty-free worldwide license under all copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, privacy and publicity rights and other intellectual property rights to use, reproduce, transmit, print, publish, publicly display, exhibit, distribute, redistribute, copy, index, comment on, modify, adapt, translate, create derivative works based upon, publicly perform, make available and otherwise exploit such User Generated Content"

So basically if they wanted to, they could base designs we made into their own mediums? Like if they see a design they like from a mod, its possible they may use it? Is that what im seeing or am I mistaken?

[commanderawesome]

"you grant us a non-exclusive, sublicensable, irrevocable and royalty-free worldwide license under all copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, privacy and publicity rights and other intellectual property rights to use, reproduce, transmit, print, publish, publicly display, exhibit, distribute, redistribute, copy, index, comment on, modify, adapt, translate, create derivative works based upon, publicly perform, make available and otherwise exploit such User Generated Content"

So basically if they wanted to, they could base designs we made into their own mediums? Like if they see a design they like from a mod, its possible they may use it? Is that what im seeing or am I mistaken?

I think so. It wouldn't be the first time fanon concepts have made it into canon.

[TWINKEYRUNAWAY]

Personally, I think that's a good idea. Ive seen some pretty cool models and designs that others have made in their mods. You may not get paid for the idea, but having something of yours make it into official canon is certainly the ultimate complement.

[AceMastermind]

[thinking out loud]
The copyright rules here should be simplifed down to:
Use whatever Star Wars assets you want, just credit the source.

No one with authority to take legal action seems to care who uses what from other Star Wars games in a decade old game.
We already have entire asset collections from other games being shared and have yet to see any major portion of them being used for anything by anyone, the SWBF3 pre-alpha assets are the closest. Opening up to the newest games will have little to no effect on this behavior.
[/thinking out loud]

[Anakin]

ok do I understand right? We are allowed to take ea bf unties for swbf2 if: we credit ea and the engine does not crash???

[Teancum]

Unless someone sees this same section in the EA Battlefront EULA, I would stay away from it. I've checked and pretty much every 2000's Star Wars game has this EULA, so those are safe. Didn't check Force Unleashed yet.

[giftheck]

SWBFEA's EULA is by EA. So it does not have that section.

http://store.steampowered.com//eula/32500_eula_0

That's the EULA for TFU2. It does have that section quoted in the OP.

Edit: The EULA for TFU has that passage: http://store.steampowered.com//eula/32430_eula_0

[Marth8880]

But it does throw into question one thing: we have mods on here using other IPs (IE Mass Effect)

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh...

[Anakin]

I'm not a law expert, but maybe someone else here is. What about sound files?? would it be ok to take them from EA??
And what about the Pinball First Order trooper?? I'd really like to release it.

[giftheck]

I'm not a law expert, but maybe someone else here is. What about sound files?? would it be ok to take them from EA??
And what about the Pinball First Order trooper?? I'd really like to release it.

Sounds are different. They are not owned by EA but are the property of LucasFilm themselves, as they come from the LucasFilm archives. I'll leave the final decision on these up to the mods here though, because I can't say whether they still view this as "these sounds are in EA's game therefore they count as content exclusive to the game". A lot of the sounds can be found elsewhere anyway (IE the backing mechanics for the AT-AT footsteps can be found in TFU and the hydraulics are easily found in many games)

Likewise, music is different to an extent: any original music composed for the game is the property of EA and should be steered clear of unless officially released. For instance, two tracks were posted to SoundCloud by Gordy Haab.

[Teancum]

I'm not a law expert, but maybe someone else here is. What about sound files?? would it be ok to take them from EA??
And what about the Pinball First Order trooper?? I'd really like to release it.

If the game you want to take content from has this clause in the EULA, you can use it. If you can't find it, then don't. That's the easy way to understand it. The Pinball games/DLC and EA Battlefront don't. Don't know about anything after October 2012 (when Disney bought LucasFilm/LucasArts), but I've checked pretty much everything else except for the Old Republic MMO and they all have this part in the EUAL.

[Anakin]

All right thanks. Can you add these explanation to the copyright rules??

[giftheck]

Has anybody checked the digital release of the Kinect game as well?

EDIT: You might not be able to release the Pinball First Order trooper, but the Official Disney Star Wars app has a First Order Stormtrooper, and a Flametrooper and yes, that Android/iOs app has the user-generated content clause. That clause has been attached to that app since 2014, so technically, we have been able to use that content for two years without realising it

Star Wars: Commander also has this clause. Unfortunately, Star Wars: Uprising, by the same studio, does not.

Star Wars Rebels Missions... that does not have a link to its EULA readily available through Google Play. However, it is Disney-developed. I have only been able to check the Android store so I have no idea if the iTunes store will have the EULAs for these titles.

Star Wars: Galaxy Of Heroes is a no-go. That has EA's EULA.

[TWINKEYRUNAWAY]

So we can release TFU assets now?