Legal question

[Bluenose 10]

I wonder if one of the team or someone close to them could answer a question: is it legal / permissable to create content for Arma 2 and make a charge for it?

I am from a flight simulator background where it is quite normal to create aircraft & scenery content and make a small charge for the better examples.

Thanks.

[mattxr 9]

Nope! If you did something that it would be agasint there pollicy and you would get legal issues and ghosted! lol let me find the terms and conditions

BI's Tools End User License

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED TO YOU BY BOHEMIA INTERACTIVE FREE OF CHARGE FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE AND TO CREATE NON-COMMERCIAL GAME CONTENT FOR BOHEMIA INTERACTIVE'S PRODUCTS. ANY COMMERCIAL USE IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION

IMPORTANT, READ CAREFULLY: YOU SHOULD CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT BEFORE INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE PROGRAM.

This computer software program, any printed materials, any on-line or electronic documentation, and any and all copies and derivative works of such software program and materials (the “Programâ€) are the copyrighted work. All use of the Program is governed by the copyright law and by the terms of the End-User License Agreement, which is provided below (“Licenseâ€). By using the Program you agree to be legally bound by the terms of this license agreement. Any use, reproduction or redistribution of the Program not in accordance with the terms of the License is expressly prohibited. If you do not agree to the terms of this Agreement, do not install or use the Program.

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Copyright © 2008 Bohemia Interactive. All rights reserved.

There is more info else where about the selling of addons but i cant find it, except that its prohibited.

Edited June 20, 2009 by MattXR

[JdB 151]

I wonder if one of the team or someone close to them could answer a question: is it legal / permissable to create content for Arma 2 and make a charge for it?

I am from a flight simulator background where it is quite normal to create aircraft & scenery content and make a small charge for the better examples.

The only way you can make money from addons/mods for BIS games is by buying a license from BIS, which I would assume is a business-to-business license, which probably costs an equally corporate figure. They've never revealed how much this would cost (probably not a fixed figure, but based on the intended use), it most likely wouldn't be revealed until you were in direct talks with them, and they feel your plans are serious enough.

Personally I feel it is an obscenity, and people practicing their hobby to make money out of it are doing it for the wrong reasons. This community has always been about free content prolonging the life and usefulness of BIS' games for their players, not about the enrichment of anyone. That would take the fun out of the community imo. For me making something as good as I can is enough of a reward.

Edited June 20, 2009 by JdB

[CarlGustaffa 4]

I am also from the Flight Simulator 'scene', and the whole payware business scared me away from it. It was nothing but fighting and 'copyright infringement accussations'. It felt like you couldn't make a damn line of code without it being noted that it had been used elsewhere. Freeware addon makers was completely left in the shadow of the payware marked, and it saddens me greatly what flight simulation has become...

I'm VERY happy that BIS actively denies this possibility. Naturally there are a few addon disputes also here, but I have never seen lawyers and lawsuits been mentioned. Needlessly to say, I never supported any payware addon maker in the flightsim community.

[Bluenose 10]

Thanks for clearing it up.

I remain a bit undecided but feel that payware stuff for flight simulators are more often than not far superior than the free alternatives. Usually because it is approached in a professional manner rather than a fun project. For example, the other day I paid $9 for a flight sim aircraft which is of a high quality and I was happy to reward the author for his efforts. By charging it doesnt make the author a bad person - he may have put the project before his homelife or other important aspects of his life.

That said there are plenty of free alternatives if you cant or wont pay for addons.

In relation to Arma 2 I guess it boils down to where you draw the line on how much of your time and effort deserves some recompense. Could higher quality content be produced if teams of content providers could charge a modest fee for stuff they had planned, created and marketed to a high standard?

Anyway, it's all a bit irrelevant as the legalities are there in the small print!

[Birkoff 0]

First of I agree that people shouldnt make money off BIS work here by creating models or whatever for sale.

I still wonder about the legality of say sponsoring a mod crew with money/hardware etc to inspire such a crew to work faster etc on a free mod, would that be legal or illegal ?

Just wondering :P

[Provac 0]

First of I agree that people shouldnt make money off BIS work here by creating models or whatever for sale.

I still wonder about the legality of say sponsoring a mod crew with money/hardware etc to inspire such a crew to work faster etc on a free mod, would that be legal or illegal ?

Just wondering :P

If you want to pay someone for their work then that's your business, as long as you don't sell the game content you create its ok.