In the interests of fairness and balance I’ve been taking a look at some other Terms of Service beyond Linden Lab. The results are mixed. If you want to create mods for Skyrim you have to agree to this:
“If You distribute or otherwise make available New Materials, You automatically grant to Bethesda Softworks the irrevocable, perpetual, royalty free, sublicensable right and license under all applicable copyrights and intellectual property rights laws to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, perform, display, distribute and otherwise exploit and/or dispose of the New Materials (or any part of the New Materials) in any way Bethesda Softworks, or its respective designee(s), sees fit. You also waive and agree never to assert against Bethesda Softworks or its affiliates, distributors or licensors any moral rights or similar rights, however designated, that You may have in or to any of the New Materials.”
On the other hand, if you want to post your game to Steam Greenlight, you have to agree to this:
“Before you post your game to Steam Greenlight, you must agree to the following:
- You own the rights to sell the game you are posting, or you have specific authorization to represent the developer
- You agree to the terms and conditions of the Steam Subscriber Agreement.“
Subscriber agreement on user generated content:
“You grant Valve and its affiliates the non-exclusive, irrevocable right to use, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, transmit, broadcast, and otherwise communicate, and publicly display and publicly perform, your User Generated Content, and derivative works of your User Generated Content, in connection with the operation and promotion of the Steam site.”
The latter Steam terms are more along the lines of what Second Life users would like. The former terms for Skyrim mods are more along the lines of what Linden Lab seem to want.
So the first thing I’ve discovered over the last few days is that the new terms of service Linden Lab have introduced are not as uncommon as I first thought. The second thing I’ve discovered over the last few days is that it’s not obvious as to why a company needs the terms Linden Lab are applying.
If Valve don’t need those terms for user generated content via Steam, why does anyone need them? I can understand the Skyrim terms, you’re using their tools and their IP, so by using them you agree to let them have rights to your creations. Some people may argue it’s unfair but Skyrim can’t go wild without controls in terms of mods and content.
However in general terms, I think Valve have it about right with Steam. With regards to Second Life, once again there has been a lack of public communication, which has caused angst amongst content creators. Linden Lab should not be afraid to explain themselves on this issue, it’s that lack of explanation that gives content creators the heebie jeebies. Some will never be convinced these terms are required, others will come around to them if they’re given good reason to embrace them.