<Micha>
Q: I'm taking over a couple of mods for whom the author has (temporarily?) disappeared. Are there any guidelines for requesting access to the Spacedock pages for those mods? My gut feeling is: no way. But from a users' perspective it would be nice to keep using the same download areas instead of making new ones. For one of the mods I've been given access to the original GitHub repo by the original author, but he doesn't have
<Micha>
control over the Spacedock page for that mod (the next maintainer, the one who's MIA, made that).
<Micha>
The mods in question are ConnectedLivingSpace and ShipManifest. Both were last maintained by Papa_Joe.
HebaruSan[m] has joined #spacedock
<HebaruSan[m]>
@Micha I just added you to those, you should be able to accept invitations for them. Try not to cause any trouble 🙂
<Micha>
Thanks :) My question wasn't about technically being able to add me to them, it was more about the legality/morality of it since I wasn't able to get permission from the maintainer/owner (Papa_Joe).
<Micha>
But if you reckon it's alright I'm not going to complain and I'm sure the existing users will appreciate it.
<HebaruSan[m]>
IMHO the key question is whether the person asking is adopting the mod for maintenance. If you just wanted to go in and mess with some files for your own convenience, I would say heck no.
<Micha>
Sure, but it does open a precedent over whether Spacedock content is considered "public domain" and hence transferable. The "Terms & Privacy" page doesn't go into that so might need to document that anything uploaded will be "owned" by Spacedock and can be transferred without express permission?
<HebaruSan[m]>
I don't think there's any transfer going on here, legally speaking. The original uploader still owns the copyright.
<HebaruSan[m]>
(of the existing uploads)
<Micha>
The uploads themselves are fine (since the mod is licensed accordingly). What I'm kindof asking about is the actual Spacedock metadata (mod description etc) which could be considered to be the original work of the uploader.
<HebaruSan[m]>
Hmm, interesting question...
<Micha>
You -could- assume that it is covered by the same license as the mod (since there's only a single license attached to the entry)
<Micha>
~~assume~~ argue
<HebaruSan[m]>
"Our web pages and their contents are subject to German copyright law. Unless expressly permitted by law (§ 44a et seq. of the copyright law), every form of utilizing, reproducing or processing works subject to copyright protection on our web pages requires the prior consent of the respective owner of the rights. Individual reproductions of a work are allowed only for private use, so must not serve either directly or indirectly for earnings.
<HebaruSan[m]>
Unauthorized utilization of copyrighted works is punishable (§ 106 of the copyright law)."
<HebaruSan[m]>
I think that's the closest thing
<HebaruSan[m]>
Sounds like assumed All Rights Reserved
<HebaruSan[m]>
Which is weird for two paragraphs of text
<Micha>
I think that just means you're not allowed to upload content for which you don't have the copyright to.
<Micha>
(I had read that as well :) )
<HebaruSan[m]>
I guess use your own best judgment, if you think that you may end up in court over editing someone's mod description, then don't do it
<Micha>
Heh, I personally don't think it's an issue. But was wanting to know what others think.
<Micha>
Given there've been some strange copyright-related discussions on the KSP forums in the past..
<Micha>
And I don't want to land Spacedock in hot water in the extremely unlikely event Papa_Joe comes back and complains. So was just wondering whether SD has thought about this.
<HebaruSan[m]>
I am not a lawyer, let alone a copyright lawyer, let alone a GERMAN copyright lawyer
<Micha>
:) Me neither!
<Micha>
Anyway, I'll leave it a day or so for others to chime in, just in case, and then I'll go ahead and update the mods.