Reading the Minecraft ToS clearly puts the entire modding community on very shaky ground. It clearly states not to distribute anything they have made or to distribute modified versions of anything they have made. The entire modding community requires this. I hope the new API Jeb is working on clears this up, and hopefully Mojang will adopt a proper licensing agreement since even this is a matter of licensing and not of copyright.
A couple of fun facts:
Copyright infringement is not theft. This has been decided by several courts and has never been refuted.
Copyright infringement in all but very rare cases is a civil matter, and as a result the only guaranteed rewards for a won case are provable losses/damages.
Absolutely, every time a modder releases a base class mod (that includes me too btw) he is also redistributing part of the minecraft code. That is against the copyright that comes with MineCraft.
ModLoader, ModLoaderMP and Forge are all base class "mods".
Now, where i live (Sweden) you are not allowed to obtain copyrighted materials without permission either. This applies to many other countries as well. Simply downloading ModLoader, ModLoaderMP and Forge is a violation of the copyright and I (and many others) can be charged for that just the same as the people who distributed the minecraft base class modifications. Notch lives in Sweden too and he knows just too well what piracy is (Piratebay) and knows about the laws on copyright.
Distributing and/or obtaining parts of or the entirety of "minecraft.jar" from any other source than minecraft.net is a violation of the copyright. Doesn't matter if it's 1% original MC code and 99% your own code.
Now, why should Notch even care if we thumb a little on the copyrights to make mods possible which gives him more sales and a greater community? (which is a HUGE advertisement machine running 24/7)
Well, on one hand he doesn't care that much, he is aware of the benefits he receives from the modding community. It has sped up the rate of success for Minecraft in ways he can't even begin to imagine. I would dare say, without mods for MC, the game would still be as popular as it was about 2 years ago.
Howver, on the other hand he does care a lot about the copyright...
The thing about java code is that it is easily reverse engineered since it's in the most basic way just a set of compiled instructions that can be decompiled very easily. Hence why Notch has to obfuscate the code.
The people maintaining MCP has done an awesome job (I have done a very small part of it) de-obfuscating the code which has helped countless modders make awesome mods. The thing about this though is that, once you have ONE base class file you can de-compile it and read it as code. Albeit in the form "xx.yy.zzz()" instead of "Block.blockID.ShiftedIndex()" as an example. MCP (Minecraft Coder Pack) will turn all the "xx.yy.zzz()" type code into human readable code.
Now, if a modder releases something very important to the way MC works, like the cave generation code, then a competitor to Mojang and Minecraft can "steal" this code and implement it in his own game with a few changes (to claim it is his code) and be one step closer to making a minecraft clone that is as good or better than minecraft. So every base class that gets in the hands of another developer is equal to you giving your secret "super awesome burger sauce recipe" to the competing restaurant across the street.
Obviously, the competing developer can spare the money to buy MC and as such will gain access to the entire code base so this is quite far fetched. But it still is copyright violation to redistribute and receive copyrighted material without permission.
It doesn't matter that you can get a complete copy of minecraft and minecraft server anywhere on the internet easily without owning the game and are able to play it cracked with ALL the features.
It doesn't matter if you already own the game, downloading it or parts of it from any other source than minecraft.net is a violation of the copyright.
...
So now we get to the complicated part... To make a mod in minecraft we pretty much have to make a base class modification somewhere. None of BuildCraft, Industrial Craft or RedPower etc etc would be possible without ModLoader, ModLoaderMP and Forge providing hooks into the minecraft code... Well, they would be possible but would take twice the work to maintain and would most likely NOT be compatible with each other.
So we cannot get away from modifying and releasing Minecraft base classes to make our mods.
But besides the fact we need Forge etc to make base clean (that is, not alter the base classes) and allow these mods to run in tandem without clashing into each other at the base code... IC2, BC and RP2 are ALL originals in that the author can issue his own copyright on his work. The code and the files ONLY belong to the developer in question that made them. That is:
- SpaceToad and his developers for Buildcraft.
- Eloraam for Red Power.
- Alblaka and his developers for Industrial Craft.
They are in the same position as Notch, they CAN make money from donations and adf.ly links. People downloading their mods from other sources are very unlikely to donate or use the "appropriate" adf.ly links.
While i personally think using adfly links is quite the double morale and a complete waste of time and only serves to make the process of downloading the mods more painful i also see why they want to do it. They want something in return for spending countless hours making things that serve the community as a whole rather than themselves. They are doing things they don't necessarily want to make us happy.
I will NEVER use any adfly links or likewise. I will never accept ANY donations for my modding work. I make all code because i want to, not because i have to.
While i appreciate the odd "Thank you" here and there i would never demand anything from anyone when making mods.
For me sharing is caring!
But if my only source of real life income would come from modding then my attitude would change pretty quick. Notch has no other source of income than Minecraft. As such, should minecraft die out from competition or otherwise then it is the same thing as losing your job.
However, i make money off coding but i only make money off coding on demand. Someone needs some code that i am not interested in making for free and as such they ask me to make it and i get paid.
I build and repair computers from time to time. As much as i love building a new computer i also hate dealing with all the crap that comes along with it when I'm not the one who is going to be using it. On countless occasions i have DECLINED fixing a certain computer even if i would get paid €60 to do so because it would just bee too much work doing it.
If however i feel like this would benefit me and thus feel motivated in doing some coding for FUN then i share freely. And i stand fast to my "sharing is caring" motto.
Anyone is free to "steal" my stuff, they are only really stealing from themselves because it doesn't belong to anyone. So if the "Technic pack" wants to use my OreVeins mod they can do so freely. They don't need my permission, if they ask i will not tell them to sod off.
But i still will not accept their attitudes, they could be much nicer about it but they openly shit on the developers who have other wishes.
That just doesn't fly with me. As such i will call them names and point out how wrong they are ad infinitum until they fix their bad ways.
