Hi everyone,
So, there’s been an ever-increasing trend of server owners monetising the mods they have installed on their server as a means of microtransactions. This essentially means that server owners are blocking access to either parts of mods or completely with the intent of making money from the works of mod authors. While they can be doing this to offset the cost of server renting, without the permission of a mod author, it still does not justify it and it is a serious breach of rights. Creative Commons has created a licence that can help with this issue. The Attribution Non-Commercial and No Derivatives (4.0) license covers you in the best case. This licence also protects you from other mod developers that you have shared your code with, where they have implemented that code directly into their mod, and are using it without your permission, for monetary gain or otherwise should you wish to take action.
A quick and basic thing you can do to give yourself the legal backing required to be able to prevent such things from occurring is adding a Creative Commons NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence declaration on your Steam Workshop page.
This mod/code/work is protected by the [noparse][Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Creative Commons License.
https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/4.0/88x31.png](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode)[/noparse]
The above will appear like so on your workshop page:
If you find yourself in this situation with either a mod of your own creation, or the works of another you know, here are some things you can/should do;
~ If it is not yours, and the Author has attributed this licence to their Mod, you should notify the Author of the infringement. The Steam Workshop page will probably be the fastest route otherwise, if they allow it, a personal message or comment on their profile should get their attention.
~ Gather evidence of the infringement. This could be screenshots of either the website(if they have one), in-game instructions and offers or some other means of engaging in the infringement showing the mod feature/access being advertised as “for a price” or “comes with a ‘donation’”.
~ Document the Server IP **AND **Port Number. Several servers run out of the same IP, so the Port number is important. It may even be best to screenshot the arkservers.net page of the server, showing the active players as well. This may help if needing to prove the server had a chance to make a profit off of other players.
~ If a website exists and is involved in the infringement(offering/advertising mods for “sale”), document the URL of the website and use whois.net to obtain the hosting provider for their domain and the hosts contact information.
~ Try and get some sort of contact information for the server owner/operator. If you have their contact information, send them a DMCA Takedown Notice. If you have obtained the website host information, send the Notice to the Host of the website, this in turn requires the host to forward the notice to the owner and act on the notice should the infringer not comply in a reasonable period of time as it helps remind them how to avoid legal liability in the event of any Copyright claims that could proceed to lawsuits.
DMCA Takedown template is attached(as .docx and .txt files (in a .zip due to file size limits) - also in the code box below to cover all bases for people to access it), tweaked to reflect the nature of this a litte more accurately, replace all of the capitalised/bolded text - you only need to provide one formal means of communication however(most commonly a valid email), also it would help to use your real name and provide your Steam moniker(name) to associate yourself with the mod(s) in question more clearly. If you wish to send the notice directly to the owner/operator then the notice should be altered further as the template is directed towards hosting providers.
Furthermore, if the infringer has made available a PayPal address/button for people to send money to, you can also contact PayPal with an infringement report(as this is less to do with content and more specifically the money side of it, a DMCA notice will not work here) and they have their own policy for this. You can find their template/form at this link - you can also right-click and ‘Save As…’ as it’s a PDF file. The PDF has form features built in so you can fill out the required information(note: this one will require information such as your name, address, etc. as it’s a much more “official” means of reporting infringements) and once done so, you’re instructed to either fax or email the completed form to [EMAIL=“infringementreport@paypal.com”]infringementreport@paypal.com.
-WM (Discord ARK Modding Admin)
**Takedown Notice Pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998**
To Whom It May Concern,
This is a notice in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) requesting that you immediately cease to provide access to the copyrighted material. I wish to report an instance of Copyright Infringement, whereby the infringing material appears on a website for which you are the host (according to WHOIS information).
The works being infringed upon are:
**“NAME OF MOD”**
The original works, to which I own the copyrights, can be found at:
[http://www.steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=**MODIDHERE**](http://www.steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=MODIDHERE)
The unauthorized use and infringement can be found at:
**URL TO PAGE WHERE INFRINGEMENT HAS OCCURRED.**
My name is **INSERT NAME** and I am the author and copyright holder of the works described below. The party involved in the infringement is violating the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License by monetizing the original works without authorization.
This letter is official notification under **Section 512(c)**](http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#512) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”), and I seek the removal of the aforementioned infringing material from your servers. I request that you immediately notify the infringer of this notice and inform them of their duty to remove the infringing material immediately, and notify them to cease any further posting of infringing material to your server in the future.
Please also be advised that law requires you, as a service provider, to remove or disable access to the infringing materials upon receiving this notice. Under US law a service provider, such as yourself, enjoys immunity from a copyright lawsuit provided that you act with deliberate speed to investigate and rectify ongoing copyright infringement. If service providers do not investigate and remove or disable the infringing material this immunity is lost. Therefore, in order for you to remain immune from a copyright infringement action you will need to investigate and ultimately remove or otherwise disable the infringing material from your servers with all due speed should the direct infringer, your client, not comply immediately.
I am providing this notice in good faith and with the reasonable belief that rights I own are being infringed. Under penalty of perjury I certify that the information contained in the notification is both true and accurate, and that I am the copyright holder of the works involved.
Should you wish to discuss this with me please contact me directly.
Thank you.
Signed:
**YOUR NAME**
**ADRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP/POSTAL CODE
PHONE
EMAIL**
Date:
**DATE**
