RTCWFiles MOD BAN!!

[P4nth3r]

Have you created something - be it a skin, a wallpaper, a tutorial, a sound track, a map, a mod or whatever - and wish RTCWFiles to publish it? Then read on carefully!

We won't accept any files whose contents seem legally questionable; this includes files that embed a hacked executable or include copyrighted materials used without explicit consent/permission e.g. ripped off from an other game/mod.

This means that 99% of all the mods made today won't be on RTCWFiles.com

Pardon my french but this just SUX!!
Who is repsonsible for this??

Greetz Panther a.k.a. Way2Evil

[Loffy]

P4nth3r,
do you have a link to the page (a reference), so I can read it in its original context? Thanks.
//Loffy

[P4nth3r]

http://returntocastlewolfenstein.filefront.com/info/SubmitFiles

There you go. I don't know about you but, I think almost every mod or map has something that is legally questionable.
2 of my mods have been refused, and they didnt even have the decentsy to right me a mail back about it.
They probably hav been refused cause there where some parts of other games in there.

If they go on doing this they can remane the site to www.oldrtcwfiles.com or www.nortcwfiles.com

Greetz Panther aka Way2Evil

[Loffy]

I read the page. Seems like a professional and updated site. I'm sure they know what they are doing.
They have to cover their backs, so to speak.

[P4nth3r]

They never did this kind of banning before.
I submitted 3 other almost the same soundpacks and they where just normally added to the files section.

btw, loffy how long have you been in the wolfenstein scene if you have never heared of rtcwfiles.com?? =/

[Loffy]

They have received letters from legal departments or lawyer firms recently, perhaps, and that could explain the new, harder emphasis on the legal side of file sharing? Who knows.
What two mods have you recently tried to upload? Did you upload them elsewhere?
//L.

[SCDS_reyalP]

I for one am glad to see RTCWFiles doing the right thing.

[P4nth3r]

I for one am glad to see RTCWFiles doing the right thing.

So the right thing would mean what??
Destroying the RTCW & ET mod & map supply??
They are just chickens for doing this. :angry:
They could have just said, all files available on this site are the responsibility of the owners!! end of story! :bash:

I think we should al boycot rtcwfiles.com until they change this.

Anyone knows a good altenative?!?! :???:

[P4nth3r]

They have received letters from legal departments or lawyer firms recently, perhaps, and that could explain the new, harder emphasis on the legal side of file sharing? Who knows.
What two mods have you recently tried to upload? Did you upload them elsewhere?
//L.

No didnt upload them anywhere else, rtcwfiles.com accepted all my other files.
But if you have a better site, plz reply.

The two mods where soundpacks.

1. Worms Soundpack (a soundpack that adds more funny voices from worms to the quickchat)
2. Cadence Soundpack (a soundpack that adds cadence songs from movies to the quickchat)

Greetz Panther aka Way2Evil

[SCDS_reyalP]

So the right thing would mean what??
Destroying the RTCW & ET mod & map supply??

Only the ones that rip off other peoples work.

They are just chickens for doing this. :angry:
They could have just said, all files available on this site are the responsibility of the owners!! end of story! :bash:

Nope, the law doesn't work that way.

[dime1622]

man, p4nth3r, are YOU ill-informed. this will not hurt the mod community at all. most people dont rip off other peoples work. most. YOU woudlnt do that, would you?


do your own work and it wont be a problem.

[P4nth3r]

So, if I personaly select 100 samples from let's say 25 different movies and put them all in 1 ET soundpack, then I'm a rip off??

[squadjot]

P4nther, i as you, also think its lame.

But nevertheless its how copyrights work.. if you have not paid the "royalties" or have the owners permission..then legally, your not allowed to.

Now personally, i DO think that in this matter people should loosen up, but u never know.. if rtcwfiles.com DID get a letter from someone, pointing out that they are hosting copyrighted material (not legally).. then they simply HAVE to take it down..

[carnage]

So, if I personaly select 100 samples from let's say 25 different movies and put them all in 1 ET soundpack, then I'm a rip off??

no but your work is

allow me to explain, if you take sound from films that can mean that people assosiate the film with ET, this could give them the unintended impresion of the film and damage future profits from there IP

of course unless u made just about a whole mod around a film it would be hard to assosiate the film with ET but thats the way the world works

[P4nth3r]

Thank god some people or at my side here.
I can understand that rtcwfiles.com don't want illagel shit on their site.
But if that would be so, then they should have to remove all the illegal stuff that is on there now.

Let's take the star wars mod for exsample.... I don't think they have premission from George Lucas to make that mod. But still it's on their website and probably every update they make will get on there too.

But if I make a soundpack with some voices from star wars, then it won't get on there.
They can't just allow one thing and then deny the other.

I know my soundpacks are "illegal" but so are many others.
Anyway, end of story.

Does anyone else know a good site like rtcwfiles.com used to be?
I really want my mods to get out there.
My other mods have a small 250 to 450 downloads so there most be some people who like them.

Thnx & Greetz Panther aka Way2Evil

[dime1622]

two wrongs don't make a right.

[carnage]

its most likey they will keep file with questionable legal content as they have so many they dont have the man power to sort though them

however they can check the files as they come along, they cna alos argue thaat illegal mods they are hosting have already be widely distributed so removing them from there site will make little differance

[bacon]

allow me to explain, if you take sound from films that can mean that people assosiate the film with ET, this could give them the unintended impresion of the film and damage future profits from there IP
That's not true, copyright laws are not intended to protect content from impressions. Copyright laws are intended to protect content from being distributed without consent.

[carnage]

i never said that the law, but from what i have learned in media this is a posible reason why someone would not want there IP to be distributed

[squadjot]

in most cases its about money, straight up..but there can be million reasons why a author dont want his material ascociated with... something else, and the important part is that author has the rights to protect his material in almost any way. now..when all this said.., i really do think that if you nice and quietly asked for permission, that you would actaully get the permissions!, if they even bother responding..=P.. cause i can hardly imagine they even care.. (starwars mod..is another story..personally i dont care..but i could understand if lucas entertainment had some worries about it, as they ARE infact in direct "competition" with that mod, markets shares, a quality level below lucas's image and la la la..)

anyways.. imo..in this case..try get permission., im sure u'll get it..else you could try to host it yourself.. but, then if you were in bad luck, maybe you suddently will feel the punishment, RTCWfiles.com are trying to avoid. (i see ur point with starwars mod and other stuff..they should remove it..its one or the other..no excuses.)

[jet Pilot]

As I understand it, as long as you create the content you're fine (even if you're imitating someone else's work). An example of this is ETPro's duplication of the Q3Arena hitsounds, and ETPub's further duplication of ETPro's. If you really love the quotes from movies, record yourself saying them, or get someone else to do it. I'm fortunate in that my clan has a very large community base full of very talented people, including modelers, mappers, and sound gurus. I've made it clear that I want only original material, or material with full permissions. There are many web-based communities of budding game designers who may be willing to provide some work for free, just to get their name in some credits somewhere.

I'm not too sure about the sounds from the Star-Wars mod, but as I understand it the models have all been done from scratch. Imitation is not illegal. Directly copying is. The Star-Wars mod is further questionable just by it's name. The name 'Star-Wars' is copyrighted, or trademarked, or both. Perhaps changing the name to Star-Battles or something would clear up any questionable issues. (An example of what I'm talking about is Palladium Book's RPG NightSpawn. Apparently the name NightSpawn was owned by a comic book company (the one that owns Spawn) that threatened lawuit unless Palladium changed the name. Palladium complied, and changed the name to Nightbane, and all threats were dropped. )

[P4nth3r]

I understand that there is a lot of beef with any illegal content.
But just for fun, check how many mods they added the last month are posted compared to maps (this used to be the other way around)

So, saying that this won't hurt the mod comunitie is a lie.

Maybe I should start my own freakin site with ET & RTCW mods?? =S
Let me know if people would like this

Greetz Panther aka Way2Evil

[EB]

I am curious, what mod did you make ? What was the content ?

on topic:
--- If it hurts the half-assed modding with stolen material community then I am proud of that fact that no one will host their files.

Here comes some real sarcasm >>>>>
[Sarcasm] I'd rather have it that a new site would host the files...that way...they'd be sued and we'd know all of the names of the L4M3 M0dd3R5 so that we can take discourse for OUR stolen materials as well. [sarcasm]
End sarcasm


It is about mutual respect.

[P4nth3r]

What mod I did I make? I now only made 6 soundpacks!
Ok here comes (btw I do not rip from other mods)
1. Predator Soundpack - Adds predator sounds from AvsP2 to the quickchat (It is on rtcwfiles.com) (Fox will sew their ass if they find out, NOT)
2. Blood Soundpack - Adds Calebs voice from Blood 1 & 2 to the quickchat (It's on rtcwfiles.com) (Lithtech will sew their ass, rightttt...)
3. Shadow Warrior Soundpack - Adds Lo Wangs voice from Shadow Warrior to the quickchat (It's on rtcwfiles.com) (3d Realms will sew their ass. LOL)
4. Duke Nukem Soundpack - Adds Duke's voice from Duke 3d & Manhattan to the quickchat (Yes, that too is on rtcwfiles.com and also owned by 3d realms)

5. Worms Soundpack - Adds a bunch of worms voices to the quickchat. (Denied on rtcwfiles.com) (They must be scared of Team 17)
6. Cadence Soundpack - Adds a few Cadences to the quickchat menu from the movies: Full Metal Jackat, Sgt Bilko & Heartbreak Ridge (haven't tracked who ownes all those)

Just to be clear, taking samples from movies isn't illegal I think. (there are millions songs out there that use samples from movies (So did I when I still composed my music) So why they banned that one isn't really clear to me.

That's it for now, but if nobody likes it and it won't be uploaded anywhere then I probably won't make any new,

Greetz Panther aka Way2Evil

[P4nth3r]

To make things fun I send a mail to Team 17 asking premission for my soundpack.
I they agree (if they do reply anywayz) then I hope my soundpack will be posted.
If not,... well then we will see.

Greetz Panther aka Way2Evil

[bacon]

Just to be clear, taking samples from movies isn't illegal I think. (there are millions songs out there that use samples from movies (So did I when I still composed my music) So why they banned that one isn't really clear to me.l
Actually it is. Everything in the movie is copywritten and thus is illegal to use it out of context. There's even that no duplication etc message before every movie.
Most songs have permission to use the samples while others pay royalties.

[carnage]

if the movie is show on TV u are alowed to record 30 seconds of sound of video. but thats not alot for a soundpack

btw, we no ur upset but lets put an end to it now. it done and we cant do anything about. look on the bright side that we might now see modders create brand new original ideas and concepts

[ikanatto]

We have ET and its source code and our various ideas here. There are still many things we can do with avoiding the copyright problems. Let us just have fun :D

[carnage]

We have ET and its source code and our various ideas here. There are still many things we can do with avoiding the copyright problems. Let us just have fun

yeah :clap: we all focus on what wrong with modding were forgeting whats so right about it... and thats... :bored:

...

:beer:

[Jaquboss]

Where is Wils ? I love when he locks pointless threads like this one :nag:

[Rookie One]

That's funny, Jaquboss, I was about to write a request for closing this topic. :)

[Snoman]

Actually fellas, if you are a student, you are covered, if the clips are less than 30 seconds technically you do not have to pay royalties, especially if you are a student, BUT the big requirement here is, that you MUST give credit. I am a film student, I can’t possibly tell you how many of my edits contain (a) copyrighted music (b) copyrighted video or (c) objects that are similar to but not the same as copyrighted material. No lawyers have come knocking on my door, and these have been "broadcast to the masses with out explicit written permission"

[bani]

this thread really needs to be http://www.icestorm.com/images/padlock-gold.jpg

[carnage]

no1 is poosting in it other than to just say it should be locked... just shut and solve you own problem

[P4nth3r]

Fine, lock it if you need to, but just because YOU don't post in it or like it, should NOT be the reason.

Greetz Panther

[jet Pilot]

Why should this thread be locked? Aside from a bit of flaming, there is some useful information here. If it helps encourage people to create their own content, it's well worth it. If it helps keep the mod sites we love from getting sued, even better.

[SCDS_reyalP]

Actually fellas, if you are a student, you are covered, if the clips are less than 30 seconds technically you do not have to pay royalties, especially if you are a student, BUT the big requirement here is, that you MUST give credit.

Do you have a source for that ? There are certain situations where you can use peoples works without permission (satire and criticism are generally protected) but I've never heard of anything special for students. Sampling (for music) has been the subject of a number of ugly legal battles, and I'm not sure where it currently stands.

I am a film student, I can’t possibly tell you how many of my edits contain (a) copyrighted music (b) copyrighted video or (c) objects that are similar to but not the same as copyrighted material. No lawyers have come knocking on my door, and these have been "broadcast to the masses with out explicit written permission"
The fact you haven't been busted doesn't make it legal...

[bacon]

Actually fellas, if you are a student, you are covered, if the clips are less than 30 seconds technically you do not have to pay royalties, especially if you are a student, BUT the big requirement here is, that you MUST give credit. I am a film student, I can’t possibly tell you how many of my edits contain (a) copyrighted music (b) copyrighted video or (c) objects that are similar to but not the same as copyrighted material. No lawyers have come knocking on my door, and these have been "broadcast to the masses with out explicit written permission"
The only reason you can do that legally is you're using it for noncommercial, educational use. This is called fair deal. However, if you fail to provide any of the criteria for fair deal you could be charged with copyright infringement.

Would you like to know more? (http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-42/)

[P4nth3r]

Hi guys, I just recieved mail from Team 17 check this:

From : Martyn Brown <>
Reply-To : <>
Sent : Monday, September 5, 2005 11:17 AM
To : <>
Subject : Sound

Please ensure you credit the voices as (C) Team17 Software Ltd. Used with permission.

Martyn Brown,
Studio Director, Team17 Software Ltd.

[telephone numbers deleted - not sure they were intended for publication :) - Wils]

So, now my soundpack of worms will be legal.
Just because they are so nice I will give them as much credit as possible.
Like in the quickchat menu

8. Worms (c) Team17 Software Ltd

rtcwfiles.com eat your heart out =P

Greetz Panther a.k.a. Way2Evil

[Loffy]

Holy sh*t! Congrats!

[squadjot]

see ;)

[jet Pilot]

Nice one panther!

[P4nth3r]

Well, I forwarded the mail to rtcwfiles.com, but I still dont have a reply nor is my file on the site =/
WTF is wrong now??

[Loffy]

Wait another week or two, and write again if they haven't contacted you.
Getting material accepted by big publishers (i.e. well known) for publication can be a long process. Needless to say, it is the buyers market, they can wait as long as they can afford.
Big publishers are often the ones that wait the longests (before responding to your request). And there is usually nothing one can do, except reminding them after some time.
There is also the option to submit the material to another publisher, but you want your stuff to be accepted by the big publisher, and that is why they can afford to wait.
They know they are the sought after.
In this respect, the worlds of writing and publishing scientific manuscripts (e.g. articles and chapters in books) and producing and releasing ET mods (e.g. sound packs) are somewhat alike. The best journals (Nature, Psychometrica et cetera) can wait 12 months or more before sending their decision to you (in 80% of the cases just to let you know that your manuscript is not accepted for publication in its present form).
And I can assure you that, during those 12 months, the young scientist is thinking "WTF is wrong now??". (The older ones are thinking "Hm, 12 months and no respons, should I withdraw my manuscript and send it to the second-best journal instead? At least they respond in 1-2 months.")
:-)

In sum, I do not know about rtcwfiles.com, but write again in 1-2 weeks perhaps?
//Loffy

[P4nth3r]

Normally my soundpack would be on there the next day.
It's not that they got too much files everyday (1 or 2 a day)

oh well, I'll send them a mail again with the go ahead from team 17 and the file in question.

Greetz Panther aka Way2Evil