#ea tos

Because every other day there is drama in this community when it comes to monetizing cc and mods etc, I decided to collect all info I could find on this topic when it comes to EAxis stance on this to help clear up the confusion. All sources will be linked. 

I mostly do this because I am worried with how this is going in the community and that one day EA will just decide to stop supporting cc / mods because it has become too much of an issue. Exclusive cc / mods are basically just micro-transactions imo.

EA’s tos:

You are responsible for your UGC. You may not upload UGC that infringes a third party's intellectual property rights or that violates the law, this Agreement or a third party's right of privacy or right of publicity. EA may, in its sole discretion, remove, edit or disable UGC for any reason, including if EA reasonably determines that UGC violates this Agreement. EA does not assume any responsibility or liability for UGC, for removing it, or not removing it or other Content. EA does not pre-screen all UGC and does not endorse or approve any UGC available on EA Services. When you contribute UGC, you grant to EA, its licensors and licensees a non-exclusive, perpetual, transferable, worldwide, sublicensable license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, publicly perform, publicly display or otherwise transmit and communicate the UGC, or any portion thereof, in any manner or form and in any medium or forum, whether now known or hereafter devised, without notice, payment or attribution of any kind to you or any third party. You also grant all other users who can access and use your UGC on an EA Service the right to use, copy, modify, display, perform, create derivative works from, and otherwise communicate and distribute your UGC on or through the relevant EA Service without further notice, attribution or compensation to you.

What does UGC mean? UGC stands for User Generated Content, this includes all types of cc and mods made for the game, but also pictures you take in game and sims and builds you make. When it comes to cc there is no difference in whether it’s a recolor or a mesh you made from scratch. So basically everything you make for / with the game is included in UGC.

Maxis on Pay sites:

- Patreon: “As long as the content is still made available FOR FREE we do not mind these types of pages. Folks who have a Patreon page are welcome to provide folks with "early access" incentives for their content but it should be made available to the general public within 2-3 weeks of it being given to folks early.” 

- Paywalls (like adfly and co):  “Creators cannot lock content they make using our game behind a paywall. While we do not police this content (there is no way we would create a team simply to monitor this) we do take reports sent to us seriously and action accordingly.”

Altering someone’s cc / mods:

Even if not required, it is considered common courtesy to credit a creator if you re-use and slightly modify their created content.

Tl;dr: UGC can not infringe a third party's intellectual property rights or violate the law and can only be monetized through donation buttons like ko-fi or patreon early access (2-3 weeks max). People are allowed to modify your cc/mods but preferably give credit to the original creator. So have a reasonable TOU.

Sources:

TOS

Maxis’s stance here and here

Alright, let’s debunk this one and use some reading comprehension as to what this is about.

Translation:

- What is exactly asked here in this very confusingly worded question:

Can you monetize 3d meshes made with an external program that can be used for 3d projects or any game, including the sims, if the buyer of said mesh wants to alter it for that? Aka a 3d mesh that is not specifically made for the sims and unless the buyer modifies it that way, also doesn’t function in the sims at the moment of the sale.

- SimGuruDrake’s answer: 

Obviously you can monetize these 3d meshes as they do not fall under UGC. The 3d mesh has nothing to do with the sims at the moment of sale.

- 2nd question:

Asking for affirmation that these 3d meshes do not need early access release on Patreon.

- SimGuruDrake:

Reiterates they have no involvement when it comes to these kind of 3d meshes, but that you do need to be aware to not infringe on the trademark/ IP rights of the sims.

Conclusion: This isn’t even about cc / mods for the sims 4.

When I see the Custom Content discussion wars flare up here in simblrland from time to time, I wonder how many people actually READ the EA Terms of Use and whether they think there's a difference between TOU and TOS (Terms of Service).  There just may be.

In the meantime, for those who believe they have a right to be selective on what they have "created" as to who gets access, and spent many a day and hours to master meshing, texturing techniques to justify the exclusivity and stipulation on what can be done with "their" creations, this pretty much spells it out.  Everything is owned by EA, everything, this includes anything RELATED, so please keep this in mind when someone has a fit about who has the "right" to use "their" custom content.  Without the game, where would the content be utilized?  In the end, it's understood that the game is EA's property and anything RELATED, is also theirs to use/reproduce as they see fit.  ALL EA's, baby, whether you use the Launcher, the Store content, create a new mesh, etc. etc. etc. And the kicker?  CC -- it's also for public not private use, i.e., "other users".

See here:

"3. In exchange for enabling your contribution of content, when you contribute content through the Software, you expressly grant to EA a non‐exclusive, perpetual, fully transferable and sublicensable, worldwide, irrevocable right to use, reproduce, modify and create derivative works from, distribute, transmit, broadcast, and publicly display and perform the content, or any portion thereof, in connection with the distribution of such content to other users and potential users of the Software (such as, for example, featuring such content for download in The Sims 3 Launcher) and in the marketing and advertising of the Software, without further notice, payment or attribution to you. You grant EA all licenses, consents and clearances to enable EA to use such content for such purposes.