Hey everyone. Hopefully an EA official can answer these questions. I would have contacted support but they don't seem to have a category for this.
I have questions regarding the service agreement and User-Generated Content (UGC) and where it begins and ends for those of us who create. I've read a lot of posts on this subject already and the information is covered well enough for general use, but not the areas I'm concerned with, and I've only seen one other similar, but unanswered, question in the last post of this thread.
I understand that:
- Creators cannot restrict their content with stuff like "Don't include the mesh," but it is frowned upon if people disrespect creators.
- UGC cannot be exclusive or kept behind a paywall and must be released within 2-3 weeks of its initial release date.
- EA owns all content created with EA assets, no matter what it is.
With that said, my questions are:
- If a creator makes a mesh or texture COMPLETELY BY SCRATCH with no EA assets whatsoever, and then converts it to be used for Sims (aka CC), does EA own even the original mesh/texture, or just the converted file made for the Sims (aka .package file, the final product)? I plan on releasing my content on other sites and for other games eventually where they will have their own policies, etc. so I need to know if my mesh/texture that I spent hours on before converting it for TS4 is actually mine, or if EA retroactively owns that too. I'm assuming from what I'm reading that no, they don't and creators own the original mesh/texture, but I wanted to be sure (and also so I can explain it to others).
- Are people allowed to convert EA content, or even CC, to other games outside EA's company? If this is not allowed, are creators then allowed to remind people not to do so because it breaks the terms?
- If someone requests a paid commission in private and only the parties involved know about it, does it still need to be released publicly? I'm assuming yes despite no one else knowing about it, and that it follows the same time frame as everything else.
- Speaking of exclusive UGC, what happens if you make content for just friends or a winner of a competition, no payment involved? Are we still obligated to share it to the public?
I hope I remembered to ask everything. Thank you for your time!
