Skyblivion hit with legal threats from former volunteer over code
The Oblivion remake project says an ex-contributor is suing over decompiled code and demanding volunteers' personal information.
What to know
- A former Skyblivion volunteer is suing the project over decompilation of code they contributed; the team claims the step was necessary to maintain functionality after source access was revoked.
- The volunteer escalated by demanding real names and home addresses of project leads; Skyblivion removed all their code and rebuilt systems from scratch, but threats have continued.
- Skyblivion has Bethesda's conditional blessing to proceed (contingent on replacing original assets) and was nearing release after 14 years of volunteer work; the legal dispute threatens to further delay completion.
“Please don't make this a witch-hunt. Despite what may continue to escalate behind-the-scenes, we do wish for the very best for this former volunteer and hope we can get this resolved as soon as possible and get on with our planned release of Skyblivion.”
Skyblivion team, Project leads · Eurogamer ↗
Skyblivion project team Fan project leadsFormer volunteer Ex-contributorTES Renewal Project Parent modding groupBethesda Game Studios Original game publisher
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Legal threats continue despite code removal
The team stated it has consulted legal counsel and remains confident in its position, but has asked fans not to make the situation a witch-hunt while the project works toward its planned release.
“After they left the project, we had several discussions regarding the continued use and maintenance of his work.”
— Skyblivion team, Project leads · source -
first by Eurogamer, 12d ago
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That requires the fewest assumptions. Not really. And again, Occam's razor is just an excuse people use to confirm a bias without information. I'd argue someone wanting to protect their code is using the least amount of assumptions. But people use Occam's razor wrong, and you can't use it to judge someone, because there are almost always…
2 more of the top 3 · 50 posts in this stretch
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Fan-Made 'Skyblivion' Team Face Lawsuit From Former Contributor https:// kotaku.com/team-behind-fan-mad e-oblivion-remake-face-lawsuit-from-former-contributor-2000752100?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into Culture @ culture-Kotaku
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No, no im not. I don't think you're really getting the picture, here. This mod has a dedicated ui that shows womens' body parts in extreme detail so that you really get the most visceral experience of treating women specifically as cattle to be used pike property. The way something is constructed is arguably more important than what literally…
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background
Skyblivion removes disputed code to protect volunteers — In response to the threats, the Skyblivion team removed all of the former volunteer's code and rebuilt the affected systems from scratch, citing concern for volunteer safety and to create a clean break.
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background
Former volunteer demands volunteers' personal information — The volunteer escalated disputes by demanding real names and home addresses of Skyblivion's volunteer team leads, which the project team characterized as disproportionate and contrary to modding community values.
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Skyblivion team discloses legal threats from former volunteer — The Skyblivion team posted to X and YouTube on October 30 announcing that a former volunteer is attempting to sue the project over code disputes. The volunteer objected to the team's decompilation of their work after leaving the project.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by GamesRadar+, 12d ago · also Kotaku
1 more headline
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first by Yahoo, 12d ago · also PC Gamer
and 1 smaller piece
What people are saying 21 voices from 1 site · best of 50 · verbatim
- Nov 8
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Late to this, but that's not a defence to a copyright violation, it might be a mitigation in damages. If, say, a publisher signed a contract to publish Jane's book. And it transpired the entire book was a copyright violation, the defence of 'we had to publish it' is not going to stand up. Now, any competent publisher will have kill clauses in the…
- Nov 2
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Just a whole lot of nothingness to be honest, and I’m starting to think you’re trolling. How much dedication you’re making to defending someone based on nothing is so hypocritical when you keep saying there’s not enough info. And no, no one is saying anyone signed anything, your arguments rely on the scenario something was signed. SMH. You are…
- Nov 1
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My impression is that quote from that link is different from your example, as the quote is like if you had someone to do work on your house but didn't pay them everything then they still own it But I am not an expert and ultimately I am not super confident
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Well if your goal is to show ur an unserious hack trying to throw wildly incorrect accusations out, its working. Buddy, we both know who is wasting everyone's time with lame excuses. And it ain't the guy trying to show why they have an opinion and how they come by it.
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ya body horror is thing but systemized, graphic sexual abuse is on a whole other level. The issue is, we are not ranking different war crimes, whereas you are putting sexual crimes over any and everything else.
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If you ship with a license . My whole comment was about if they don't . Read this . By default, the person who writes the code owns the copyright. For W2 employees, the employer usually owns the code under “work made for hire.” In contract work, ownership depends on the agreement. Unless it clearly assigns rights, the developer may keep them…
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Thats the funny thing. The stuff he did was foundational in some of the workflow. But all his stuff eventually broke after he left. So other volunteers learned new skills and replaced what he made. His work isnt in the project anymore
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No it isn't. The claim is that they decompiled the work after the modder removed authorization to do so, and this is covered by law in many places. Probably not the right country, but this is an example of why it's protected in most countries and how it's applied.Decompiling the code is the issue. Here
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I don't know shit about EU law so realistically I can't even attempt to estimate a cost, but considering the project is volunteer and nobody is making money from it, I'm 100% certain that nobody working on it wants to pay anything for it and hope that Attorney's fees get recovered.
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Firstly, you'd have to show that his code was used against his consent. We don't know if there was any kind of consent - implied or otherwise - given at the start of their work on the project, but presumably all their work on the project was "given" to the project when they engaged in a volunteer project. Secondly, they already removed and…
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They are even downvoting you for saying that maybe we should have more info before we make judgements. These people are wild and don't care about any actual damages the modder could have potentially received.
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Gamers mad that their favorite modders are being sued, even if it's potentially for something reasonable. Releasing something for free doesn't mean there are no damages to the original developer.
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Don’t get me wrong, I admire the word of those modders. But what’s the point of it after the Oblivion Remake? I mean the Remake is insanely good, way better than Skyrim. Why continue?
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Unless they use that code in other projects, and decompiling it can cause a hit to their income in some way. Decompiling the code is the issue. They can sue for damages of the decompiled code
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This is specifically for a registered game, as stated by that same lawyer in the question, they cannot sue for damages if the game wasn't registered to begin with As for the code, it is only subject to a federal suit if it is decompiled by circumventing encryption that would otherwise be intended to protect it legally, decompiling unencrypted code…
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Profit is a factor in fair use defense but is not some sort of magic switch - either for or against - breaking copyright law. See: piracy. Charging money is usually a trigger for the ire of copyright holders and breaking fan content policies, but isn't grounded in legal rights.
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You’re talking about different things. Creating content that promotes sales of the game, while taking donations for said content, isn’t their concern. Using someone else’s IP to make money takes money away from that entity. This is where companies get lawyers involved. It happens all the time, some notable ones being Daybreak vs THJ, Blizzard vs…
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That's not a mod, that's making a digital version of a game. Its mere existence took potential revenue from Disney, because players wouldn't have to buy the cards. Not all companies hate modders. Bethesda has hired several after their modding work got popular.
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You literally proved my point. Bitmanagement and Latour are revocability and consideration cases under US federal contract/copyright law. Bitmanagement specifically held that an implied license without consideration is revocable at will. Latour involved non-monetary consideration in a formal academic research environment. Guess what happens in an…
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Yeah, any kind of volunteer work. People who aren't getting paid often feel that they're owed something else instead, and of course they aren't kept quiet by the need to put food on the table.
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Bitmanagement Software GmbH v. United States Establishes that payment is not required for there to be an implied license. However, it distinguishes if such a license is irrevocable absent consideration. Now, Latour v. Columbia University. Brings an interesting twist. Because it establishes that consideration does not need to be monetary. How all…