Monetizing cc /mods
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
Reporting tos abuse