Intellectual Property
This page covers many questions some users may have about what they can and cannot do about Bohemia Interactive's or other licenses for a free, non-commercial use.
Definitions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| License | License |
| End-User License Agreement (EULA) | End-user license agreement |
| Intellectual Property (IP) | Intellectual property |
| Fair Use | Fair use / Fair dealing / Stanford uni link |
| Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) | DMCA / US Summary |
Fair Use
"Fair Use" is very often called as the ideal line of defense regarding copyright infringement.
Alas for its subscribers, Fair Use most likely means allowed for research and educational purpose, under which gaming/modding does not fall.
It is also a personal, non-commercial "default license" that cannot cover a mod team nor Steam distribution of such work.
For more information, see the Wikipedia articles Fair use / Fair dealing above.
Personal Use
"Personal Use", as "Fair Use", is also frequently used to justify illegal IP usage.
Personal use means for oneself only. Personal use does not cover group usage (e.g friends, clans), let alone reuploads.
Bohemia Interactive
Regarding BI Tools usage, anything that went through BI Tools can NOT be sold by default, without express authorisation from Bohemia Interactive. See BITools EULA for more information.
| Category | Action | Allowed | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mods & PBO | Buying/Selling mods | 
|
BITools EULA |
| Buying/Selling pbo files |
|
BITools EULA | |
| Porting BI games' reverse-engineered content to other titles |
|
BITools EULA | |
| Forward-porting previous BI games' Licensed Data Package content to newer BI titles | 
|
BITools EULA | |
| 3D Models | Buying/Selling p3d 3D models |
|
BITools EULA |
| Buying/Selling non-p3d 3D models |
|
N/A | |
| Buying/Selling non-p3d to p3d conversion service |
|
BITools EULA | |
| Textures | Buying/Selling paa textures |
|
BITools EULA |
| Buying/Selling non-paa textures |
|
N/A | |
| Buying/Selling non-paa to paa conversion service |
|
BITools EULA | |
| Text content | Buying/Selling sqf scripts |
|
N/A |
| Buying/Selling cpp (config) files |
|
N/A | |
| Buying/Selling bin (binarised config) files |
|
BITools EULA | |
| Monetising in-game content | Giving/Taking money for Arma 3 server content |
|
Monetisation Rules |
| Giving/Taking money for DayZ server content |
|
Monetisation Rules | |
| Media Monetising | Monetising a video of BI game(s) |
|
Monetisation Rules |
See also:
Arma
- Data provided in Arma Licensed Data Pack:
- can be modified and/or used to make an Arma mod
- cannot be modified nor used in other games
- Data that is not listed in Arma Licensed Data Pack cannot be modified nor used in any way.
Take On Helicopters
- Data provided in Take On Helicopters Data Pack:
- can be modified and/or used to make an Arma mod (or a Take On Helicopters one)
- cannot be modified nor used in other games
- Data that is not listed in Take On Helicopters Data Pack cannot be modified nor used in any way.
Steam EULA
Steam Subscriber Agreement (User Generated Content paragraph)
- items must be uploaded by the creator/owner/group account or the uploader must have been authorised to do so by the aforementioned creator(s). It is forbidden to upload an item that was made by someone else otherwise.
Other Intellectual Properties
In a general manner, companies do not agree to usage of their Intellectual Property without a license agreement. Here are some licenses detailed for a free, non-commercial use.
Please note that this table is provided as an assistance and should in no way be considered a legal reference.
Bohemia Interactive cannot and will not be held responsible for any license misuse you may commit.
You and only you will be held responsible for your actions. As a general rule of thumb, read and abide by each company's EULA.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please note that this FAQ is provided as an assistance and should in no way be considered a legal reference.
Bohemia Interactive cannot and will not be held responsible for any license misuse you may commit.
You and only you will be held responsible for your actions. As a general rule of thumb, read and abide by each company's EULA.
- Can I use models from a game of my favourite franchise? I will give credits!
- Not if these models have been ripped (extracted from the game)
- Not without permission of both the model's rights owner and the franchise's intellectual property owner. Giving credits without permission is legally meaningless.
- All the models are made from the ground up, so I can use the universe of my favourite Intellectual Property, correct?
- No. Using copyrighted material (the universe, terms, lore) without permission is not allowed. Ask for permission or do not, there is no try.
- I use models for a free videogame usage, this goes under Fair Use?
- No. In short, Fair Use is valid for a creation's criticism or studying and not for public release of any sort. Refer to Fair Use to know more about why claiming Fair Use is wrong regarding modding.
- So, in order to do anything, what do I need?
- Two conditions are required:
- to have the Intellectual Property owner's permission:
- the permission can be implicit (the EULA can allow modders to create content without specifically asking)
- the permission can be explicit (the EULA states that by default no content can be created unless approved)
- to have models:
- the models can come from another game - provided the model rights' owner provided an implicit or explicit permission
- the models must otherwise be created from scratch
- to have the Intellectual Property owner's permission:
Anything else is intellectual property (copyright, trademark) infringement.
See Also
- https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/ - Stanford University's information page about "Fair Use"
- https://sqi.workshopcrawler.com/ - an unofficial Steam workshop tool that detects reuploads
- https://arma3practicalipguide.blogspot.com/ - Practical guide to IP in Arma 3
- https://soundcloud.com/armahosts-llc/ep-37-intellectual-property - a Radio Arma podcast on the matter