Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

šŸ“¢ EA user agreement about UGC (Patreon)

Published:
2024-11-12 14:37:05
Imported:
2026-06

Content

When I write "terms of use" it's not to make it pretty. Maybe you don't know, but not complying with those terms violates the EA user agreement.

EA user agreement about UGC:

"You also grant to 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."

  • Discord isn't an EA service, Telegram isn't an EA service, etc...

  • So, distributing my work outside the relevant EA Service, in our case The Sims 4, is not even allowed by EA itself.

Also at the section 6:

"When you access or use an EA Service, you agree that you will not:

  • Publish, post, upload or distribute UGC or content that is illegal or that you don't have permission to freely distribute."

Comments

JDog

Patreon isnt an EA service either šŸ˜

Santasha Curtis

I think the only person who would be mad about it is creators who keep their cc locked foreverā€¦. The best cc creators have an early access period.. not foreverā€¦ i understand but you should take that into consideration

Santasha Curtis
>>155100373

Sometimes I want some of your items and itā€™s like 6$ for a pillowā€¦šŸ˜‚ā€¦. Not mad just expressing because I still support you and love you content

Sims4Luxury
>>155100373

I see other CC creators' CCs with +/- 20 days of early access being illegally distributed in less than an hour. So, it is obviously not a question of early access or not. And even if it were, the creator still owns exclusive rights to their original creations and distribution is still in violation of EA user agreement, even after the early access period. I find nothing that is taking that away.

Sims4Luxury
>>155100373

How can it be $6 for a pillow? šŸ˜­ To unlock a full month of early access CCs it's $3,99 ($1,99 for wallpapers and floors) and the first time you join, you'll unlock around +70 CCs for that price.

Santasha Curtis
>>155100373

I agree with youā€¦. But you do have to consider the other side of itā€¦ā€¦. but are you guys able to do anything about it like copyright your content? Just curious

Sims4Luxury
>>155100373

Yes, no problem šŸ¤— I'm trying to understand your point of view with the best intentions. This post is also made to open the conversation about it. It's just that for now I don't see anything that is true, I do early access, and there's no pillow at $6 šŸ™ˆ Everything is automatically copyrighted as soon as it's an original creation. Which is often the case. Some CCs are even made with digital files you are allowed to use only with a commercial licence, for example, patterns I use to create wallpapers. With S4Studio, we can extract the pattern. So anyone distributing it is committing a copyright infringement to another artist who even isn't a CC creator.

Santasha Curtis

I will just suck it up and buy the early accessā€¦.šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ’•šŸ’•šŸ’•

Sims4Luxury
>>155104505

Oh Santasha šŸ˜­ That is so nice of you but it wasn't my intention to convince anyone to become a Patron. I published this post for those who don't know that it is against EA policy to distribute other's people work without permission. I'm sending you a private message because I have something private to tell you šŸ˜‚šŸ¤—

Panda

Loving this post! Straight to the point <3 You know you have my full support on this topic (and everything else, lol) <3

Sims4Luxury
>>155106163

Thank you so much Panda šŸ™šŸ™ā¤ā¤ I'm not even the one being straight to the point, it's EA, since the beginning šŸ™ˆ Sending you a lot of love ā¤ā¤šŸ˜˜šŸ˜˜

Panda
>>155106163

I know, but it is well said nevertheless! <3 Since some people (well a lot) donĀ“t respect other peoples work this needs to be aired :)

SamIAm

You allow EA and our players to use anything you upload or create (UGC) for free within our games and services. You are responsible for your UGC, it must be your own content or content you're allowed to use. Mods must be non-commercial and distributed free-of-charge. Mods canā€™t be sold, licensed, or rented for a fee, nor can Mods contain features that would support monetary transactions of any type. We recognize that creating Mods takes time and resources. To offset these development costs, Mod developers may: *offer an early access incentive for a reasonable amount of time. After a reasonable early access period, all players must be able to access the Mods in full for free regardless of whether they donate. *run passive advertisements and requests for donations so long as they are limited to the Mod website or distribution site, and donā€™t appear within the Mod itself.

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

As you wrote yourself Ā«Ā To useā€¦ within our game and servicesĀ Ā». So of course users can use a CC in The Sims 4. But what is the point of your comment? Do you think Ā«Ā use within our game and servicesĀ Ā» means users has the right to distribute a creatorā€™s original creation outside the relevant EA service without permission?

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

I do not chose, itā€™s simply evident and easy to understand just with one exemple: Is TS4Rebels an EA game or service?

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

I repeat, I do not choose. Itā€™s explicitly defined at the very beginning of the link I provided in my post when you click on Ā«Ā EA user agreementĀ Ā». Here the link again: https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/US/en/PC ā€”ā€” it is written at the very beginning Ā«Ā This Agreement governs your access and use of products, content and services offered by EA and its subsidiaries ("EA"), such as game software and related updates, upgrades and features, and all online and mobile services, platforms, websites, and live events hosted by or associated with EA (collectively "EA Services")Ā Ā» so, how can, for exemple, TS4Rebels be considered as Ā«Ā the relevant EA serviceĀ Ā»?

SamIAm
>>155138484

To a Santasha Curtis previously you wrote why do you think I do not have early access? Early access means items are available to patrons for the first three weeks (as per EA) and then it is all released for free to the public. You have items from months and months back posted here on Patreon that are not listed on your website, curseforge, etc. that literally require people to pay for it. Which is the most basic and loudest part of what EA has stated regarding the Agreement. NO ONE is allowed to charge for ANY UGC, after 3 weeks. After that time frame, you have to make every single thing available or youā€™re in direct violation. On or throughout a relevant EA service means something that EA owns themselves or is subsidiaryā€™s. And thatā€™s the second part of that section. The top part that I wrote and youā€™re quoting is saying youā€™re allowed to do so on other platforms as well. As for the intellectual property aspect, yes you have very few as far as the design itself. Like an artist creates a painting. But with this, youā€™re taking your design and utilizing it with EA programs. You simply own the picture, thatā€™s all. Itā€™s why youā€™re legally required to have everything for free, because youā€™re using EAā€™s base and services. As far as your defense, EA does not have a relevant or official site where to post CC/mods. EA clearly states they have nothing to do with CC/mods in that regard. So TS4Rebels, Cursgeforge, modthesims, Patreon, your website, TSR, etc. are technically all outside of EAā€™s relevant services. And as a creator, whether the community violates it or not, you should still have the ethical and moral integrity yourself to abide by the legal contract.

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

Where your Ā«Ā 3 weeksĀ Ā» appears? Do you have a link? Because as you said earlier by quoting EA, the policy on mods states Ā«Ā a reasonable amount of timeĀ Ā». They do not explicitly define 3 weeks in their policy. Something wrote by a guru on a forum does not equals a EA policy. Of course, it is right that my early access period exceed 3 weeks now. Because even if I applied the arbitrary rules of 3 weeks or less, directly provide free downloads in attached file here on my Patreon and burned out from it for years, my rights about distribution were not respected either. This is an excuse people use. So now I do the very best I can without burning out to provide monthly contents to both Patrons and free users. I promote both equally on all my platforms. I would love to unlock faster, but first I do not have any legal obligations to do it within 3 weeks, secondly I donā€™t want to burn out again for people who does not respect creators rights. Why should I burn out again when my original creations are illegally shared in less than 2 hours? Itā€™s already free to everyone, why should I unlock it myself? I do not get the logic behind that. .packages files im sharing without my original creations such as meshes and textures would result in an empty CCs. Iā€™m not using anything related to EA to create my originals meshes and textures. This is where my rights and other creators applies: on the original creations such as a mesh or textures for exemple. We own the right of distribution to anything containing our original creation. Not EA, not users. And at the end, the distribution is still allowed by EA itself to EA or all other users (it does not include the creator, because the creator own the intellectual properties, which include distribution) on or through an EA game or services. I agreed for my original creations to be distributed on or through an EA game or service.

SamIAm
>>155138484

Iā€™m now at work so give me some time to get that, but itā€™s posted in the EA Forums by one of their people after the mods alerted them to a thread going over this.

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

No problem Sam, I have to go back to work soon too. Actually I know where the Ā«Ā 3 weeksĀ Ā» appeared, who wrote it, and when, etcā€¦ It was before the official EA policy on mods we can read at: https://help.ea.com/cn/help/the-sims/the-sims-4/the-sims-4-mods-policy/ ā€”ā€”ā€”ā€” I also know the guruā€™s words canā€™t be used as EA has a policy about it now, which has legal values contrary to something a guru wrote on a forum years before the official EA policy on mods. I wish you a good day at work šŸ¤—

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

We can read about copyrights Ā«Ā Copyrights: Copyrights protect original creative works, such as books, music, and software. They give the copyright owner exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and display the work.Ā Ā» at https://ironcladapp.com/journal/contract-management/intellectual-property/ ā€”- and to a ton of places talking about copyrights. So, by creating an original creative works (for exemple a mesh or a texture) I own the exclusive rights on the distribution of my original creative works at first. But as I made my original creations compatible to a use in an EA game or service, what I actually give EA, itā€™s licensors and licensees about distributionā€™s rights, itā€™s on or through an EA game or services, which are defined in the beginning of the EA user agreement I quoted earlier. On the same website, at Ā«Ā How to Protect Intellectual PropertyĀ Ā» it says Ā«Ā Enforce your rights: If you identify infringement of your intellectual property, itā€™s important to take action to enforce your rights. This may involve sending cease and desist letters, filing lawsuits, or taking other legal action. Enforcement is an important part of protecting your assets and sending a message that you will not tolerate infringement.Ā Ā» so, before Iā€™m taking legal actions, Iā€™m writing a post everyone can read because I thought people didnā€™t know CC creators has exclusive distribution rights outside an EA game or services. But right now Iā€™m wondering if itā€™s not Ā«Ā people know they are committing a copyright infringementĀ Ā» instead.

SamIAm
>>155138484

I completely agree with you about copyright. I would look into Creative commons so you have legitimate legal backing for it. Thatā€™s about the only thing you as a creator have. Again the first section of the agreement outside of ea services applies. You do have rights if you have something drawn up and copyright your work and register it that states cannot be distributed outside of yada yada etc. so you can properly go through and do things in the legal manner. But again, you could only copyright the creative work and not anything that EA itself can lay claim to. I would honestly speak to a lawyer regarding that aspect and maybe reach out to EA Legal for clarification on what you can do. While I have knowledge from my law enforcement experience and a law focused family, and understand a lot, I havenā€™t been to Harvard Law and this is more civil focused šŸ¤£šŸ¤£ What my original point and post is that regardless of people being disrespectful and doing what they do, you have people like myself who enjoy your content and wait months for things to be released here and they donā€™t unless we pay you. Like thereā€™s some tile from May that still hasnā€™t been released publicly thatā€™s on here, 6 months ago! I think thatā€™s why a lot of those websites pop up, and for those creators such as LeoSims who hide everything behind a paywall and have for years. Which is completely unrealistic as far as reasonable time goes. I just think as creators, thereā€™s almost a higher standard that regardless of what other people, the right thing and rules should be followed. If people can donate and emphasis on donations, to the time you put in then fantastic. But in reality not everyone can do so, for example that would require people to put out hundreds if not more a month to subscribe to all the different creators. Living isnā€™t cheap, and for many playing this is an escape/decompression. Really the biggest thing EA puts out is make it free and available for everyone. I think those rip off sites would start to die out if creators collectively agreed to do the right and fair thing, on their sites where they publish content. Users should as well, but as the saying goes lead by example. Iā€™ll try to respond if I can if you reply, but Iā€™m about to operate heavy machinery for a while so it may be a bit! ā˜ŗļø

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

A year ago and before, my work were shared under the creative common license. You can look at my very first uploads on CurseForge. Did it change something? No. My CCs were unlocked on my Patreon in less than 20 days. Did it change anything? No. I have plenty of examples of creators with less than 20 days of early access being illegally distributed in less than an hour just for yesterday. Does their legal rights are being respected? No. So what is the point to focus on early access? It never changed anything. Am I actually advised by intellectual properties advocates? Yes, itā€™s been 2 years now Iā€™m paying for this services. Do I legally own the exclusive distribution rights outside of an EA game or services for original creative work I created from scratch Im uploading on a .package file compatible with The Sims 4? Yes. Feel free to share .packages files I create anywhere you want without my original creations included. Im willing to do the best I actually can to shorten my early access period as I used to do before for years, as soon as my rights are being respected. As I said, why should I work harder and riskier for my health to publicly released my CCs in less than 3 weeks when, even when I do, they are already free in less than 2 hours because they are illegally distributed? Legal rules in our context are for both sides: creators and all other users. Is it possible to try to understand a creator side? I know the reality of a player side, I am also one since Iā€™m 8 years old. Iā€™m sorry this situation is making respecting people waiting months now to download my work. I always provided free download links in private to those I trust, even before Patrons sometimes. If a file has been distributed before I uploaded it on Patreon, then itā€™s easy for me to know who I can trust or not. Iā€™m happy to do it almost every single week. I just canā€™t trust anyone of the internet just like that. Now that Patreon gave us access to a Ā«Ā giftĀ  a month of membershipĀ Ā» service, I did it already last weekend and Iā€™m planning to do it again. Who did the same already? Iā€™m used to refund people when they say they are in a difficult financial situation even if itā€™s no legal to ask for a refund to a digital file. I do it by myself. We are on The Sims community, not an Etsy shop so Iā€™m happy to do it. This is to give you some exemples of what Iā€™m doing to compensate my longer than average early access period while still protecting my rights. Iā€™m really not someone who does not think about the playerā€™s side and to those you canā€™t afford a membership. Iā€™ve been part of the poorest people in France for a decade due to my disability. I know what The Sims represent to a large portion of us. But, as creators and artists, we also have to take care of our work and ourselves. How many creators are burning out because of players? How many are daily harassed and so on? The community canā€™t impose their personal desires to an artist and punish the artist, violate legal rights, etcā€¦ as soon as they think itā€™s arbitrary well deserved. At the end of the day, the period of an early access or not would never give rights to someone who does not own the intellectual properties. It never has been the subject of what I wrote about to begin with. This post is exclusively about creators distributions rights (outside of an ā€¦.) because it makes me sad to see so many talented artists all over the world too scared to voice up their rights.

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

Oh also Sam, what I learned a few years ago, is that ā€”- I thought like you that we have to register copyrights and explicitly write our terms, etcā€¦ ā€”- but now those rights are immediately given to the creator of an original creative work, I mean, as soon as the creation exist. Letā€™s say I create an original model on Shapr3D, boum! I immediately owns copyright on it. Iā€™m creating a texture on Substance? Boum, copyright. So actually the rule is something like Ā«Ā as soon as you do not receive the explicit permission from the original creator, you do not own distributions rightsĀ Ā» for exemple. If you need or want, I can search for links.

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

I searched for links because I like to read about laws šŸ™ˆ In the US itā€™s Ā«Ā When is my work protected? Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.Ā Ā» at https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html. ā€”ā€”- they say registration are for lawsuits. In France itā€™s similar if not exactly the same. For lawsuits, registration is preferably too. It says Ā«Ā Le droit d'auteur s'acquiert sans formalitĆ©s, du fait mĆŖme de la crĆ©ation de l'œuvre. Votre crĆ©ation est donc protĆ©gĆ©e Ć  partir du jour oĆ¹ vous l'avez rĆ©alisĆ©e et ce, quels qu'en soient la forme d'expression.Ā Ā» at INPI, which is our organization about intellectual property we can read at https://www.inpi.fr/comprendre-la-propriete-intellectuelle/les-autres-modes-de-protection/le-droit-dauteur#:~:text=Le%20droit%20d'auteur%20s,œuvre%20est%20communiquĆ©e%20au%20public)

SamIAm
>>155138484

Girl that was a lot šŸ˜‚ and you should 100% pin all that or add it to your bio so people understand that! I myself am a typical type A person who āœØlovesāœØ law and rules and regulations (because without we would live in chaos and no thanks) so Iā€™m looking at those public release dates and pinning them in my ā€œsims calendarā€ for things I really like. It does 100% make it super hard for those of us that genuinely respect the TOU that are set, and thatā€™s why itā€™s so frustrating. And yes this conversation got lengthy and went over a variety of topics, but itā€™s good conversation and needs to be had in the community! Especially for anyone whoā€™s thinking about creating things themselves, like myself! EA needs to be more definitive and less gray in that user agreement, and post something hard set regarding early access and regarding creator rights. And yes you have instant rights, but thatā€™s what Iā€™m saying about the Creative Commons copyright! Get it registered and NOW you have the fuel to back the fire if you will. With it you have a more solid foundation to stand on for cease and desist orders, etc. to people who are taking advantage of you.

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

As you say šŸ˜‚šŸ™ˆ I think I'm going to keep this post pinned for a while for those who are willing to have hours to read. Yes, I saw that and it was interesting and, even If I'm tired, enjoyable for me. I like talking about laws with someone who likes it too šŸ¤— ------ What I think about EA is that it's already extremely clear on their user agreement so, I personally do not see what they can do more, firstly, and secondly, we can't wait for them to advocate for rights they do not even own themself even if I would love too šŸ˜‚ It's already registered since the end of 2021. I have everything in my hands for cease and desist. I'm looking for a mutual, pacifist and respectful agreement first. As soon as someone in our community is going to have everything needed for lawsuits, it is going to send the right message to people who violate rights and I do hope this day is coming soon, because it is going to make our lives, on both sides, players, creators and both, so much easier šŸ™ So, at least this post is going to be read by those who are willing to and could be used by any other artists. ------- Don't you receive a notification by email when I'm publishing a "News+ FREE downloads" post? Because it's been a while now I'm doing so, for those who want an easier and quicker way to be notified about new publicly released CCs. Maybe we have to become a free member for that, I don't know. I even post them on my Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest if needed, just less frequently. I have now a dashboard especially for public releases to be sure they are linked at least on a free Patreon post the faster I can (usually a couple of days after the public release). I understand your point of you and I'm sorry to be part of some of your frustration. Wish you the very best Sam and feel free to reach out to me anytime šŸ¤— The Comments section is open on my public post and I'm on Instagram.

CLSXNerdLady
>>155138484

Look, I'm not here to argue but is Patreon an EA service? No, it's not. You just can't decide to that Option A is okay, but decide that Option B doesn't count because [whatever your reason; it literally does not matter]. That's the law in the United States. EA -- and ONLY EA -- has the right to define the terms of their agreement. Not me. Not you. EA -- that's it. And if the terms weren't spelled out clearly enough, then you shouldn't accept the agreement and cease following ANY of it. At the time of acceptance, it's your responsibility to read EVERYTHING. You're agreeing to abide by what's contained therein. And the fact that EA even made the concession to allow early access is a rarity. Go read the EULA for Sims3, or Sims2 or the original Sims. And I have been here, in this community, since TS was released. NONE of the preceding games would have offered or agreed to that. But if and when EA has a problem with Rebels or any of the other sites out there providing the same service, EA gets to decide that. Their EULA, their call. You can try to find ways around it, but that's how it is. Again: I am not trying to be nasty or mean. I think you're a very talented creator and I love a lot of your stuff (I used to subscribe to you but I quit about every subscription because I'm bad at NOT getting everything and my hard drive can't take it). I wait until your early access period ends and I grab your stuff on CurseForge (even though I absolutely despise the interface). I do the free subscription with you and many, many (too) many more creators to keep an eye on what's going to be available. I respect the work, the effort, the skill and the talent and I won't take advantage of that. But for every creator like you who respects the early access and then releases the content for free, there are three who have perma-paywalls. I get where you're coming from, though. As for copyrights, unless you specifically do not use any inspo and you file the correct paperwork, then yes -- it's copyrighted. You can't copyright something that your relied upon someone else's copyrighted material to create if it looks at all similar. HOWEVER... the community's cc and mods can ONLY be used in TS4, and they hold the copyrights to all of the tech within the game --especially the stuff that makes it all work, so unless they specifically say, "We'll gladly give up OUR rights to that tech," or that they'll share them with you... you're in a really gray area.

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

Iā€™m sorry @ CLSXNerdLady, Iā€™m actually being tired to repeat myself for 24 hours now but Iā€™m going to try to do what I can to make it clearer before going to bed: Patreon is not an EA service. EA never wrote anything about where the original creator of an UGC has the right to distribute its original creative work. They wrote about distribution rights all other users have on someone else UGC and they clearly stated Ā«Ā the right to ā€¦ distributeā€¦ on or through the relevant EA serviceĀ Ā». EA gave right to distribute an UGC on or through the relevant EA service to anyone using their service without the intellectual propertyā€™s owner permission. Not outside of it for other users, but the creator can freely distribute wherever they want. Why do the creator can and not all other users? Because all other users canā€™t. They do not own distribution rights. Itā€™s legally speaking a non-transferable right of the creator: the distribution. When I own exclusive distribution rights outside an EA service on work I created from scratch, without absolutely nothing related to someone or something else in it, such as a mesh or a texture, no one else than myself have distributionā€™s right on those meshes or textures outside an EA service. The original form of an original creative work I own copyrights absolutely never have anything related to EA. What is related to EA is anything on a .package file I didnā€™t created from scratch. Itā€™s not because I accepted that my intellectual property can be distributed on or through an EA service that I gave permission to all other users to distribute it outside of it. As I said earlier, feel free to distribute my .package files without my original creations included on them.

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

Really itā€™s not true. You can extract everything a creator originally created without anything related to EA, even when itā€™s include in a .package file. Files uploaded on a .package file works on so many other things EA does not own any rights on it. It works on windows, it works on IPad, etcā€¦ How do we upload our work to begin with? With the sims 4? Do you create a new mesh from scratch on The Sims 4?

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

What is also not true is at least (Iā€™m going to bed) what you wrote about copyrights. Iā€™m going to copy paste an earlier comment I already made: Ā«Ā Ā« When is my work protected? Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Ā» at https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html. ā€”ā€”- they say registration are for lawsuits. In France itā€™s similar if not exactly the same. For lawsuits, registration is preferably too. It says Ā« Le droit d'auteur s'acquiert sans formalitĆ©s, du fait mĆŖme de la crĆ©ation de l'œuvre. Votre crĆ©ation est donc protĆ©gĆ©e Ć  partir du jour oĆ¹ vous l'avez rĆ©alisĆ©e et ce, quels qu'en soient la forme d'expression. Ā» at INPI, which is our organization about intellectual property we can read at https://www.inpi.fr/comprendre-la-propriete-intellectuelle/les-autres-modes-de-protection/le-droit-dauteur#:~:text=Le%20droit%20d'auteur%20s,œuvre%20est%20communiquĆ©e%20au%20public)Ā Ā» ā€”ā€”ā€”ā€” this website has a button to make it appeared in English. I do not need any paperwork. I also can take a picture as an inspiration to create a 3D model. Iā€™m still going to own intellectual properties on the 3D model.

pacosims

It was very important that you raise this issue. As a content creator, you can be assured that I fully support you. ā¤

Sims4Luxury
>>155263618

I fully support your creative rights as well. Thank you so much šŸ™šŸ™ā¤ļø

Sims4Luxury
>>155138484

@ CLSXNerdLady Iā€™m coming back to you just so youā€™ll know that Iā€™m grateful you are part of the people who are respecting not only my work, but also others peopleā€™s work šŸ™ Thank you for that! And thanks to anyone in our community who are respecting too. This post is towards those who violates others people rights by not following both EA users agreement and copyright laws, and it became a way to inform in comments about creatorā€™s rights on original creative work they own copyrights - wich include the exclusive distributions right. Im friendly suggesting to anyone to read about copyrights laws. Thereā€™s links I provided earlier for those who donā€™t know where to look at. You wonā€™t find anything about it in anything EA wrote, as they do not make laws. I really donā€™t want to argue either, or to be mean or whatever. I just know my rights and we, as creators, have the power to protect them. I have so many others arguments in hands for those who are really willing to try to educate themselves, proved by laws and lawyers I pay advices services for 2 years now. They are not my personal opinions. Iā€™m wishing you, @CLSXNerdLady, the very best šŸ¤—

Odette

All CC is EA property, you couldnt make anything without EAs package or game.

Sims4Luxury
>>155447243

Not always. Any original creative work created (let say a 3D model and or a texture for example), the original creator choose to embody in an EA UGC, is exclusively an intellectual property of the creator and is protected by copyright laws as soon as itā€™s created. Sometimes, the original creator of a material is the CC creator you download a .package file from. So, those copyrighted materials are not own by EA nor by their users but exclusively by the original creator. You canā€™t create an original 3D model with an EA game or service for exemple. So, what you are saying is sometimes true, sometimes not.

Sims4Luxury
>>155447243

I think TSR is wording what I mean in a simpler manner than myself šŸ™ˆ You can read at their section Ā«Ā ownershipĀ Ā»: Ā«Ā All assets belong to EA under their terms of use. HOWEVER, all meshes, texturing and other work added to the package belong to those who created it, not EA. You can share and copy a package file, but NOT the meshes and textures within it.Ā Ā» at https://help.thesimsresource.com/article/66-paywalls-eula-ownership

Santasha Curtis

I stand correctedā€¦ i did not find a 6$ pillow that mustā€™ve been a different creator

Odette
>>155447243

As soon as it gets into a .package, it sadly becomes EA TOU people need to follow.

Sims4Luxury
>>155447243

What does the EA TOU said at the section 6? I copy/paste an exemple in the post. But it also starts by Ā«Ā obey the lawĀ Ā». Itā€™s obvious laws comes first an EA TOU, but they still wrote it. Copyright laws protect an original creative work and an UGC as soon as itā€™s created. When your original creative work is embodied in a .package file to be used in The Sims 4, then only EA and the creator can distribute it outside an EA service. EA never allowed their users the distribution of an UGC they didnā€™t create without the permission of the creator outside their services. EA and the original creator can, nobody else. Itā€™s written in the EA TOU.

Nicole Adams

Well you cannot sue Sims Rebels or anyone else who distributes your content for free. Because you CHOOSE to take EAs TOs as you want, not our fault. EA specifies that you cannot keep content behind paywalls forever, not even for a year. Your friend KateSimblr, RubyRed and Cowbuild think they have these rights. But don't get mad that others are giving your content away for free. I am respectful of the ones who follow EAs TOS on cc. So I will subscribe to the early access creators who release their content after about a month. And always will. However, the ones who want to keep it perma paywall, or not release things for a year, nope I will always get it where I can. And I don't use Sims Rebels much, there are much other places giving pawall creators content for free than them.

Sims4Luxury
>>156623003

I think you get me wrong Nicole and I feel a lot of hostility in the way you are talking to me. First, the copyright owner of an original creative work can sue anyone who distribute it without permission. We, The Sims 4 players, are not allowed by EA to distribute someone else UGC outside the relevant EA services without permission. You know why? Because sometimes an UGC contains copyrighted materials not own by EA. So, if the creator clearly stated to not reupload and someone do it, it can be a copyright infringement and a violation of the EA User agreement. Thatā€™s all Iā€™m trying to explain here. Everyone is free to choose to support or not. Iā€™m not mad because someone doesnā€™t want to support me on Patreon. Thanks to all the people who support my work through early access, public releases, on my socials, etcā€¦ I can continue to create new CCs and Iā€™m grateful everyday for that šŸ™ I wrote this post for a multiple of reasons and none of them are related to early access, money or whatever. But here is one exemple: sometimes to create a CC, Iā€™m buying licences to materials such as patterns. And sometimes the licence Iā€™m buying has a limit number of copies allowed or allow certain uses, but not others, etcā€¦ Which means that if I can not keep control of the number of copies being distributed, because people choose to violate my TOU, EA user agreement and copyright laws because they think Iā€™m a perma paywaller, Iā€™m friend with Cowbuild and RubyRed (which isnā€™t even true), that EA owns every part of an UGC, or whatever, then the creator I bought a licence will also have their rights being violated, not only mine. Today I wanted to buy an extended licence to a new illustrator on Etsy I love allowing 1000 copies of a pattern. The unlimited licence is $150 for a single pattern (which I canā€™t afford, itā€™s easy to understand) compared to $18 for <1000. I did not because I know a small portion of our community think they have all rights towards a CC.

Donna L

Just saw this. And my two cents, humble opinion is: I personally have no problem with paid content for my game. In my opinion, it makes the game more enjoyable. You creators take the time and effort to make these beautiful things, that most of us would never be able to do. I agree with EA's terms, but if a creator chooses to paywall their stuff, I'm simply not going to lose sleep over it. There's SO much cc out there to choose from, it's ridiculous to fight over it .. especially with all the things going on in this world. This game - and content - takes you away for a little bit each day, and I'm thankful for the creators out there who make gorgeous things for our sims. Your creations are hands-down, top-tier, beautiful. Dust Bunny, Ruby Red, KHD, Novvvas, and a few others .. who can top that!? If I have some extra $ I'll buy, if I don't I'll wait. Some can't afford extra, I get that too - in my own case my finances took a dump after divorce. But I'm climbing back up the hill lol Soon I'll be able to purchase the cc I like, until then I scoop up the free offerings, and I wish the creators all the best :) Just my opinion! Won't be the most popular, but that's cool. (p.s. a lot of players pc's/laptops can't even handle the high poly counts! My pc will, thankfully, but I still have to watch out. There's so many creators who use lower poly counts that have bunches of free stuff. I stay focused on those, if I'm low on funds. )

Sims4Luxury
>>157746208

Thank you so much Donna for your kind words about creators works šŸ„ŗšŸ„°ā¤ļø Iā€™m really sorry to hear about your divorce and I hope you are feeling ok? I also wish you to be in a more confortable financial situation as soon as possible!!!! šŸ¤žšŸ¤žšŸ¤ž Iā€™m sending you a lot of love coming your way and my best wishes ā¤ļøā¤ļøšŸ˜˜ Same to anyone who is in a hard situation. Our entire world is actually struggling and it scares me for our future. I really hope everything is going for the better to anyone of us šŸ™ Also if you like, I publicly gave my email address (sims4luxury@gmail.com) if someone want to request a single custom content to download for free which is still in early access after a month. And I recently publicly shared for free 42 CCs on a public Patreon post. I really wasnā€™t talking about anything related to money, paid content or whatever but solely focused on the distribution without permission. Wish you the best again Donna šŸ¤— And thank you from the bottom of my heart for the way you respect creators and artists šŸ™šŸ™ā¤ļøā¤ļøšŸ˜˜šŸ˜˜

Sphynx Ego

Indeed you are using your own assets and resources to create that specific mod BUT in order for that mod to have any value you are using EA content and its product ! Therefore you are going against EA policy ! Try and sell your mods without Sims4 and see how many will subscribe I DOUBT THAT WILL BE ANY (regarding sims4 mod community) If you wish to make money there are so many other platform, why not going there?! Hmmm probably because sims4 community is a saturated water to fish in !? I have never paid for mods and will never do it ! PS: I am also creating mods (not for sims) and I don't expect to be paid !As about the law of copy rights I would say that under Berne Convention ensure that signatory countries recognize the copyright of works from other signatory countries! Another example of French entitlement thinking that he cant be touch and his law is above ...International courthouse exist for a reason !

Sims4Luxury
>>170568402

Thank you for your comment. Iā€™ll respond point by point for clarity, as there seems to be quite a bit of confusion and misinformation. First of all, many of my CCs are created entirely from scratch. When I do use licensed resources, I do so legally and within the terms of those licences. That does not give anyone else the right to extract, share or redistribute those files. Whether itā€™s original work or based on licensed material, my content is protected by copyright and cannot be reused or republished without permission. You mentioned that CC wouldnā€™t have value without The Sims 4. Of course, Iā€™m creating content for The Sims 4, and Iā€™ve never claimed otherwise. But creating for a specific platform doesnā€™t make someoneā€™s work less valuable or less original. This applies across many creative fields, from mods and fan art to plugins and custom content. You also asked why I donā€™t move to another platform if I want to make money. The answer is simple: Iā€™ve loved The Sims since I was 8 years old. Itā€™s a huge part of my life, and I always dreamed of creating my own content for it. I donā€™t see why I should invest my time and energy into something Iā€™m less passionate about just to meet someone elseā€™s expectations. I create for The Sims because it brings me joy, and Iā€™m grateful I can share that with people who appreciate it. I also sell original assets outside the Sims 4 community, through platforms like CGTrader, where I offer 3D models. So yes, Iā€™m familiar with various licensing systems and digital marketplaces. But The Sims remains my creative space, and Patreon simply gives people the option to support my work if they choose to. No one is ever forced to pay, and everything becomes free over time. Regarding copyright, I own the rights to all the original 3D models, textures, UV maps and designs I create. Thatā€™s how copyright works. Your interpretation of international copyright law is incorrect. Finally, Iā€™d appreciate it if we could keep the discussion respectful. Youā€™re free to disagree, but assumptions about my intentions or vague legal threats donā€™t help anyone. Iā€™m creating with care, Iā€™m transparent about what I do, and I follow the rules. Thanks again.