Are Patreon/paid Exclusives Content Allowed In The Sims 4?

"Mstybl95;c-17870551" wrote:

"MElleSims;c-17870508" wrote:

"Mstybl95;c-17870490" wrote:
You guys are missing the point. It's illegal to use all these free programs and EAs/Maxis assets and then charge for them. If you read the terms of services for most of these programs, you aren't supposed to sell anything you made using anything but a paid licensed copy. If you are using student edition or a free trial or the free program, it's illegal. EA has made rules to follow. These creators should follow them. Simple as that. They should be reported when they don't follow the rules or we end up with a bunch of creators just trying to make an easy buck. And don't tell me it's not easy, a lot of them just do conversions of other assets and that's like a 3 minute job. Even some of the high charging creators, I've seen them using models that are free on blender or other 3d program websites. It's ridiculous that any of you think they deserve money for doing conversions. Watch a YouTube video and you can literally learn in 5 minutes.

Then do it yourself perhaps? If it's easy I see even less of a problem.

Good thing I do.

"MElleSims;c-17870511" wrote:
It might be illegal, but so should be launching lackluster content, charging a ridiculous amount for it and then asking for modders to do all your work free of charge.

As far as I'm aware, the modders who fix bugs don't charge. It's the creators that make clothes and furniture that do.

Well then what's the problem? I don't disagree that it's illegal - it is. But I do think that it's illegal in the same way that downloading copyrighted music is illegal - ultimately harmless.if you make your own stuff and are satisfied with the quality, why go out of your way to report a modder/creator who charges?

"Mstybl95;c-17870560" wrote:

"MElleSims;c-17870555" wrote:

"Mstybl95;c-17870551" wrote:

"MElleSims;c-17870508" wrote:

"Mstybl95;c-17870490" wrote:
You guys are missing the point. It's illegal to use all these free programs and EAs/Maxis assets and then charge for them. If you read the terms of services for most of these programs, you aren't supposed to sell anything you made using anything but a paid licensed copy. If you are using student edition or a free trial or the free program, it's illegal. EA has made rules to follow. These creators should follow them. Simple as that. They should be reported when they don't follow the rules or we end up with a bunch of creators just trying to make an easy buck. And don't tell me it's not easy, a lot of them just do conversions of other assets and that's like a 3 minute job. Even some of the high charging creators, I've seen them using models that are free on blender or other 3d program websites. It's ridiculous that any of you think they deserve money for doing conversions. Watch a YouTube video and you can literally learn in 5 minutes.

Then do it yourself perhaps? If it's easy I see even less of a problem.

Good thing I do.

"MElleSims;c-17870511" wrote:
It might be illegal, but so should be launching lackluster content, charging a ridiculous amount for it and then asking for modders to do all your work free of charge.

As far as I'm aware, the modders who fix bugs don't charge. It's the creators that make clothes and furniture that do.

Well then what's the problem? I don't disagree that it's illegal - it is. But I do think that it's illegal in the same way that downloading copyrighted music is illegal - ultimately harmless.if you make your own stuff and are satisfied with the quality, why go out of your way to report a modder/creator who charges?

I never said I did. But I definitely think they should be reported. And I don't download things illegally. Maybe I have a set of ethics that don't align with yours, but I actually pay for my content. And I do sub to some modders, even when I know their stuff is ultimately free. People have done it for me over the years and I repay it when I think it's deserved, too.

Well fair enough then. I don't have the money to sub, but if i ever do I would do so gladly. I can see why they forbid it and allow only early access stuff. However, I don't think it's that easy to create content like that and have tried to do it myself with little success. Maybe because you can, it looks different to you than what it looks like to someone who is inexperienced with that. But to me it looks incredibly complicated and deserving of a reward, especially since EA relies on content creators to keep the game fun and playable. For many, playing the game without any content would be unthinkable.

"SimmerGeorge;c-17870803" wrote:
You cannot sell something made for some else's product. EA has all the rights to the Sims 4 and it's not legal to "sell" CC. The only gray area is making the CC exclusive to subscribers for about 2-3 weeks but after that you are required to make it public and free. If you see any Creator abusing the system please report them to EA. At the end of the day they don't have the rights to the Sims 4.

Apparently not as the OP started a similar thread 4 years ago and it seems nothing has changed. The only option is to continue to report if you feel strongly about it. Maybe reach out to SimGuruFrost or SimGuruLyndsay.

"Babykittyjade;c-17871169" wrote:

"BrittanyChick22;c-17871156" wrote:

"Mstybl95;c-17871104" wrote:

"Bluebeard45;c-17871061" wrote:
We have been dancing with issue since Custom Content creators have appeared. Even back in the early days the "Entitled" crowd had issues with Custom Content getting reimbursed for the hard work. These folks are making your better so be thankful or wait years for EA to do half the job.

Entitled?? You know who is acting entitled...content creators who think they deserve to be paid for doing a job they learned from a free tutorial and use free programs to alter a game's assets that they don't own. That's entitlement.

It wouldn't be problem if they released their works on a timely manner, but a lot of them simply aren't. The greed has gotten out of hand, I've seen people charging the same amount for sims 2 content. Some of the teirs are highly insane, the over saturation of patreon in sims community has gotten worse..everyone who immediately learns blender jumps to patreon for hand outs. Some of them are even doxxing people and making threats to others if they share/reupload their works else were or with other simmers, because it's on sites like adfly that is highly unsafe cause of viruses. I'm almost certain in EA's Eula it's stated that no one needs permission or compensation to use someone else's UGC. Most people do leave credit though. Another thing most of these cc creators absolutely are using free programs or programs that they have cracked in order to create this...it's widely known that they do cause some of programs they use to make items like hair, is not free. Cinema4d and maya aren't cheap but they find ways to get these programs for free.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/62b1221b4197154cf667a817a9e1f14a/a86499da8abe0a41-b6/s540x810/58d46fa862f07489c9d536609c050e4b1c7ebf3b.png

Lol i honestly side eye the buyers of this stuff more than the creators. Who out here paying 100 dollars for sims clothes and items when the internet is full of free stuff???!!!!!!! I literally have thousands of cc for free. And if there wasn't free stuff I still would not be tossing out hundreds for this stuff???
Unless you are well off with money to burn and not a care in the world it's definitely very strange on the buyers part. It doesn't really seem like a rip off if people are willing to pay that. ... hopefully it's not the same people crying that a kit is too expensive for 5 dollars ??

yeah it's crazy, i can't imagine paying that at all..I Personally do see it as a rip off/scam people if people are willing to pay..then hey.

"Scobre;c-17877640" wrote:

"Missmagoo2;c-17877610" wrote:

"Scobre;c-17877593" wrote:

"Missmagoo2;c-17877525" wrote:
Why shouldn't people monetize their content? I don't ask an artist to commission a drawing of my favorite character from a movie/game/book and then demand it to be free because the character isn't "theirs". The original creator doesn't have the means to create the content I want, so I'll pay for it out of pocket.
Unless EA/Maxis is going to start giving me the fantasy/historical/alpha content I want and deserve, I will continue to have no problems with paying an artist to make my dreams come true. lol

Because EA is the artist for the game so they have the legal rights to it. It is like trying to copy an artists work and sell the work at an artist's studio and call it your own. There are copyright laws in the US to protect EA's work. Honestly think artists can make more money making emotes on Twitch than making Sims content.

Yes, EA has the artistic rights to their own meshes and the items already in-game. However, I'm talking about the stuff not in-game. I'm not a Maxis-match CC user, so maybe alpha seems a bit different in my mind, but the only thing similar in alpha is the in-game sizing. The CC creators make their own meshes, use their own blending, learn the techniques on their own, etc. I'd say that the content can be considered "fair use".
Now, mods that use Maxis meshes, change the coding of the game, etc can be considered copyrighted by EA and should not be monetized.

Why it is good to read the fine print before installing any of the Sims 4 software:

"F. Your Contributions. In exchange for use of the Software, and to the extent
that your contributions through use of the Software give rise to any copyright
interest, you hereby grant EA an exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, fully
transferable and sub-licensable worldwide right and license to use your
contributions in any way and for any purpose in connection with the Software
and related goods and services including the rights to reproduce, copy, adapt,
modify, perform, display, publish, broadcast, transmit, or otherwise
communicate to the public by any means whether now known or unknown
and distribute your contributions without any further notice or compensation to
you of any kind for the whole. If the duration of the granted right cannot be
perpetual in accordance with the laws of your country of residence, the term
of the grant shall be the maximum duration of protection granted to
intellectual property rights by the laws of your country of residence or any
international conventions. You further agree that you will not assert any
moral rights with respect to your contributions as licensed to EA herein. The
license grant to EA survives any termination of this License. "

https://media.contentapi.ea.com/content/dam/eacom/en-us/eula/eula-the-sims-4-pc-row-07092014.pdf

"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 of it, in any manner or form and in any medium or forum, whether now known or later devised, without notice, payment or attribution of any kind to you or any third party. 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."

https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/US/en/PC/#section6

So at any point and time EA can take any content alpha or not and sell it as their own. Is it fair? That is subjective. But good advice for anyone to read their legal rights before signing or agreeing to anything. I do know Gaiaonline has a lot more artist freedom for content creators which is probably why some of the SimGurus started their art shops there. Thankfully a CC artist got hired on recently and will get compensated working for EA now.

Again, yes they do state in legal documents that they could claim it as their own, if they so choose, but if they try to claim certain CC, it might not hold up if EA had no part in the creation. Now what they could probably do is ask for a percentage of profits since they run the platform the CC is used on.
CC is a grey area to me and I think to EA as well, which is why they're not cracking down on it.

"Missmagoo2;c-17878026" wrote:

Again, yes they do state in legal documents that they could claim it as their own, if they so choose, but if they try to claim certain CC, it might not hold up if EA had no part in the creation. Now what they could probably do is ask for a percentage of profits since they run the platform the CC is used on.
CC is a grey area to me and I think to EA as well, which is why they're not cracking down on it.

Honestly why I was glad the CC creators being featured was in a patch this year and not in a kit because I would be bothered if they sold their content for money. There has been some CC that is similar to EA creations with some of the hairs before I know and those were in paid packs.

"MissyHissy;c-17879004" wrote:
It fascinates me that during the height of Sims 2/3, expecting money for content you make with programs which are free to download and use, was highly frowned upon.
Now you're entitled when you assume that content will be released for free at some point.

Very few people are paying for programs they use to make CC and mods; the most likely being for Photoshop and Milkshape, although Gimp and Blender do an equally good job and are both free.
My point is, when you're paying for mods and CC, you're paying for the time only that the creator took. 10 years ago, this was seen as a hobby - now it appears to be a source of income.

My point here is that no, it's not entitlement to assume that CC will actually be released for free at some point. We all pay for packs and many agree that packs can be overpriced. It seems astounding to me that it's mainstream now to have to pay for fan-made CC.

Just my two cents, for what it's worth.

Personally, I don't think either group is acting "entitled," but I think people should keep in mind that a lot of modding in general is probably done by students and retirees (or others in a similar type of position, I don't want to try to name them all) where they can more justify spending time on modding and seeing no money in return. Which is a direct result of the kind of system they live under (whether their needs will get met, whether they'll have food, water, and shelter, without bringing in significant amounts of money on a regular basis).

What might look like entitlement or greed to some is probably just trying to make a living to survive. (This does not apply to corporations, I'm talking about individual modders.)

Part of the reason I'm saying this is because people who have only ever used mods (not made any), or people who are in a comfortable position in terms of money and security, need to keep in mind that a lot of the existence of modding and the work that does get done is possible for certain people for a certain window of time and then it becomes increasingly less feasible if it's not bringing anything in.

Things have gotten worse in this way in some countries since the time of Sims 2/3, so it is no surprise to me that the interest in recouping the time spent has gone up.

I for one want mods to be free, I would prefer it if games like this were free in general and made on a volunteered basis instead of out of obligation to get basic needs met, but until/unless the systems and priorities of them are changed, people are going to be pressured in directions they wouldn't even consider otherwise.