EULA 9.2 : Ownership of modified assets

[tanoshimi]

I only recently has clause 9.2 of the asset store EULA highlighted out to me, which states:

“END-USER hereby assigns and agrees to assign to Licensor all right, title and interest in and to all Asset modifications END-USER creates, and END-USER agrees to promptly deliver to Licensor all Asset modifications END-USER creates.”

I don’t know if this clause was recently introduced, but I’ve never seen it before nor heard it discussed, yet it seems particularly significant and onerous… if I make a game that uses a modified version of any asset downloaded from the store, I assign all rights of that modification back to the asset owner and I have to promptly send them my modifications?

As an asset store publisher, I’ve never had a user send me back their modifications and, having heavily-modified several assets I’ve purchased, I’ve never sent them back to the developer either. Have I interpreted the EULA correctly? Does anyone do this?

[tanoshimi]

Seriously, is no other asset developer or asset user bothered about this?! Or have I posted in the wrong place - it seems that the only threads posted in this forum are from people promoting their own assets rather than a discussion of usage of assets in general?

[theANMATOR2b]

Replying as a user and free asset publisher - this is a peculiar clause that Ive never seen before - and Ive read the eula several times throughly.

[TonyLi]

I’ve asked the Asset Store folks. I’ll let you know what they say.

[GameMunchers]

Hey, I send you a message I really need your help. If you can hit me back with a message that would be awesome.

• WFS

[TonyLi]

@TonyLi

I’ve asked the Asset Store folks. I’ll let you know what they say.

I haven’t heard back. I just send them a reminder; with all the hard work they’re doing on the new Asset Store, this might have slipped through the cracks. Their previous reply was:

We are currently looking into this and have been since the thread was created. We want to give a proper response and not misinformation. There will be a response on the forum thread, and the publisher group email when we can properly give one.

@GameMunchers

Hey, I send you a message I really need your help. If you can hit me back with a message that would be awesome.

Who are you referring to?

[Brian-Ryer]

That would be a pain in the ass, and could create some conflict, lets say I purchase a series of interior models, I don’t like them as they are but they are a good base foundation for me to cut down dev time, I take that asset and tweak it in an external software, create a substance and have a new model that meets my art direction and overall poly budget and feel, now I know I would Never! sell that asset as my own because the base mesh I started with was not created by me, but when I send it back to the artist do I include a charge for the time and effort I put in to mod and change the overall asset look and feel? as it would be a complete new asset.
same could be said for anything on the asset store, and this could lead many people away which would be very bad for Dev’s and Artist’s.

[TonyLi]

No need to panic. They changed the clause to:

9.2
All title and intellectual property rights in and to the Assets (including but not limited to any software, images, photographs, animations, graphics, 3D graphics, video, audio, music, text, tutorials, and “applets” incorporated into the Assets), the accompanying printed materials, and any copies of the Assets are owned by Licensor. All rights not expressly granted are reserved by Licensor. For greater certainty and without limitation of the foregoing, use of Assets, whether modified as permitted hereunder or unmodified, is limited to use as expressly provided in this EULA.