Question About Resell Rights

[Satelliting]

I am honestly just curious why this is a thing? If you have purchased exclusive and sole rights to something, why must you go back and ask to resell? I understand free stuff and asking to redistribute, but what about stuff you pay sole, exclusive rights to.

Not asking to get around any sort of rules or anything, just curious as I noticed this awhile back and wanted to understand the details behind the reasoning.

 

[Jdsgames]

I think if you really think about it if I sell you a build exclusively all I am agreeing to is not to redistribute it or resell it myself. As Entity Builds mentioned it is not saying that you own all rights to the build. Just that you will be the only one getting to use it by "my" permission in this case.

 

[Satelliting]

Okay, I can understand that. However, should we not then be selling builds with absolute rights? Therefore, if you are selling exclusivity rights would that not bring about a question of taking the build back later on?

 

[MrAniman2]

If you want full (sole) rights then you should specifically ask for that to builder before purchase/order...otherwise you should assume that you only have exclusive license to use this build on your server (if there are no specific TOS provided by the seller)

Well, I am not sure if you are talking "technically" or ethically.

Technically things like builds cannot really be given or obtained rights to according to Mojang because we never have the right to claim them in the first place, technically.

Ethically, because someone makes something when you sell it people usually expect to know that its being sold, but if the person has said they have given you the rights to the build completely then you should be fine. Know the difference between exclusive rights and absolute rights.

Minecraft build is just a 3D model... If you provide your build as .schematic file then technically Mojang has nothing to do with it. .schematic file format was created by the Minecraft community and as far as I know there are no restrictions how you use it.

 

[Jdsgames]

If you want full (sole) rights then you should specifically ask for that to builder before purchase/order...otherwise you should assume that you only have exclusive license to use this build on your server (if there are no specific TOS provided by the seller)



Minecraft build is just a 3D model... If you provide your build as .schematic file then technically Mojang has nothing to do with it. .schematic file format was created by the Minecraft community and as far as I know there are no restrictions how you use it.

I am not sure because they were kinda hinting at things like mods and plugins are not fully the developers since it requires minecraft to run. Similar that schematic file needs minecraft to be used?
It is an iffy subject but nobody really listens to Eula anyway...

 

[MrAniman2]

I am not sure because they were kinda hinting at things like mods and plugins are not fully the developers since it requires minecraft to run. Similar that schematic file needs minecraft to be used?
It is an iffy subject but nobody really listens to Eula anyway...

.Schematic file format is neither of them. Mods and plugins are different story, there are multiple discussions on Spigot if you would like to know more. No .schematic file format doesn't need Minecraft, it's simply 3D model format which saves the information. Mojang have their own file format for storing worlds (kind of) called "Anvil", thanks to this we have 256 block high worlds.
Yes this is a bit complicated subject but Mojang cannot claim all cubical models as their property :/

I actually wanted to contact them regarding this question a while ago... I guess I could still do it...


"The .schematic file format was created by the community to store sections of a Minecraft world for use with third-party programs (specifically, MCEdit, Minecraft Note Block Studio, Redstone Simulator, and WorldEdit)"

 

[Ivain]

You don't buy copyright or author's right. What you basically purchase in MOST cases is an exclusive, lifetime license to use a product.
I personally have a rule that people can resell an exclusive map if they ask my permission. I have yet to fail to give it once, but I wont tolerate reselling of nonexclusive builds or nonexclusively reselling an exclusive build.

 

[Satelliting]

nonexclusively reselling an exclusive build

Mind if I ask why? If you get your money for the item, then if they wish to use it to resell it multiple times what is the issue? It would be like buying a house and then renting it to people in a way. Not judging you, just want your opinion.

And the whole reason I even ask this is because I feel the issue with this is that we are selling "licenses" when in fact we should be selling full rights. This idea of licensing out things is not smart, especially when we are dealing with at least 50% off all people on this site being under 18.

 

[Ivain]

Mind if I ask why? If you get your money for the item, then if they wish to use it to resell it multiple times what is the issue? It would be like buying a house and then renting it to people in a way. Not judging you, just want your opinion.

And the whole reason I even ask this is because I feel the issue with this is that we are selling "licenses" when in fact we should be selling full rights. This idea of licensing out things is not smart, especially when we are dealing with at least 50% off all people on this site being under 18.

Simple. I dont want other people buying my builds just to resell them. I resell stuff nonexclusively myself, I do not plan to supply my competitors with work of the same quality. In the long term, non-exclusive HQ stuff is more profitable. So if someone buys from me then resells that product, those people might buy that product instead of my own, whether custom or exclusive.
Them wanting to resell it once to make back a portion of the money after they're not using it anymore is fine, but in the majority of cases I do NOT want people competing with me using my own work.

Also, your analogy is flawed.
It would be like selling someone a house that I built myself, while being in the business of building and selling houses, and they can then rent it out to an indefinite number of people without extra cost. I suppose in special cases i could make a deal where they can resell it a limited amount of times (say,5 at most), but that would be extremely difficult to check.

It's also why I have a rule of people asking me for permission. That way i can keep track of who is selling what, and I won't accidentally crack down on someone selling a map of mine that they bought legit instead of leaking or otherwise stealing it.

 

[Satelliting]

Simple. I dont want other people buying my builds just to resell them. I resell stuff nonexclusively myself, I do not plan to supply my competitors with work of the same quality. In the long term, non-exclusive HQ stuff is more profitable. So if someone buys from me then resells that product, those people might buy that product instead of my own, whether custom or exclusive.
Them wanting to resell it once to make back a portion of the money after they're not using it anymore is fine, but in the majority of cases I do NOT want people competing with me using my own work.

Also, your analogy is flawed.
It would be like selling someone a house that I built myself, while being in the business of building and selling houses, and they can then rent it out to an indefinite number of people without extra cost. I suppose in special cases i could make a deal where they can resell it a limited amount of times (say,5 at most), but that would be extremely difficult to check.

It's also why I have a rule of people asking me for permission. That way i can keep track of who is selling what, and I won't accidentally crack down on someone selling a map of mine that they bought legit instead of leaking or otherwise stealing it.

I find my analogy not really flawed. I guess it all depends on if you are okay with purchasing a license of something. Personally, I would not hence why I do not purchase without obtaining all rights. In this I am regarding to Minecraft builds, not everything.

Also, if anything this would stabilize prices in the market as it would cause people not to really be motivated to undercut other people of similar quality. If you knew your competitor would purchase your product just to sell to someone else, you would think twice about trying to sell so cheap.

Furthermore, no offense, but I do not care if you are mad that I am taking the long road and being more profitable with your build. That is like saying, I want to sell short, but you are not allowed to take a possibly long time to try and resell it for more. Also, if I purchased a build and then decided to give it away for free to everyone you would not be angered.

 

[MrAniman2]

I find my analogy not really flawed. I guess it all depends on if you are okay with purchasing a license of something. Personally, I would not hence why I do not purchase without obtaining all rights. In this I am regarding to Minecraft builds, not everything.

Also, if anything this would stabilize prices in the market as it would cause people not to really be motivated to undercut other people of similar quality. If you knew your competitor would purchase your product just to sell to someone else, you would think twice about trying to sell so cheap.

Furthermore, no offense, but I do not care if you are mad that I am taking the long road and being more profitable with your build. That is like saying, I want to sell short, but you are not allowed to take a possibly long time to try and resell it for more. Also, if I purchased a build and then decided to give it away for free to everyone you would not be angered.

Have you ever purchased a movie, song or software( non-exclusive or custom)? ...it's the same with .schematic (build) files, it's virtual intangible good therefore it cannot be physically owned. You cannot really compare a house to virtual item but alright I'll give you my example:

Let's assume product/build is the house and rent represents non-exclusive sale.
House price could be $150 000 and you could rent it out for probably $1000 p/month (divided by 150)
So let's take $10 non-exclusive(rent) build and multiply it by 150 = $1500 (sole/exclusive price)
And we get the answer I believe you are looking for...no one will sell you a house (build) for a sandwich. If you would be ready to pay fair then you could get sole rights but most people who purchase builds on MCM are server owners not re-sellers and are not looking to pay that much so market/sellers adapts by offering buyers less options what they are allowed to do with the build while seller/builder can still maintaining the same product quality.

If you want sole rights why not to contact creator of the build/seller and specifically ask for that?

 

[Ivain]

I sell builds without exclusive rights because nobody can afford the full rights. I lowered my prices because people simply cannot afford to pay the full prices.


as for selling builds without my permission, it's simple. If I find someone selling my stuff without my permission, I'll report them everywhere I can find, thrash the shit out of them for doing it, release the build in question for free and blacklist them both personally and on MCAU. It's not a good decision to make.

If people want the rights to resell non-exclusively, they can probably find a way to strike a deal with me. I've struck deals with others, though I was the buyer in such a case. It just isnt part of the rights you normally purchase, because if you were to purchase those at once it would double the price or more.

as for stabilizing the market prices, no thanks. People can lower their prices all they



Let's give another example.
I'm currently selling KoTh's, Warzones, Prisonmines and PvP arenas nonexclusively.
If I made someone a KoTH exclusively, it would probably cost around $25-35. This is an exclusive license, meaning they are the ones that have the build and that's it.
Meanwhile, making that KoTH gave me inspiration and I make another KoTH that's the same quality, I'll probably sell it for $5 or so.
However, all of a sudden I find that client is also selling that KoTH that I made for them, for the same price or slightly less.
If I were to tolerate it, let's say the distribution of clients is 50/50.
I would normally have sold it 10 times. Now I sell it 5 times. That's $25 loss there.
I don't deal in absolutes. Most things I say are negotiable to some extent.
If someone desperately wanted to resell it nonexclusively, we could strike a deal. Its not part of the standard package because most people can't afford a license like that, and dont really care for it either.

 

[Satelliting]

Meanwhile, making that KoTH gave me inspiration and I make another KoTH that's the same quality, I'll probably sell it for $5 or so.
However, all of a sudden I find that client is also selling that KoTH that I made for them, for the same price or slightly less.
If I were to tolerate it, let's say the distribution of clients is 50/50.

Yes, but then that is your fault for selling something similar to what you produced him. He is not purchasing something with the intention or hope, actually he is probably hoping you do the opposite, that you get inspiration to build something similar and sell for $5 non-exclusively.

And again, I do not mean any disrespect to you personally Ivain. I really dig your builds and such, which is why I am glad we can converse like this without some children coming in to annoy us both.

 

[Ivain]

Who said anything about it being similar though?
The most similar thing might be it being the same theme. 2 "wild west" koths each with a totally different construction.
Still, I see where you're coming from. It's not gonna change my stance, but it does indeed make me agree that it's nice to have a discussion that does not descend into a flamewar on this site once in a while. Most of the members I used to be able to do that with have let, got banned, or have changed.

 

[Satelliting]

Who said anything about it being similar though?
The most similar thing might be it being the same theme. 2 "wild west" koths each with a totally different construction.
Still, I see where you're coming from. It's not gonna change my stance, but it does indeed make me agree that it's nice to have a discussion that does not descend into a flamewar on this site once in a while. Most of the members I used to be able to do that with have let, got banned, or have changed.

Same to you! And I definitely see your opinion. It definitely can depend on what side you are on in the receiving end.