SC2Mapster

Hey thanks for the answer! Embarassingly enough, when i open a random poll thread page in search for the necessary text command to issue a poll form, the first thing i think of is copying the html code of the poll form itself.

As an example let's arbitrarily consider the poll at https://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/general/general-chat/24201-map-of-the-week-waiting-new-system-before-complaining/

Having a look at the html source one notices soon that the actual poll is represented by code inside a <form></form> tag (i added the html code snippet for the poll in the example as an attachment to avoid messing up the text of this post)

The embarassing truth is that, even though the code to generate the poll form itself is simple, I have no idea how to make that code work inside a forum post (copy-pasting the html into the submission form doesn't quite cut it :'( owch)

no doubt I'm doing something wrong and that's why i'm replying again. It seems to me that a poll form isn't generated by copypasting the html that describes it but should be generated by some command (that not only creates the form with the necessary css classes but also dynamically generates the Results page), a command i don't know (and could not find in the simple reference at https://www.sc2mapster.com/wiki/knowledge-base/markup-types/) if anyone could provide an insight i'd be very grateful!

As per embarassing title, can I make a poll on sc2mapster.com forums, a dedicated poll section of the site, or just anywhere? And embarassingly more importantly : how to make it? (when i create a thread i seem to have access only to markup languages that don't have the ability to build a poll UI for me) Yours truly embarassing Swannite

@Mozared: Go

me whe i read that < - - man! So true :O thanks for this answer, it's so very the truth of the matter. I'd put a like on it 5 times but i'm allowed to do it only once :P

@DrSuperEvil: Go

Well, I really have no problem asking directly to the source , but errm... I'm at an impasse about how to effectively contact the legal department and obtain an answer. I sincerely doubt they're willing to hand out free answers to random guys like me.

There's no legal contact in the "Contact us" webpage (http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/contact.html), there's no legal subsection in the "customer support" system. I'm starting to think I would have to write them a plain old paper letter: "Dear Blizzard Entertainment legal dept.,...." and expect a free answer meow <3 (a related physical mail address is printed at http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/infringementnotice.html) Would you happen to have contacted the legal team before? How to do it?

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A quick search through bnet's forums yielded the two following related posts though: - http://us.battle.net/forums/en/sc2/topic/7006247142#post-1 - http://us.battle.net/forums/en/sc2/topic/15270809411#post-1

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I have developed the idea that when you use the editor you transfer all your rights to Blizzard Entertainment, including your rights on custom assets and all items of intellectual property. The real difference happes whether 1) you are the author (and therefore you have all rights to the things inside the map), or 2) you aren't the author. If you're the author you transfer your rights of authorship to Blizzard Entertainment as a whole. If you're not the author you will transfer to Blizzard Entertaiment only the rights you possess as a user (which rights precisely depends on the license of the things youre using) and the rights of authorship remain assigned to the creating artist.

Oddly enough, you're more screwed if you use material you created yourself : P That's my catch, and whatever i develop i'll keep that in mind

As OP-er, I'll try to summarize here the results of the discussion. My original question was in brief: does the sc2 map author own his creations?

The answers didn't point all in the same direction. The idea that emerged from the majority of the answers is "No. The mapmaker doesn't own the content he creates. It's Blizzard's right from the start." but not everyone agreed. Here below are my summaries of the answers given to my question by the contributors (if i'm interpreting something wrong tell me and i'll correct this)

Q: does the map author own his creations? A:

• EDHRIANO: Blizzard owns everything.
• DuckyTheDuck: There is in fact a ownership grip by Blizzard, the purpose of which is to keep their asses safe from all sorts of legal trolls.
• DrSuperEvil: Blizzard doesn't really own literally everything in a creator's project. All custom assets and intellectual property are still owned by the creating artist (all characters and custom models which are considered imports are still yours) but the map is handed over to blizzard (like writers/scientists hand over ownership of a book/paper to the publisher)
• houndofbaskerville: The eula of Sc2 actually makes the work of a mapmaker into property of Blizzard, along with all the content that third parties allowed the mapmaker to use in his project (for example, voice files created by the mapmaker's friends)
• Glornll: Blizzard owns each mapmaker's projects, and this way they make those projects effectively shareable for re-use to the whole mapmaking community (under an overall Blizzard's ownership).

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There are two conflicting opinions on the question whether the creating artist actually maintains ownership of custom assets (for example custom audio files) and items of intellectual property (for example the story behind a custom campaign). On the other hand every answerer agreed on the fact that Blizzard transfers to itself all the rights regarding the custom map itself.

@DrSuperEvil: Go

Crystal clear. Thanks for the answers. It's relieving that in order to have sufficient protection against abuses, Bliz doesn't need to end up confiscating intellectual property and custom assets from mapmakers.

Quote from Bekulov: Go

Добрый день. Я новичок в сфере это деятельности, хотел бы попросить у вас помощи насчет анимации. Решил я привязать способность ..Snipe.. юниту Spectre, но вот проблема - способность Snipe у юнита Spectre работает но анимации нету он просто стоит ровно когда стреляет этой способностью. Хочется что бы при использовании Snipe работала тоже анимация выстрела Ультразвуковой импульс. Как это сделать ? Игра Starcraft 2 Wings of liberty

The text translated by google translator is here below:

Good afternoon. I am new in this activity , I would like to ask you about the help of animation . I decided to tie the ability of a unit ..Snipe .. Spectre , but here's the problem - Snipe ability to have Spectre unit works but it just does not have the animation is exactly when this shooting ability . It would be desirable that would be using the same animation worked Snipe shot ultrasonic pulse . How to do it ? game Starcraft 2 Wings of liberty

I've just joined, therefore i can't answer his question. I get that this user can't understand english and expects an answer in russian.

@DrSuperEvil: Go

Thanks for the answer Doc! I'm still having trouble understanding your answer though, sorry :( . Where is it stated that you can retain some rights (for example over custom assets and intellectual property) and not just transfer EVerything to blizzard, but instead only the map file(s)?

(I just see that intellectual content and custom assets are considered part of a custom game and that you mapmaker assign your every right in any custom game to blizzard)

- Again the next question that arises would be. Would that be different if you used assets or intellectual property copyrighted by your friend F, a third party?

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Special thanks for the comparison with the writing and manuscript world. I suggest a couple of pages to read: they're exclusively focused on writers and copyright of written documents but it's possible to transfer some of the concepts they express to the specific field of sc2 content creation. (these are both external links) http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/faqs/copyright-ownership/ http://copyright.cornell.edu/policies/copyright_management.cfm

It seems to me that in the case of blizz, it wants you to tranfer to them all your rights to the map. Would you agree with my conclusion here?

@DuckyTheDuck: Go

Thanks for the answer Ducky. I just comment it to point out that monetization, while clearly a related topic, is not the focus of the questions. I'll make a non-profit example that still stays inside the boudaries of the questions i asked: by being owner i can decide to release my content with a certain license (for example one that makes it reusable for free as long as I, the original author, am cited as the original maker. The theme i'm asking about is not bound to be just about my personal profit as you see). If I am not the owner but Blizzard is, it can decide how to license the content it owns how it desires.

Again, i'm grateful for the answer, i just want to point out that ownership is not only limited to personal profit or gain, but could also mean rights of modification or non-profit publication! The question is about ownership details and not about how to make personal gains out of created content.

Lastly, I agree with you: the goal of the ownership grip is most likely self-protection from abuse by mapmakers. It remains true however, that in the case that this grip is as tight as it seems to me, that the sc2 content creator is at a particularly sore disadvantage in case he desires any (not only profit-related) rights on his own work. Wouldn't you agree?

This is my first post so i'll be introducing myself to the community with this one: greetings to all of you at mapster! Some of the works I've seen here captured me with their beauty, originality, fun, to the point that I dream of being able to express my creativity like that too!

Hovewer, there's one initial question I've come across when I see an awesome custom content piece, and it is about ownership: does the sc2mapster author own his creations? Let me specify the question further. I've been reading:

• Battle.net end user license agreement (eula),
• Sc2 custom game acceptable use policy

While reading the Acceptable Use Policy i've come across a section named "3. Ownership" where i can read the following: "Custom Games are and shall remain the sole and exclusive property of Blizzard. Without limiting the foregoing, you hereby assign to Blizzard all of your rights, title and interest in and to all Custom Games"

To understand what is meant exactly by the term "Custom Game" i make a reference to the EULA at Section "1(D)(ii)(1) Game editors", where the following is written: ""Custom Games" includes all content created using the Game Editor(s) [...] as well as (1) all content contained within such files [...] (2) all ... names and phrases associated with ... the Custom Game [...] and (3) any other intellectual property rights contained within"

Once I read this, I'm not clear anymore on the question above: does the custom content author own his creations? Or shall he/she fear that Blizzard corporation could claim his/her work anytime, for free, and without possibility of opposition by said author?

Lastly, I'll ad an example to these abstract questions i asked: "If I make my own awesome story with characters into a sc2 custom game or campaign, maybe even supplemented with 3d models, video or audio content of my own creation, will i lose my ownership (and my rights as a creator) on it all in favor of the Corporation?

Thanks in advance to all meaningful future answers.

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Edit (30 mins after): a maybe-useful, somewhat related forum discussion can be found at https://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/general/general-chat/56307-lets-read-star-craft-ii-custom-game-acceptable-use/ but the focus of that topic was on the possibility of copying certain blizzard games and not on ownership details.

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Second edit (1:30 h after op): two additional related questions after reading about third party content use:

Question 1: could i, a mapmaker, avoid giving the content to Blizzard Corporation if i have another person (let's call him/her friend F) copyright that content before i use it? Is that a feasible workaround to try and retain some ownership?

Question 2: according to "section 4. Use of Third Party Content in Custom Games." i as the mapmaker must warrant that the third party content i use (in my example it'd be F's content) does not AND WILL NOT infringe any copyright of F. What happens in the case that the Corporation makes some use of the map(s) I made (an example: put it on the arcade), and after some time my friend F decides that his copyrighted content should not be used by Blizzard Corporation anymore? Who is the culprit of copyright infringement in this case? Me as mapmaker, or the corporation who is the current owner?