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????Originally Posted by Paula Deen
The Overwolf message to WoWUp is the most disingenuous bullshit I think I have EVER read from a Curse affiliate. A shame on everyone involved.
"We welcome competition but will do anything to squash it"
Actually go fuck yourselves.
So you think it is fine from a competition perspective to have an addon manager like WoWUp that supports all competing platforms, while Curseforge isn't able to do the same?
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Of course Blizzard has every legal right in this case, at least in the US and EU.
If you want to use their tools and API for their game, you have to agree to their conditions. And them requiring you to make all addons you make free of charge (and also: open source) is a perfectly fine requirement (not all conditions are legal, but those are). Many companies have been successfully sued in the past for breaking similar licenses, like how Linksys once broke the GNU GPL license by using Linux.
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2022-05-17, 06:37 AM #301I am Murloc!
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2022-05-17, 01:20 PM #302Bloodsail Admiral
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I don't care that you personally do not accept that WordPress Themes/Plugins are analogous to WoW Addons. Does not change the fact that it is true. Originally Posted by Magical Mudcrab
The HTML/PHP IS the derivative work. This is already been established by a legal entity that specializes in these issues. The PHP is 100% dependent on WordPress' functions and hooks in order to actually work. Any extra JavaScript and CSS is not because WordPress ignores it outside the wp_eneque() function which simply is a wrapper that places the <link> element inside the <head> element properly. WordPress does not process it, the browser does.Outside of that case, to give more clarity, Wordpress themes are really just templates that you are extending when developing your Wordpress site (i.e.: they are site layouts, incl. CSS, HTML, and PHP code required for the site page to work). This is the equivalent of downloading boilerplate code and extending it, and that's being as generous as possible to that position. In many cases, the template can just be added via the Wordpress dashboard without any coding involved.
"Extending" something doesn't change the licensing requirements of it. In the WordPress case, since the GPL is a "viral" license, themes MUST be GPL licensed as well. End of discussion.
And as for your counter point, you missed the mark... again. Headless clients, like one written in VueJS, that accesses a WordPress, or any other CMS, via an API are not analogous. As I stated before with your React example, they can be refactored to access another data source or even converted into a static site and still retain their functionality. Regardless, these headless clients can exist without WordPress or whatever CMS manager they use. WoW Addons cannot. Period. They MUST use Blizzard-created hooks/functions in order to actually work.
No amount of your silly denials change that fact because it boils down what does the "processing", WoW or the Addon. Since everything from an addon originates with WoW, the answer is rather obvious.
Unless you can prove that DBM, ElvUI, WeakAuras, GatherMate, or any other WoW Addon can work without WoW, then they're technically derivative works. And you've lost the argument. Especially in light of Micro Star v FormGen Inc.
Addon authors cannot copyright addons technically. At least no under US Law. This is what the US Copyright Office says on the ability to copyright derivative works:
WoW Addons do NOT modify the game in an extensive way nor does it have substantial new content as to be its own work. The only one that came close was Bellular's Warcraft Tales addon that changed the way questing was presented to players and made it a more immersive experience. Blizzard sent him a C&D notice which he abided by because while he saw it as an addon, they saw it as more of an unauthorized expansion given what it did.To be copyrightable, a derivative work must be different enough from the original to be regarded as a "new work" or must contain a substantial amount of new material. Making minor changes or additions of little substance to a preexisting work will not qualify the work as a new version for copyright purposes. The new material must be original and copyrightable in itself. Titles, short phrases, and format, for example, are not copyrightable.
Oh, and I mentioned the Wix thing because Wix's editor was a derivative of WordPress' code, therefore it had to have a GPL license per the WordPress license. Wix closed the source which was illegal to do under the GPL. While not analogous to a WoW Addon, it is analogous to Blizzard's onwership rights and ability to enforce its policy, which carries the force of the Blizzard End User License Agreement as you agree to abide by all official policies as well, in court if necessary.
Again... if you feel so strongly that you're so right, then throw down the gauntlet to Blizzard. Take them to arbitration and get the addon policy declared unenforceable. Just don't forget to let us know how it turns out.
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2022-05-17, 01:26 PM #303Titan
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Off topic I know, but scrolling through this thread and it's several small novels y'all are writing back n forth to each other, I can't help but wonder do you put the same effort into school/work as you do in arguing with each other on here? Lol
I kid, but I came in here interested in reading about the topic until I saw several works of literature in here jesus
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2022-05-17, 02:03 PM #304Pit Lord
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I'm interested in re-hashing this issue in full, as it has been done ad nauseum. You've misrepresented the Wordpress argument several times, including knowingly misrepresenting a Wix case in which they had violated GPL after forking several repositories and closed sourcing them. Even in the original post you didn't feel the need to clarify why it was violating copyright and was a derivative work (nor provide links), and for whatever reason used it to support a point which wasn't even relevant to why the case violated GPL, and I was the one who had to link several related articles with that conclusion of how they violated GPL. Regarding WoW Addons and Wordpress Themes, and the reasons they are derivative is not the same. Derivative works can be derivative for different reasons, WoW addons are derivative because of what constitutes a mere aggregation and WoW addons being part of the WoW client process, whereas Wordpress templates are derivative for a deluge of reasons that aren't even necessarily due to the code (incl. art and pictures, layout, page composition, fonts, the fact that you're wholesale copying source code and only making minor changes, etc.). Originally Posted by Eosia
Moreover, the ability to refactor is not important. That you can wholly replace your source code in order to operate on another platform or with another framework would not impact whether or not it is derivative; the ability to delete your project and start from scratch, which would be required to switch from React to Vue, does not impact whether something is a derived work or not. And, just for clarity, my position is not and has never been that React projects constitute a derived work, which was the original point. Moving back to refactoring impacting what a derived work is, I would advise looking at in what cases browser plugins are considered derivative.
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The TL;DR is that WoW addons would likely be considered derivative works. I would refer you to the GNU description of a Mere Aggregation (i.e.: they are effectively a single program with the WoW client, running at a shared address): Originally Posted by matheney2k
- Link Originally Posted by GNU
Last edited by Magical Mudcrab; 2022-05-17 at 02:15 PM.
Sylvanas didn't even win the popular vote, she was elected by an indirect election of representatives. #NotMyWarchief
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