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The courts very likely regard copyright as only meaningful when loss of revenue is at issue
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Not true, a great many things have been copyrighted and/or patented which have never seen the light of day; owners have successfully sued anyone who encroached upon their works, even when it had never been offered for sale. The litmus test has been "did the defendant know the works in question were the property of the plaintiff at the time of the infringement?"
With the help of Terrapin and this forum, you modders have very strong footing for your claims. It will be easy to provide ample evidence to establish a timeline from start to finish. As many/most of you announce your intent ahead of time, then discuss it throughout development, then post it on Terrapin's site, there's a detailed history. It would be incumbent upon anyone holding a prior claim to speak up before your mod is delivered. Claiming after it's been published "hey! I had that idea first" is a little indefensible.
The threat though is that an unscrupulous modder might monitor your debate, rush through their own version, then publish it. That happens with products all the time- but since you originated the idea, they can't claim exclusive ownership, only offer a different mod, which must compete in the marketplace.