This is not quite how I imagined making my first post but meh. At present I am a college student doing filming and sound production. We have lengthy lectures to do with copyright issues because they are an absolutely littered minefield. The main issue people who have made mods for this game will have is proving they made them first. Forum records of dates they have been posted, file creation dates are usually not allowed because such things can be altered. For any work we produce and that we seriously want copyright protected we need to creat a hardcopy, have it recorded delivery to ourself so that dates and time are shown and then have a nice legal friend store it in their safe. That way if such an occurence as this happens, evidence is easily found and not easily controverted.
The main problem in such a case as this are the fees involved. because the case will drag on as ownership is debated the bills keep coming. In the case of the individual taking on a company if they don't win fees can be astronomic, if they don't beggar themselves before the case is through.
My main advice in this case is to produce an official letter from the community and send it to ubisoft and as many games websites, magazines and shops as possible explaining the situation; Advising that the majority of the market are not going to fork out money for such an 'expansion' and that 'the community hopes such an outstanding and honest company such as yourselves, (insert web, magazine or shop name here) will refrain from stocking said expansion.' I would also suggest, as the company is based in Germany, trying to find an address or website for the European Union's trading standards board (There must be such a thing, the EU's got it's fingers in everything else) and write to them also, seeing if they can bring any pressure to bear.
In the future, as has been mentioned, add a lengthy disclaimer to the websites which have these mods, saying they are not for resale, etc,etc. And make hardcopies of your work. It is worth doing it. If you want an example, The British seaman who designed the bow ramps for carriers did not recieve credit for his invention. He showed the designs to his CO who proceeded to claim the idea as his own. You never know when your work is going to be valuable.
Good luck to you. Quite frankly the situation stinks.
Pleasant voyages,
Frenchie
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