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Originally Posted by Molon Labe
I'm no expert in IP law, but I think that the way it works is that the IP owner (SCS) of the original work (DW) also owns the IP rights to derivative works (possibly including mods and missions). Lead Pursuit, for example, appropriated the work of many Falcon 4 modders as its own once it acquired the IP rights to Falcon--and it appears to have been legal.
But, since SCS has a healthy relationship with the DoD, I wouldn't be too worried about this allocation of rights to end up harming the DoD. And considering that the DoD gets the "real" database and has access to the same mission editor we do (if not a better one), I doubt there's much we make that they can't at least equal.
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I'd rather not think that SCS could just take everything I've done and throw it on a disk without asking me.
Actually, it's been just the opposite, they insist their lawyers don't want them to get involved too much with distributing community generated materials (even missions and such, think tutorials and walkthroughs...). This is a feature of their primary mission as a defense contractor, which necessitates they act especially conservative in a lot cases (especially those that might complicate multimillion dollar contracts with what is basically a hobby side project).
My guess is that Lead Pursuit simply didn't feel their community would sue them, and once they had the goods and the new F4.0, it didn't matter if they all jumped ship. Sad, but probably a good business decision (as is SCS's for that matter).
In regards to the IP status of user created missions and mods for DW vis-a-vis the DoD, I wouldn't worry too much, the contract version of DW comes as part of a toolkit that include proprietary mission and database design tools, as well as an expanded NavalSimEngine core and interface modules. More or less, it's a whole different piece of software with much more end-user capability.
Cheers,
David