It seems that there are some confusion here, but not from my end. Maybe one last attempt to clear it up? Besides, who can resist refuting an article that mentions human private parts...
No one can claim its ownership because the mod is derivative work of Firaxis and GW. Please re-read my post earlier or http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ14.html#derivative/. I was contending with the fact you are claiming you own all of the content you created for WF mod. Now you are claiming you own most of the content...
There is a misconception that if you created it then you own it. It is one of those "common sense" ones that is not compliant with law. It all depends on whether it is derivative work and if it is, whether the original IP owner (i.e. GW and Firaxis) transfer the ownernship/copyright to the authors (i.e. modders of Civ3 WH mod) of the derivative work.
If you created a description describing great cannon of WF world (which is GW IP), then the description itself is derivative work of GW WF IP. Images are in the grey areas depends on what they created for and origination.
For example, let's use a pcx of your p* which is an example in your post. If you created it, then it is owned by you. But if you released to public domain, which you and other authors did with the portion of images not created based on GW IP or Firaxis images, then no one can claim ownership or copyright to it. Public domain is also where IP go when their copyright or trademarks expire. See, in this case, you wouldn't have the ownership of rights to the said pcx of your p*.
Not depriving, just stating what is governed by law. You were just misguided that those content were owned by you. If you want to change the law, either run for public office, or contact your federal senators and representatives.
I am sorry this might not stimulating modding community. But rest assured that even though many companies retain the rights to their IP and derivative works, as long as the usage is used according to their IP policies, they won't pursue any legal actions or even threaten legal actions.
All right, peace out.
I never said I own the mod. In fact, no one can claim its ownership because the mod is a collection of many works by different authors. I do own, however, most of the content I created. The fact that they are in the mod is irrelevant, because they are independent works, available on this site, and not related to GW IP. See below.
No one can claim its ownership because the mod is derivative work of Firaxis and GW. Please re-read my post earlier or http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ14.html#derivative/. I was contending with the fact you are claiming you own all of the content you created for WF mod. Now you are claiming you own most of the content...
There is a misconception that if you created it then you own it. It is one of those "common sense" ones that is not compliant with law. It all depends on whether it is derivative work and if it is, whether the original IP owner (i.e. GW and Firaxis) transfer the ownernship/copyright to the authors (i.e. modders of Civ3 WH mod) of the derivative work.
If you created a description describing great cannon of WF world (which is GW IP), then the description itself is derivative work of GW WF IP. Images are in the grey areas depends on what they created for and origination.
For example, let's use a pcx of your p* which is an example in your post. If you created it, then it is owned by you. But if you released to public domain, which you and other authors did with the portion of images not created based on GW IP or Firaxis images, then no one can claim ownership or copyright to it. Public domain is also where IP go when their copyright or trademarks expire. See, in this case, you wouldn't have the ownership of rights to the said pcx of your p*.
I am very sorry this mod caused such a blow to creativity of the Civ3 modding community. Depriving the creators of rights to their work, however, is not stimulating either.
Not depriving, just stating what is governed by law. You were just misguided that those content were owned by you. If you want to change the law, either run for public office, or contact your federal senators and representatives.
I am sorry this might not stimulating modding community. But rest assured that even though many companies retain the rights to their IP and derivative works, as long as the usage is used according to their IP policies, they won't pursue any legal actions or even threaten legal actions.
All right, peace out.