Mod Content Usage

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This page is purposely created with no link until Valve helps fill in content with official word.
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Introduction

El propósito de esta página es dar una respuesta más definitiva a la pregunta , "Que contenido de Valve uso en mi MOD?" En los viejos dias del Half-Life 1 y sus mods esto era muy simple: usted podía usar cualquier contenido oficial de Valve en su mod. But with the release of first C-Zero and then the Source mods, things got more ambiguous and questions began to arise. Can you use C-Zero content in your mod? Can you take HL1 content and put it in your HL2 mod? Can you put Counter-Strike: Source content into your mod? Day of Defeat: Source content?

A lot of people have guesses or hunches what the rules are. Hopefully this page can get "the official word" from Valve to make sure mod developers can do their most and yet not tread onto shaky ground.

Valve game content usage

In the table below, each row lists a different Valve game with content or resources that could be used in a mod. The columns then are divided into two groups. The first group is for mods created under the Goldsource(en) engine. The second group is for mods created under the Source(en) engine. The value (see key below) under each column shows whether the given content type can be used in a mod under the given engine.

Usage tables

KEY   Yes   No   If Available   Unknown   N/A   Other	Goldsource(en)
	Content Game	Usage in a Goldsource Mod
		Original DLL	Original Models	Original Sounds	Original Materials	Original Maps
	Half-Life(en)
	Team Fortress Classic(en)
	Counter-Strike(en)
	Day of Defeat(en)
	Condition Zero(en)
	Condition Zero Deleted Scenes(en)
	Blue Shift(en)
	Opposing Force(en)
	Ricochet(en)
	Deathmatch Classic(en)
KEY   Yes   No   If Available   Unknown   N/A   Other	Source(en)
	Content Game	Usage in a Source mod
		Original DLL	Original Models	Original Sounds	Original Materials	Original Maps
	Half-Life 2(en)
	Counter-Strike: Source(en)
	Day of Defeat: Source(en)
	Half-Life 2: Episode 1(en)
	Half-Life 2: Episode 2(en)
	Half-Life 2: Lost Coast(en)
	Half-Life 2: Deathmatch(en)
	Half-Life: Source(en)
	SiN Episodes(en)
	Team Fortress 2(en)

Key descriptions

Yes

Allowed for use in a mod if the original game (left hand column) is also owned by the player of the mod.

No

It is not allowed to use this content for the given base game.

If Available

The content must remain in its distributed form (GCF(en)). Deriving a mod consists of modifying the gameinfo.txt(en) or liblist.gam(en).

Unknown

Needs clarification from Valve.

N/A

Not applicable or not possible. For example using HL1 DLLs with HL2 based mods.

Other

Restrictions apply which are described in footnotes below the table.

Using content from other mods

Authors do have the right to take you to court for using their content without permission

It's a sad fact, but in some cases content is also being lifted from one Mod to another. It's often a misconception that just because a Mod is free to download, it's contents are also free for you to take and choose from as you wish.

Even if a Mod is free or not, the creators of any original work included within it (sounds, materials, models) own the Intellectual Property and Copyrights for their work. This is true if you are a high-school kid, a corporation, or just some other hacker who puts stuff together for fun. Every author gains these rights by default when they create their work.

The authors alone can decide how and who may use their work and have the law behind them should they decide to take issue of anything used without permission. If you see something in another Mod that would be of use to you in your own Mod or map, your first step should be to contact the Mod team and then specifically the creator of the item your after. They and they alone can give you an O.K. to use their work.

Using content from other games

Simply don't do it without a proper permission.

Above Intellectual Property and Copyrights discussion is in case with commercial games. Don't forget you are also under End User License Agreement(EULA) when you install a game. EULA usually forbids decompiling/modifying/re-distributing the game's content.

Also if your mod has a forum where users can post models, make sure they don't post copyright infringing content. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), once a web host finds/is notified of infringing material on their site, they are obliged to remove it or they must face liability for copyright infringement.

So if you let your users post infringing content(such as content from other games), not only the users but you can be accused.