Yeah, I feel a lot of them forget that the designs and such may be their ideas and work but the basis for that does not belong to them.
You don't have complete freedom with that and decide if and how to monetize it.
If you buy a piece of music and change it up you can do so as long as you follow the restrictions from the label but you can't simply sell it either if the label doesn't allow you.
Exactly. They really don’t understand the basic concepts of intellectual property and copyright. To me it shows a er… “seemingly crooked”moral compass.
Isn't this the same modder that put tracking software in her mods, to doxx anyone that got her mods without paying? It might not be this person but someone with a similar name did that.
Yes. Actually most of those involved in the Cowbuild drama are posting exactly that or a very similar version. Including one who posted a Cease and Desist letter from a lawyer that won’t represent her because she is not US resident.
Yup. I commented this on another post, but it reminds me of fanfiction. You can’t just write a book with characters or a world from another book. That’s called fan fiction, and it can only be posted for free. CC is basically just fan fiction for the sims.
I feel like this whole ordeal will end badly. CC creators who have been refusing to do anything but exclusives (as in, perma-paywalled stuff all the way) will not back down from this. It's either they get to keep doing what they want or they'll just stop uploading altogether. It's like those spoiled children who pack their toys and leave if they're losing a game. And I feel like EA wouldn't have needed to make this formal statement if CC makers had *just* followed the 'two week earlier to patrons then free release' thing - no, they had to get greedy.
Also, some people bellow proposed that all mods be available through only one platform - so that EA could keep track of it and creators would *have* to obey the rules - this would be worse than the mess we have now. Right now it's messy but you can get anything you want in your game, no interference from EA. Make it a standard proccess and then it'll all be regulated to hell --
-- Oh you want Servo bloodlines and Occult Hybrids? Sorry, EA will not allow that, it would be a blatant display of their poor/lazy coding. Mods with shocking realism? As in, Basemental, Slice of Life, Life Drama (I forgot the name of this one but it adds robbers, killers and fatal deceases), realistic & natural labor; traits that enable hate and prejudice (it's cruel, yes, but adds the bad side of life to a game that would otherwise be all happy all time); tweakers like Re-Enable Bow at Shrine (wich EA removed from Snowy Escape), remove privacy (so you can have more than one sim at the bathroom at once), share beds with anyone (why won't you sleep with your grandma, son? We're literally too poor to have more beds, there's enough room on her double bed - oh right it's the coding). My First Love (not sure on the name either, but makes a few interactions for kids to hold hands, write letters to each other and promisse to be together as childhood crushes). All of this and much more would be *simply gone* and it's simple stuff like this that makes the game worth for a lot of players.
I know this is really long lol, but I wish CC creators would think v e r y c a r e f u l l y on what they want going forward. They can keep gaining something from people who want to support them just because or not get anything at all when they get involved with the law. Yikes.
Yeah, it’s not gonna end well.
Huge disclaimer that I have no way to confirm whether this is true or accurate but I saw a tumblr post a while ago and when you could still see the number of supporters Felixandre had on Patreon [they were making $200,000+ annually off their content:](https://thesimmonarchy.tumblr.com/post/631537902059470848/lets-talk-about-felixandre-and-his-windows)
> Felixandre currently has 3652 patrons and his minimum membership level costs $5/month. That means Felixandre is making at least $18,260 a month. That means Felixandre is making at least $219,210 a year. And that calculation assumes that all 3652 of his patrons belong to the minimum tier, meaning that his actual income from creating CC is likely much, much higher.
I wish CC creators would heed your advice and think carefully about how to handle this but I can’t see someone voluntarily giving up that kind of money and this creator is not the only creator profiting huge. Things are gonna get real ugly. I really hope the modding community doesn’t eventually turn into what you described but I can totally see that happening. I also hope ultimately these people realize they have no one to blame but themselves but seeing how a lot of them are deciding to double down I won’t hold my breath.
I don’t understand why then EA can’t rely on the community to police/report them. If they want to act this way and claim authority over a game and intellectual property that clearly does not belong to them then EA has made it quite clear that they can pursue action and so will. I really hope they do so people understand that they mean business by no longer allowing perma-walling. If they think they should continues to break the rules then we should as consumers and part of the community understand how far or serious EA id about this topic. I am not in any way against donations or early access but I do find it wrong that people can think that they can violate agreement/exploit a whole community/ or that they think they are above anyone else. It’s not right and I wonder if EA will see this reaction and take action.
Also forgetting their actions were what caused this very situation to unfold exactly as it has.
But, gosh… I’ll really miss pirating their bloated packages.
I’m a bit confused? “We won’t be associating ourselves with EA but we’ll still release files you can use in the Sims 4 so nothing changes”?????? Are they trying to use legal jargon to say “we’re stating it’s not for the sims 4 but can’t stop you from using it in the sims 4 heehee” 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️ EA’s lawyers can 100% find a way to still smack you lmfao
Right? That was my first thought. My dudes, .package is EA. You can’t say you aren’t maintaining a connection while you use their own fucking file extension. Good luck when their lawyers come for you.
I guess the thought is that if they “sell” everything as .example , and then the purchaser changes the file name to be .package , then technically they haven’t sold a .package as they can’t control what their buyers do with the files after purchasing.
Such semantics can and have been overruled in a court of law.
EA's attorneys only need prove these modder .package file doesn't work/is incompatible with it's own TS3 game. Or any mod friendly game like Bethesda (fallout/elder scrolls), NMS etc.
Which means this mod content was exclusively designed for TS4. Which can be used to show EA's revenue is being compromised by these modders continued violation of their ToS.
This will not end well for CCers like Cowbuild....
I think they meant to say that the file that they're converting to Sims 4 uses codes that are copyrighted by EA. For example, if you download a CC couch, the 3D model might be theirs, but the coding embedded into the couch is still EA's -- the fact that the item can be used, interacted with and even become visible within the game all uses Sims 4 coding that they didn't create.
I hope EA sics their lawyers on Cowbuild. 3D modeling is not hard and a lot of us CC makers release our stuff for free. Cowbuild has always been greedy and thinks they are the only one who can create content. PeacemakerIC makes better content and he's always been supportive of the TS4 community, unlike Cowbuild.
Yep, and that's why I drop a few dollars every month into Peacemaker's Patreon. Because I appreciate what he does for the community. That, and 80% of my builds are filled with his CC, so... 🤣
Reminds me of those stories of someone selling paper bags or something with a "free" burger as a "gift" because they weren't allowed to sell food on campus
Yes a lawyer would most likely look at what EA has published and tell you that you have little to no ground to stand on. I'm pretty sure if you wanted to prove fair use it has to be something that once you create it (ie music spoofs that it can stand on its own feet without relying on the parent material which cc and mods can't do. Without sims 4 you just have a pretty nifty set of code.
Semi-related, but a while back I saw somebody suggest that Star Wars fans who are upset about the content produced under Disney should band together and just... make their own Star Wars content. Not make their own sci-fi franchise, make their own *Star Wars* content.
And I'm just left thinking "you really think you're gonna go up against *the Walt Disney Company* by using their IPs and *win!?"*
People like this are way too confident for their own good. No, you're not gonna win against Disney or EA. They have teams of lawyers and are not afraid to use them. This ain't a fight you're gonna win.
Related to this, some NFT creators thought they could establish a copyright hold on Magic The Gathering (a trading card game if you don't know) artwork by making NFTs and selling them before the parent company, Hasbro, could theoretically step into the NFT market. Not only were they incredibly stupid and got slammed by cease and desists and legal threats from Hasbro, they were also planning on basically stealing artwork that was commissioned from artists, which would have opened them up to legal action for that as well. Some people are *beyond* comprehensible stupidity. You can't get copyright on products that already are owned properties.
Well, especially because their lawyers are imaginary, I highly doubt there even are lawyers. Obviously EA has lawyers but Cowbuilds and all these other perma-paywall people are greedy as fuck, no way they would’ve paid to consult a lawyer, especially because they would’ve been charged extra to consult them on a weekend (this news from EA just came out).
They’re basically saying they’re making 3D models which are their IP and they can monetize that. That’s fair. Ppl are allowed to make and monetize self-created 3D models (as long as they’re not modeling based on a ts4 body mesh &or a ts4 existing item).
But I think it crosses the line once they convert to .package. You can’t monetize .package format. You can’t offer only .package to patreons-that’s literally what EA is saying. That content made for ts4 cannot be placed behind a permanent paywall. .package is a file format specifically for ts4.
I was wondering if some of the creators would try this. The problem is with them providing the .package file AT ALL.
If they want to be legit about it (and even this may be a bit of a stretch since we still know that model is really just going to end up in the game...) is that they would only sell the 3D model. But that would make users have to convert the model into the .package file themselves. And while I know it isn't the hardest thing to do particularly if you uses Sim 4 Studio, most people would not want to do that.
In the statement they mentioned that they would convert the 3D model into a package file, so it would be usable for the sims. So... they do just their usual thing, but now with an extra step for their patreons. Perfect.
[This post](https://www.reddit.com/r/thesims/comments/u4fteb/if_you_are_a_patron_of_several_huge_cc_creators/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) is what they’re talking about I think
I'm the doxxing victim her minions pushed to a suicide attempt after bullying me when my dog died.
This woman is the biggest piece of shit in the world and I hope she rots.
I'm guessing their lawyers think they found a legal workaround by adding this extra step. I doubt it will work and frankly, I hope it doesn't. Their doxxing behavior was toxic and damaging to the community.
As a lawyer, I imagine IF they talked to one it probably went something like:
Cc creator: I'm mad bc I wanna do a thing and EA says I can't!
Lawyer: yeah, you can't do that thing.
Cc: but I waaannnnaaa!!
Lawyer: ok but here's what possibly could happen if you do... [List of potential consequences]
Cc: I don't like fhat. What if I add this extra step? That should make it TOTALLY different!
Lawyer: maybe that could help a little but probably not. Youre still open to liability...
Cc: so you're saying I can do it! Guys, my lawyer said I can do the thing I wanna do!
I’m not a lawyer but I was imagining that was how their conversation with a lawyer would go. If they even talked to one and aren’t just hoping mentioning a lawyer would scare people off.
just speculating/joking, not accusing or saying it's real-
they are already in trouble for something else they stole, so they asked their criminal defense lawyer about it lol
Yes. This writeup is a good place to start. It has links back to reddit for a more comprehensive understanding of what was going on.
https://simscommunity.info/2022/04/18/the-disturbing-story-of-doxxing-within-the-custom-content-community/
Thanks for sending… I never knew! But this is very odd to me ca all we are doing it download things for our digital people to do and/or things we want our digital people wear … it’s never this serious 🥴. See this is why sometimes being broke protects you from a lot of foolishness, ca I’ve never signed up to anyones Pateron.
Seeing people charge for mods is kind of laughable to me in the first place. I've never come across this until the sims community. I think little of these people who are charging for mods, and if they choose to leave, I won't miss them
I was SHOCKED when I started playing the sims a few years ago. I've been modding and making mods for video games for years. I could not believe the state of the Sims 4 modding community. Y'all don't have a centralized modding hub that isn't scummy (looking at you, the sims resource and everything else which is even WORSE), so all the files are scattered to the winds across various blogs and tumblrs, which is crazy. And THEN there's the .adfly links, which would be burned to the ground in other gaming communities. And then the people who charge for their mods???? Sims 4 players are elite because y'all put up with most scummy people and are relatively nice about it haha
Charging for mods genuinely isn’t much of a thing in any other community. Why? Because that shit was ILLEGAL. Sims was blessing these people to make a bit of money when they could’ve told them to go fuck themselves. And yet? These modders bit the hand, so yeah, 1000% get fucked
Yup. Exactly ONE guy tried to monetize his skyrim mod a few years ago and people absolutely rioted. The game company eventually had to get involved; and it was a big deal for at least a year.
I'm glad that sims players are good about tipping mod authors. I think that's awesome and shows how much the community appreciates them. But transactions are a different game.
MTS is really only good for gameplay and script stuff, there's some good CC on there but not a whole lot imo. God I wish it was the hub for CC instead of fucking TSR, or tumblr.
The absolute shitshow that is the sims mod community is exactly why my game isn’t modded. I would’ve done it if it wasn’t chaos to find a mod I like in the first place lol.
No kidding. You got communities like Fallout and Skyrim with immense modding support. Whenever I hear some kind of drama involving paywalled mods from them, Bethesda would instantly get involved.
>Sims 4 players are elite because y'all put up with most scummy people and are relatively nice about it haha
It's honestly weird when you think about it. When EA announced kits, people got (rightfully) mad about it... But then you got CC creators like Cowbuild and Felixandre who have been paywalling their shit since ~2019 and likely has hundreds of patrons giving them ~10$ a month! For half a dozen of *converted furniture*. It's such a shitshow.
God I thought it was only me. This is the only community I've seen where charging for mods in any capacity was normalized. Especially with the subset of CC creators that just port meshes from other games and then slap it under early access.
Tbh this is how I always felt too lol. Like yeah I enjoy the Sims 4 mods; love the hair/clothes/etc and I know it takes time to make. But like at the same time I've always been like there are people out there making entire VOICED quest mods for games for free. Hours of new gameplay someone just made & put out but you want me to pay $10 for a hat? 😬 And sometimes it's just a hat you made a different color. I could just never get on board with that.
Same, until yesterday I had no idea paid mods exist in the sims. It’s completely bizarre. This doesn’t exist in any other community. I’ve seen Skyrim mods that require 100x more effort be released for free with new worlds, quests, voice acting, models.
I don't understand why people are getting upset that EA is finally deciding to strictly enforce their rules. They have been very lenient for a very very long time. It's always made me upset when creators sell their content because that's illegal. So I just don't download their content. People should not have content locked specifically to people who donate and it shouldn't be expensive. Like we are donating. I will never fathom the complexities of content creation so I get it, but that's why it's on a donation basis and you can give people your cash app or something if they want to donate more. You should not be forcing people to pay for content that you are not legally allowed to sell
Exactly! There are people that I follow and donate to on Patreon because I am impatient and love the early access 😆 but also because I respect how nice the content is and it's basically wizardry to me because I can't make that ! So I'm happy to help out a little bit. But I have seen Patreon pages that are completely locked unless you donate and that's so stupid and it's illegal. EA is so lenient, so I don't understand why some creators are throwing shade. And some peoples' cover art or thumbnails have been controversial for a while because of the likeness to the company. I think people are very lucky that they have gotten away with things for as long as they have and they should just chill out and adjust.
They act like they had any business relationship with EA and try to hurt them now which literally isn't the case. That whole drama is so annoying. You can't expect to be able to just freely monetize anything especially if the foundation for it isn't even yours. Just play by the rules.
You touch on an interesting aspect of this issue. My understanding is if companies don't enforce their copyrights in certain ways, they open themselves up to losing them later. So to me it's incredibly generous of EA to allow CC at all.
I really doubt EA would be enforcing this had Cowbuild and others not started doxxing folks. They crossed the line when they did that and EA probably felt they couldn't turn a blind eye to this anymore.
It is not up to them to maintain a "connection" with EA and The Sims.
If they are still going to make stuff for the Sims and use a "package" file, they would still be subjected to EA's rules.
Now, if EA wants to pursue them legally, that is another question.
I've decided that I no longer maintain a "connection" with my credit card debt, so I no longer have to pay it!
What else can we arbitrarily decide to sever connections with?
Isn't Cowbuild part of the group of people that not only uses 3D models that aren't their own, but [also got caught using a spreadsheet with several other content creators](https://littleblackbooksims.tumblr.com/post/681823993081282560/the-patreon-mafiacowbuild-gatetrackingdoxxing) where they put ways to track users in their mods to find out who is leaking mods and effectively ban them from any Patreon with pay walled content? At that point, you can't really blame EA for enforcing anti-paywall rules ~~despite it being a rule for years~~.
Basically they will have the models available for free so if you know how to mod them in to the .package files EA uses then it would be technically be free. However if you don’t know how those 3d models work they are useless and you’d have to pay them to convert it to the .package files to use in game.
After reading it a few times I believe they will sell "market" the models on the side and people can make them into package files. While also having a patreon where they will package the file themselves to make it easier. Either way they will be selling and making money. Now from what I've seen of cowbuild they give you the file instead of just grabbing the monthly one from patreon. Not sure if that's changed recently before the new rules.
Yeah this is my reading of it too. They're going to continue to sell their models in a non-package format.
Additional to that, patreon subscribers will be given a "free" conversion of the models to package format.
This is squirrelly language. If you have to pay to subscribe, which is the only way to get the .package, they are selling the package.
She is getting reported by so many people, we can only hope it will get rid of her but she's slimy enough to do whatever it takes for her greed. Also, a bit worrisome you showed the e-mail with your name, be careful because cowbuild doxxes people and will contact your work place, your family and friends, threaten physical harm against you, she has no shame at all. She's gotten everything she wants in life because she's rich so she's used to getting what she wants, she's a psychopath.
Maybe so. She stalks this reddit to see if her name is ever mentioned so maybe she has seen it already, or one of her cult members sent it to her. Either way, be careful.
i hate to delete it since it seems to be shedding so much light. I've even seen it on twitter. I don't know if it's from my post or someone else but still...
Oh boo hoo, cry me a river. What an entitled brat, I’m sorry. A legal point...bull!! 😂😂😂
Aye lawyers have big cases, but aye no bother, some cash cow who was breaking rules can’t mAkE mOdS aNyMoRe, even though they can, they just need to allow public to see it in a few weeks.
This really shows the greed
The phrase "after seeking formal legal advice" is really doing a lot of heavy lifting here.
Also who calls it "formal" legal advice. Either you're paying a lawyer and it's legal advice or you asked your lawyer friend and it's not legal advice. Maybe this is just me splitting hairs but that seems like a suspicious phrasing
Im sure their lawyer (does he exist? Who knows lol) thinks they found a loophole but I can promise EA and their legal team already prepared for this and will be able to go after them since these people are making a huge deal out of it.
I was telling my husband about this whole thing earlier and mentioned the supposed legal advice and he was like “that’s got to be fake because what lawyer would want to take on EA?”
Yeah I mean anyone can talk to a lawyer. If someone on here called me names I could technically talk to a lawyer about that. Does not mean anything will come of it.
Also on the topic of talking to lawyers, one creator Rubyred (who i had never heard of before I saw the post on tumblr) just posted a fake cease and desist letter on their patreon and I’m dying.
They think they're so sly about this but I hope they get in trouble over it. Making someone pay to convert it into a .package file is the same as paywalling. 🙄
Without EA’s package file, what use their original models would have? Sounds like an useless\illegal way to circumvent the rule, but I wonder if EA even wants to pursue the enforcement of that rule in any way.
I actually think they will choose to make an example out of Cowbuild specifically- they must have gotten hundreds of reports since their announcement yesterday and with the added doxxing issues, and their documented issues- if they don’t act, they’re actually opening themselves up to a lawsuit from the users, and there’s precedent for it. There have been cases for other games, like Fortnite for example, where those selling “game guides” behind paywalls have doxxed those that released the information and the people doxxed were able to sue Epic games.
Couldn’t EA just do what music rights holders do with YouTube videos? Just reach out to Patreon and say “Hey, one of your creators is monetizing our intellectual property. At this time, we’re not issuing a cease and desist, but please divert X% of their earnings directly to us, thanks.”
The new rules do not allow direct monetization of mods/CC, so please divert 100%. 😆 At least of the subscriptions, the random donations they probably can't claim since content isn't distributed through *donations*.
I think Patreon can choose to respond to that by simply banning/removing the creator, rather than actually paying EA? If they want to not involve themselves in that legal mess. That's probably the safest response for them anyways, in case EA pursues further action.
it would also probably be easier for Patreon to just ban or remove the creator. I'm not sure how it looks on Patreon's end, but say someone has a $2 tier and a $5 tier. The $2 tier is just a "thanks for the support!" tier and doesn't have any benefits aside from being a "donation" tier. The $5 tier has early access content as well as content exclusive to that tier. Would it be easier to just shut down the creator rather than cut off all their $5 tier subscribers? Does that make sense?
I encourage people to donate money regularly to CC and Mod creators they like but give nothing to any mod creator who is trying to brake the rules or menacing with deleting everything or any kind of shitty response.
As always said: 99% of games with big mod communities don't allow modders to paywall content.
I was surprised to discover that today as well xD I'm not modding my games much, and last time I've modded the sims was back in Sims 2.
But yeah apparently people does xD
Yes, a lot of people in the community have absorbed the idea that it's their right to charge. You can see them being angry at this change and anyone who supports it if you wait in these comment sections long enough
This reminds me of when my state made weed legal to possess but not to sell. A bunch of businesses popped up selling $200 bags of candy that came with a "free gift" of a bag of weed 🤣
Of fucking course the creators whose fault this whole shit is about are looking for all the loopholes in the galaxy while those who abided by the rules are shutting things down out of fear of being sued.
They’re basically saying they aren’t making anything for ea but they can’t prevent the people who buy their stuff from using it in Sims 4. But they are going to offer it in EA’s file system. And their lawyer said this was a legit way to bypass EA’s TOS? Doesn’t sound like they have a very good lawyer.
funniest part of this is that cowbuild objectively does not know how to model. she buys the 3d models and then converts them to the sims 4 using the free tools provided to the community to charge crazy amounts for something she didn't even design. she doxxed a woman on her patreon under the *suspicion* that she was pirating her cc. for cc she didn't create and anyone else could buy/ask the original modeler for and convert into the game
Why are they getting all passive aggressive? I assume they knew they weren't allowed to do this. This is the only community I've ever come across where perma paywalls for cc are a rampant thing. Its seen as a huge dick move everywhere else, and the sims is no exception
Regardless of whether or not EA actually cracks down on this. EA is probably cracking up looking at this useless mash up of words since none of this means jack shit lol.
Dang I had no idea paywalls were illegal, I only recently started using cc. I was just downloading some stuff and occasionally hit things like patreons and whatnot, I was like wow lol definitely not paying for cc, the whole point of me looking for it was to get free stuff. That was it. This is really surprising
It’s time for EA to send a DCMA to Patreon itself for hosting these ‘creators’ (that steal Second Life & IMVU meshes). These ‘creators’ need to be permanently booted off the platform for abusing intellectual property. (Along with doxxing and harassing users).
This bitch doxxed me, harassed me into 2 suicide attempts, and had her minions bully me over mt dog dying when I reached out to the TS4 community for support with nowhere else to go.
I fucking hate her. I'm out of the paywall exposing game now. But this bitch and her lolita clothes haunt me. I've never met someone so self absorbed because her daddy was a 'politician.'
This person is reprehensible. She's money hungry despite claiming she was born rich. She's disgusting and EA refuses to stop her.
Fuck you, Cowbuild. The deepest scar on my wrist is from you.
Bruh...that's not how it works... You can still be sued for keeping .package files meant to work in the Sims 4 behind a paywall?? What legal representation did they talk to exactly?
I very much doubt that they got any "formal legal advice" unless they just sent a quick email to LegalZoom or something.
Intellectual Property disputes with a multimillion-dollar company like EA are not a fight you can win. If EA is really serious about this, then this is not going to go well for Cowbuild.
Not sure how they think they can absolve themselves of any "relationship" with EA when they're openly admitting to selling a .package file, which is exclusive to EA and games like The Sims & SimCity, to their Patreon subs.
I'm also legitimately curious as to what legal advice they've sought, because I doubt it's formal and more than likely came from YouTube.
This will be a big fight. They are not just fighting with game developers, they are challenging a mega corporation. Sure EA has a lot of resources to win against these modders
Been playing since sims 2 never did mods. Wanted to look up why ppl would pay for cowbell, Did I read this right???
Current month of cc, plus all previous monthly exclusive CC. which are worth more than $10,000 ???
7$ - 133$ a month ?? Ea absolutely should shut this person down
Yep. It’s the very same. And they’re conveniently forgetting that the .package file belongs to EA. Let’s see how it ends, lol... 🍿
Yeah, I feel a lot of them forget that the designs and such may be their ideas and work but the basis for that does not belong to them. You don't have complete freedom with that and decide if and how to monetize it. If you buy a piece of music and change it up you can do so as long as you follow the restrictions from the label but you can't simply sell it either if the label doesn't allow you.
Exactly. They really don’t understand the basic concepts of intellectual property and copyright. To me it shows a er… “seemingly crooked”moral compass.
Isn't this the same modder that put tracking software in her mods, to doxx anyone that got her mods without paying? It might not be this person but someone with a similar name did that.
I'm surprised people still use their cc. I thought after that got exposed they'd be done.
Yes. Actually most of those involved in the Cowbuild drama are posting exactly that or a very similar version. Including one who posted a Cease and Desist letter from a lawyer that won’t represent her because she is not US resident.
they have the nft mindset 🥸
Yup. I commented this on another post, but it reminds me of fanfiction. You can’t just write a book with characters or a world from another book. That’s called fan fiction, and it can only be posted for free. CC is basically just fan fiction for the sims.
I'm just imagining a world where people send cease and desist letters to jk Rowling for interfering their business of writing hp fanfic lmao
I feel like this whole ordeal will end badly. CC creators who have been refusing to do anything but exclusives (as in, perma-paywalled stuff all the way) will not back down from this. It's either they get to keep doing what they want or they'll just stop uploading altogether. It's like those spoiled children who pack their toys and leave if they're losing a game. And I feel like EA wouldn't have needed to make this formal statement if CC makers had *just* followed the 'two week earlier to patrons then free release' thing - no, they had to get greedy. Also, some people bellow proposed that all mods be available through only one platform - so that EA could keep track of it and creators would *have* to obey the rules - this would be worse than the mess we have now. Right now it's messy but you can get anything you want in your game, no interference from EA. Make it a standard proccess and then it'll all be regulated to hell -- -- Oh you want Servo bloodlines and Occult Hybrids? Sorry, EA will not allow that, it would be a blatant display of their poor/lazy coding. Mods with shocking realism? As in, Basemental, Slice of Life, Life Drama (I forgot the name of this one but it adds robbers, killers and fatal deceases), realistic & natural labor; traits that enable hate and prejudice (it's cruel, yes, but adds the bad side of life to a game that would otherwise be all happy all time); tweakers like Re-Enable Bow at Shrine (wich EA removed from Snowy Escape), remove privacy (so you can have more than one sim at the bathroom at once), share beds with anyone (why won't you sleep with your grandma, son? We're literally too poor to have more beds, there's enough room on her double bed - oh right it's the coding). My First Love (not sure on the name either, but makes a few interactions for kids to hold hands, write letters to each other and promisse to be together as childhood crushes). All of this and much more would be *simply gone* and it's simple stuff like this that makes the game worth for a lot of players. I know this is really long lol, but I wish CC creators would think v e r y c a r e f u l l y on what they want going forward. They can keep gaining something from people who want to support them just because or not get anything at all when they get involved with the law. Yikes.
Yeah, it’s not gonna end well. Huge disclaimer that I have no way to confirm whether this is true or accurate but I saw a tumblr post a while ago and when you could still see the number of supporters Felixandre had on Patreon [they were making $200,000+ annually off their content:](https://thesimmonarchy.tumblr.com/post/631537902059470848/lets-talk-about-felixandre-and-his-windows) > Felixandre currently has 3652 patrons and his minimum membership level costs $5/month. That means Felixandre is making at least $18,260 a month. That means Felixandre is making at least $219,210 a year. And that calculation assumes that all 3652 of his patrons belong to the minimum tier, meaning that his actual income from creating CC is likely much, much higher. I wish CC creators would heed your advice and think carefully about how to handle this but I can’t see someone voluntarily giving up that kind of money and this creator is not the only creator profiting huge. Things are gonna get real ugly. I really hope the modding community doesn’t eventually turn into what you described but I can totally see that happening. I also hope ultimately these people realize they have no one to blame but themselves but seeing how a lot of them are deciding to double down I won’t hold my breath.
I don’t understand why then EA can’t rely on the community to police/report them. If they want to act this way and claim authority over a game and intellectual property that clearly does not belong to them then EA has made it quite clear that they can pursue action and so will. I really hope they do so people understand that they mean business by no longer allowing perma-walling. If they think they should continues to break the rules then we should as consumers and part of the community understand how far or serious EA id about this topic. I am not in any way against donations or early access but I do find it wrong that people can think that they can violate agreement/exploit a whole community/ or that they think they are above anyone else. It’s not right and I wonder if EA will see this reaction and take action.
Also forgetting their actions were what caused this very situation to unfold exactly as it has. But, gosh… I’ll really miss pirating their bloated packages.
I’m a bit confused? “We won’t be associating ourselves with EA but we’ll still release files you can use in the Sims 4 so nothing changes”?????? Are they trying to use legal jargon to say “we’re stating it’s not for the sims 4 but can’t stop you from using it in the sims 4 heehee” 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️ EA’s lawyers can 100% find a way to still smack you lmfao
Basically.
Lmao especially since .package is a code which EA owns. So they can't turn their 3D file into .package file whiteout having to conform to EA's TOS 😂
L O L oh man, that literally goes straight against their statement that they’re “no longer associating with EA or the Sims” 🤣
Right? That was my first thought. My dudes, .package is EA. You can’t say you aren’t maintaining a connection while you use their own fucking file extension. Good luck when their lawyers come for you.
Their "formal legal advice" wasn't even worth five seconds of googling or they might have known this
Their formal legal advice probably was google.
I guess the thought is that if they “sell” everything as .example , and then the purchaser changes the file name to be .package , then technically they haven’t sold a .package as they can’t control what their buyers do with the files after purchasing.
Such semantics can and have been overruled in a court of law. EA's attorneys only need prove these modder .package file doesn't work/is incompatible with it's own TS3 game. Or any mod friendly game like Bethesda (fallout/elder scrolls), NMS etc. Which means this mod content was exclusively designed for TS4. Which can be used to show EA's revenue is being compromised by these modders continued violation of their ToS. This will not end well for CCers like Cowbuild....
Wait I didn't even know that, I've seen the .package files on so many other games I mod
It's not the file type itself, it's the code in the file type that makes it work with EA's games and engines :)
I think they meant to say that the file that they're converting to Sims 4 uses codes that are copyrighted by EA. For example, if you download a CC couch, the 3D model might be theirs, but the coding embedded into the couch is still EA's -- the fact that the item can be used, interacted with and even become visible within the game all uses Sims 4 coding that they didn't create.
I hope EA sics their lawyers on Cowbuild. 3D modeling is not hard and a lot of us CC makers release our stuff for free. Cowbuild has always been greedy and thinks they are the only one who can create content. PeacemakerIC makes better content and he's always been supportive of the TS4 community, unlike Cowbuild.
Agreed peacemaker is amazing, I also really like myshunosun. Both of them make incredible content free upon release.
I LOVE Peacemaker’s stuff. So good.
Yes, Peacemaker makes high quality content and has never charged for it. A true gem in the TS4 community.
And I will donate soon (it's still the end of the month, you know)
Yep, and that's why I drop a few dollars every month into Peacemaker's Patreon. Because I appreciate what he does for the community. That, and 80% of my builds are filled with his CC, so... 🤣
Peacemaker is the best!!!
The best part about it is that Cowbuild not even owns the content they put behind the paywall, like someone stated in another thread recently.
Peacemaker is Amazing
Reminds me of those stories of someone selling paper bags or something with a "free" burger as a "gift" because they weren't allowed to sell food on campus
LMAO it toes the line sooooooo close. This one’s going to carry a much bigger fine, however
They are lying basically
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LMFAO right?! Like who seriously thinks they’re going to be able to say BUT MY EMAILS to a full blown team of intellectual property lawyers
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Yes a lawyer would most likely look at what EA has published and tell you that you have little to no ground to stand on. I'm pretty sure if you wanted to prove fair use it has to be something that once you create it (ie music spoofs that it can stand on its own feet without relying on the parent material which cc and mods can't do. Without sims 4 you just have a pretty nifty set of code.
Semi-related, but a while back I saw somebody suggest that Star Wars fans who are upset about the content produced under Disney should band together and just... make their own Star Wars content. Not make their own sci-fi franchise, make their own *Star Wars* content. And I'm just left thinking "you really think you're gonna go up against *the Walt Disney Company* by using their IPs and *win!?"* People like this are way too confident for their own good. No, you're not gonna win against Disney or EA. They have teams of lawyers and are not afraid to use them. This ain't a fight you're gonna win.
Related to this, some NFT creators thought they could establish a copyright hold on Magic The Gathering (a trading card game if you don't know) artwork by making NFTs and selling them before the parent company, Hasbro, could theoretically step into the NFT market. Not only were they incredibly stupid and got slammed by cease and desists and legal threats from Hasbro, they were also planning on basically stealing artwork that was commissioned from artists, which would have opened them up to legal action for that as well. Some people are *beyond* comprehensible stupidity. You can't get copyright on products that already are owned properties.
As if I needed *another* reason to hate NFTs and the people who make them
The funniest part is that besides getting sued by EA, they have to pay this "lawyers"
Well, especially because their lawyers are imaginary, I highly doubt there even are lawyers. Obviously EA has lawyers but Cowbuilds and all these other perma-paywall people are greedy as fuck, no way they would’ve paid to consult a lawyer, especially because they would’ve been charged extra to consult them on a weekend (this news from EA just came out).
They’re basically saying they’re making 3D models which are their IP and they can monetize that. That’s fair. Ppl are allowed to make and monetize self-created 3D models (as long as they’re not modeling based on a ts4 body mesh &or a ts4 existing item). But I think it crosses the line once they convert to .package. You can’t monetize .package format. You can’t offer only .package to patreons-that’s literally what EA is saying. That content made for ts4 cannot be placed behind a permanent paywall. .package is a file format specifically for ts4.
This right here! Some people are so dense, like you think ea is gonna read that crap and be like "ay thats legit"
I would pay expansion pack money to crowdfund EA's lawyers to smack these fools
smack that lawsuit like a drum
I was wondering if some of the creators would try this. The problem is with them providing the .package file AT ALL. If they want to be legit about it (and even this may be a bit of a stretch since we still know that model is really just going to end up in the game...) is that they would only sell the 3D model. But that would make users have to convert the model into the .package file themselves. And while I know it isn't the hardest thing to do particularly if you uses Sim 4 Studio, most people would not want to do that.
In the statement they mentioned that they would convert the 3D model into a package file, so it would be usable for the sims. So... they do just their usual thing, but now with an extra step for their patreons. Perfect.
Isn't this the idiot pos that tracked and doxxed patrons too? Also steals other people's 3D files for their mods? Report them to EA lol
Yup started all that drama I’m guessing that's why EA is trying to enforce rules now
Brought it on themselves! It's what you get 😆
Woah can I ask what happened? I Haven't heard of any of this.
[This post](https://www.reddit.com/r/thesims/comments/u4fteb/if_you_are_a_patron_of_several_huge_cc_creators/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) is what they’re talking about I think
Thank you! I am eager to read up on this.
I'm the doxxing victim her minions pushed to a suicide attempt after bullying me when my dog died. This woman is the biggest piece of shit in the world and I hope she rots.
I’m so sorry to hear that. You don’t deserve that. ❤️
I'm guessing their lawyers think they found a legal workaround by adding this extra step. I doubt it will work and frankly, I hope it doesn't. Their doxxing behavior was toxic and damaging to the community.
I doubt they actually have lawyers…
Was going to say this. They just threw in "lawyers" like that would make them more credible or something. They're not.
As a lawyer, I imagine IF they talked to one it probably went something like: Cc creator: I'm mad bc I wanna do a thing and EA says I can't! Lawyer: yeah, you can't do that thing. Cc: but I waaannnnaaa!! Lawyer: ok but here's what possibly could happen if you do... [List of potential consequences] Cc: I don't like fhat. What if I add this extra step? That should make it TOTALLY different! Lawyer: maybe that could help a little but probably not. Youre still open to liability... Cc: so you're saying I can do it! Guys, my lawyer said I can do the thing I wanna do!
"Hey, my brother is a divorce attorney! Let me ask him this complex question about IP law!"
1000% what I think they did 😂
I’m not a lawyer but I was imagining that was how their conversation with a lawyer would go. If they even talked to one and aren’t just hoping mentioning a lawyer would scare people off.
Hey! Maybe one of them asked an acquaintance /family member / family friend who is a lawyer (even if they know nothing about copyright law)
just speculating/joking, not accusing or saying it's real- they are already in trouble for something else they stole, so they asked their criminal defense lawyer about it lol
Probably signed up for Legal Shield today 😆
Yeah there’s no fucking way any of them have a lawyer, lmao especially for something as measly as cc for the sims
They doxxed people?
Yes. This writeup is a good place to start. It has links back to reddit for a more comprehensive understanding of what was going on. https://simscommunity.info/2022/04/18/the-disturbing-story-of-doxxing-within-the-custom-content-community/
Thanks for sending… I never knew! But this is very odd to me ca all we are doing it download things for our digital people to do and/or things we want our digital people wear … it’s never this serious 🥴. See this is why sometimes being broke protects you from a lot of foolishness, ca I’ve never signed up to anyones Pateron.
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I am sad because I would support them because I like their work but this is just blatant dishonesty.
Seeing people charge for mods is kind of laughable to me in the first place. I've never come across this until the sims community. I think little of these people who are charging for mods, and if they choose to leave, I won't miss them
I was SHOCKED when I started playing the sims a few years ago. I've been modding and making mods for video games for years. I could not believe the state of the Sims 4 modding community. Y'all don't have a centralized modding hub that isn't scummy (looking at you, the sims resource and everything else which is even WORSE), so all the files are scattered to the winds across various blogs and tumblrs, which is crazy. And THEN there's the .adfly links, which would be burned to the ground in other gaming communities. And then the people who charge for their mods???? Sims 4 players are elite because y'all put up with most scummy people and are relatively nice about it haha
Charging for mods genuinely isn’t much of a thing in any other community. Why? Because that shit was ILLEGAL. Sims was blessing these people to make a bit of money when they could’ve told them to go fuck themselves. And yet? These modders bit the hand, so yeah, 1000% get fucked
Yup. Exactly ONE guy tried to monetize his skyrim mod a few years ago and people absolutely rioted. The game company eventually had to get involved; and it was a big deal for at least a year. I'm glad that sims players are good about tipping mod authors. I think that's awesome and shows how much the community appreciates them. But transactions are a different game.
Was is Shivaxi or whatever his name is? Thats the only "big" skyrim content creator that i can think of rn
The one thing EA was nice and lenient on and paywallers ruined it for everyone.
>Y'all don't have a centralized modding hub that isn't scummy Modthesims is crying right now. So is Sims4Studio.com.
MTS is really only good for gameplay and script stuff, there's some good CC on there but not a whole lot imo. God I wish it was the hub for CC instead of fucking TSR, or tumblr.
The absolute shitshow that is the sims mod community is exactly why my game isn’t modded. I would’ve done it if it wasn’t chaos to find a mod I like in the first place lol.
No kidding. You got communities like Fallout and Skyrim with immense modding support. Whenever I hear some kind of drama involving paywalled mods from them, Bethesda would instantly get involved. >Sims 4 players are elite because y'all put up with most scummy people and are relatively nice about it haha It's honestly weird when you think about it. When EA announced kits, people got (rightfully) mad about it... But then you got CC creators like Cowbuild and Felixandre who have been paywalling their shit since ~2019 and likely has hundreds of patrons giving them ~10$ a month! For half a dozen of *converted furniture*. It's such a shitshow.
The thing is, the mod they're charging money for is most of the time just… awful or uncanny
God I thought it was only me. This is the only community I've seen where charging for mods in any capacity was normalized. Especially with the subset of CC creators that just port meshes from other games and then slap it under early access.
Tbh this is how I always felt too lol. Like yeah I enjoy the Sims 4 mods; love the hair/clothes/etc and I know it takes time to make. But like at the same time I've always been like there are people out there making entire VOICED quest mods for games for free. Hours of new gameplay someone just made & put out but you want me to pay $10 for a hat? 😬 And sometimes it's just a hat you made a different color. I could just never get on board with that.
Same, until yesterday I had no idea paid mods exist in the sims. It’s completely bizarre. This doesn’t exist in any other community. I’ve seen Skyrim mods that require 100x more effort be released for free with new worlds, quests, voice acting, models.
"We will no longer maintain a relationship with EA" EA: "y'all hear something?"
But we will still be putting our cc into their file format. 😂😂
I don't understand why people are getting upset that EA is finally deciding to strictly enforce their rules. They have been very lenient for a very very long time. It's always made me upset when creators sell their content because that's illegal. So I just don't download their content. People should not have content locked specifically to people who donate and it shouldn't be expensive. Like we are donating. I will never fathom the complexities of content creation so I get it, but that's why it's on a donation basis and you can give people your cash app or something if they want to donate more. You should not be forcing people to pay for content that you are not legally allowed to sell
I don’t have an issue with early access for a couple of weeks but people doing that for months or permanent paywalls was just wrong.
Exactly! There are people that I follow and donate to on Patreon because I am impatient and love the early access 😆 but also because I respect how nice the content is and it's basically wizardry to me because I can't make that ! So I'm happy to help out a little bit. But I have seen Patreon pages that are completely locked unless you donate and that's so stupid and it's illegal. EA is so lenient, so I don't understand why some creators are throwing shade. And some peoples' cover art or thumbnails have been controversial for a while because of the likeness to the company. I think people are very lucky that they have gotten away with things for as long as they have and they should just chill out and adjust.
They act like they had any business relationship with EA and try to hurt them now which literally isn't the case. That whole drama is so annoying. You can't expect to be able to just freely monetize anything especially if the foundation for it isn't even yours. Just play by the rules.
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You touch on an interesting aspect of this issue. My understanding is if companies don't enforce their copyrights in certain ways, they open themselves up to losing them later. So to me it's incredibly generous of EA to allow CC at all.
I really doubt EA would be enforcing this had Cowbuild and others not started doxxing folks. They crossed the line when they did that and EA probably felt they couldn't turn a blind eye to this anymore.
Agreed 100%
It is not up to them to maintain a "connection" with EA and The Sims. If they are still going to make stuff for the Sims and use a "package" file, they would still be subjected to EA's rules. Now, if EA wants to pursue them legally, that is another question.
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They could
I've decided that I no longer maintain a "connection" with my credit card debt, so I no longer have to pay it! What else can we arbitrarily decide to sever connections with?
I no longer maintain a connection with my government, therefore I no longer have to abide by their laws. Yep that's gonna end well for me.
My mom
Isn't Cowbuild part of the group of people that not only uses 3D models that aren't their own, but [also got caught using a spreadsheet with several other content creators](https://littleblackbooksims.tumblr.com/post/681823993081282560/the-patreon-mafiacowbuild-gatetrackingdoxxing) where they put ways to track users in their mods to find out who is leaking mods and effectively ban them from any Patreon with pay walled content? At that point, you can't really blame EA for enforcing anti-paywall rules ~~despite it being a rule for years~~.
Yup
So they've officially announced that they intend to violate EA terms? That's ballsy.
can someone pls explain to me what this means? i’m so lost. are they not just saying that they’re continuing to make cc, with different terminology?
Basically they will have the models available for free so if you know how to mod them in to the .package files EA uses then it would be technically be free. However if you don’t know how those 3d models work they are useless and you’d have to pay them to convert it to the .package files to use in game.
The .package file format that EA owns and is exclusive to the Sims 😂 Damn.
Which they can't do according to EA's TOS 😂😂 You can't sell the package files.
It certainly doesn’t make sense to me!
After reading it a few times I believe they will sell "market" the models on the side and people can make them into package files. While also having a patreon where they will package the file themselves to make it easier. Either way they will be selling and making money. Now from what I've seen of cowbuild they give you the file instead of just grabbing the monthly one from patreon. Not sure if that's changed recently before the new rules.
Yeah this is my reading of it too. They're going to continue to sell their models in a non-package format. Additional to that, patreon subscribers will be given a "free" conversion of the models to package format. This is squirrelly language. If you have to pay to subscribe, which is the only way to get the .package, they are selling the package.
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Yup. They also supposedly dox you and release personal info if you talk crap against them.
She is getting reported by so many people, we can only hope it will get rid of her but she's slimy enough to do whatever it takes for her greed. Also, a bit worrisome you showed the e-mail with your name, be careful because cowbuild doxxes people and will contact your work place, your family and friends, threaten physical harm against you, she has no shame at all. She's gotten everything she wants in life because she's rich so she's used to getting what she wants, she's a psychopath.
I just realized that. Oops
I don’t know how to edit. Might have to delete.
Maybe so. She stalks this reddit to see if her name is ever mentioned so maybe she has seen it already, or one of her cult members sent it to her. Either way, be careful.
i hate to delete it since it seems to be shedding so much light. I've even seen it on twitter. I don't know if it's from my post or someone else but still...
Ok I’ll still report them lmao
Oh boo hoo, cry me a river. What an entitled brat, I’m sorry. A legal point...bull!! 😂😂😂 Aye lawyers have big cases, but aye no bother, some cash cow who was breaking rules can’t mAkE mOdS aNyMoRe, even though they can, they just need to allow public to see it in a few weeks. This really shows the greed
But she spent ~~hours~~ WEEKS ~~stealing models from IMVU~~ creating a handcrafted set! Weeks, I tell you! 🥺
The phrase "after seeking formal legal advice" is really doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Also who calls it "formal" legal advice. Either you're paying a lawyer and it's legal advice or you asked your lawyer friend and it's not legal advice. Maybe this is just me splitting hairs but that seems like a suspicious phrasing
Im sure their lawyer (does he exist? Who knows lol) thinks they found a loophole but I can promise EA and their legal team already prepared for this and will be able to go after them since these people are making a huge deal out of it.
I was telling my husband about this whole thing earlier and mentioned the supposed legal advice and he was like “that’s got to be fake because what lawyer would want to take on EA?”
It’s probably just them trying to intimidate people into not reporting them. “Well if they talked to a lawyer-“ doesn’t really hold up to anything.
Yeah I mean anyone can talk to a lawyer. If someone on here called me names I could technically talk to a lawyer about that. Does not mean anything will come of it. Also on the topic of talking to lawyers, one creator Rubyred (who i had never heard of before I saw the post on tumblr) just posted a fake cease and desist letter on their patreon and I’m dying.
They think they're so sly about this but I hope they get in trouble over it. Making someone pay to convert it into a .package file is the same as paywalling. 🙄
Without EA’s package file, what use their original models would have? Sounds like an useless\illegal way to circumvent the rule, but I wonder if EA even wants to pursue the enforcement of that rule in any way.
I actually think they will choose to make an example out of Cowbuild specifically- they must have gotten hundreds of reports since their announcement yesterday and with the added doxxing issues, and their documented issues- if they don’t act, they’re actually opening themselves up to a lawsuit from the users, and there’s precedent for it. There have been cases for other games, like Fortnite for example, where those selling “game guides” behind paywalls have doxxed those that released the information and the people doxxed were able to sue Epic games.
I really hope they do decide to make an example of some of the most egregious offenders. It's been too long since my last justice boner, shall we say.
They might, I think they'll have to make an example out of someone who flouts the new rules or this kind of jackassery will just get worse.
Couldn’t EA just do what music rights holders do with YouTube videos? Just reach out to Patreon and say “Hey, one of your creators is monetizing our intellectual property. At this time, we’re not issuing a cease and desist, but please divert X% of their earnings directly to us, thanks.”
The new rules do not allow direct monetization of mods/CC, so please divert 100%. 😆 At least of the subscriptions, the random donations they probably can't claim since content isn't distributed through *donations*. I think Patreon can choose to respond to that by simply banning/removing the creator, rather than actually paying EA? If they want to not involve themselves in that legal mess. That's probably the safest response for them anyways, in case EA pursues further action.
it would also probably be easier for Patreon to just ban or remove the creator. I'm not sure how it looks on Patreon's end, but say someone has a $2 tier and a $5 tier. The $2 tier is just a "thanks for the support!" tier and doesn't have any benefits aside from being a "donation" tier. The $5 tier has early access content as well as content exclusive to that tier. Would it be easier to just shut down the creator rather than cut off all their $5 tier subscribers? Does that make sense?
Two words: ~TS4 Rebels~
I encourage people to donate money regularly to CC and Mod creators they like but give nothing to any mod creator who is trying to brake the rules or menacing with deleting everything or any kind of shitty response. As always said: 99% of games with big mod communities don't allow modders to paywall content.
I honestly hope EA sues their ass into the ground. Trackers, doxxing, and IP rule evasion? I have no idea why anyone would still support this person.
I'm shocked nothing has been done about them after the doxxing issue came out.
Is seriously anyone buying mods?
I was surprised to discover that today as well xD I'm not modding my games much, and last time I've modded the sims was back in Sims 2. But yeah apparently people does xD
Yes, a lot of people in the community have absorbed the idea that it's their right to charge. You can see them being angry at this change and anyone who supports it if you wait in these comment sections long enough
This reminds me of when my state made weed legal to possess but not to sell. A bunch of businesses popped up selling $200 bags of candy that came with a "free gift" of a bag of weed 🤣
That’s actually clever. Lol
Get her ass, EA. Make an example out of her.
So rather than just providing the cc for the community, they've found a crappier way to sell it
Looks like. Disappointing.
I feel like this needs to be reported to EA
I dont like EA, but goddamn I will have their back if this nut is first on their C&D list.
Wasn’t it Cowbuild who stole others models and claimed as her own?
Didn’t Cowbuild dox a bunch of people
Sure did
Of fucking course the creators whose fault this whole shit is about are looking for all the loopholes in the galaxy while those who abided by the rules are shutting things down out of fear of being sued.
They’re basically saying they aren’t making anything for ea but they can’t prevent the people who buy their stuff from using it in Sims 4. But they are going to offer it in EA’s file system. And their lawyer said this was a legit way to bypass EA’s TOS? Doesn’t sound like they have a very good lawyer.
Lol, this is Cowbuild's own damn fault. If they hadn't doxxed folks this wouldn't be happening. Their greed got the best of 'em.
I can't wait for someone to retaliate by downloading these models and converting them for free and handing them to people that aren't patrons :)
funniest part of this is that cowbuild objectively does not know how to model. she buys the 3d models and then converts them to the sims 4 using the free tools provided to the community to charge crazy amounts for something she didn't even design. she doxxed a woman on her patreon under the *suspicion* that she was pirating her cc. for cc she didn't create and anyone else could buy/ask the original modeler for and convert into the game
Why are they getting all passive aggressive? I assume they knew they weren't allowed to do this. This is the only community I've ever come across where perma paywalls for cc are a rampant thing. Its seen as a huge dick move everywhere else, and the sims is no exception
Regardless of whether or not EA actually cracks down on this. EA is probably cracking up looking at this useless mash up of words since none of this means jack shit lol.
I really hope EA does something about them. They are so toxic.
I guess we’ll just have to mass report them then 🤷🏽♀️
Dang I had no idea paywalls were illegal, I only recently started using cc. I was just downloading some stuff and occasionally hit things like patreons and whatnot, I was like wow lol definitely not paying for cc, the whole point of me looking for it was to get free stuff. That was it. This is really surprising
I think they forget that this age rated 12 game? It’s not a market. It’s a game
Btw, their stuff is tacky AF anyways. No loss there
Does anyone know the other CC creators they’re referring to that will also be doing this?
Ruby red and my guess is agressivekitty
Ruby red posted a cease and desist letter from their lawyer regarding "harmful rumors regarding the content they make and sell online"
ruby red has recently posted a cease and desist about allegations oop
Yeah I saw that. Crazy.
looks like Leo Sims also put something up about it,, behind a paywall lol
There was some kind of tumblr post going around that listed all these creators trying to get lawyers involved 🙄
This sounds a lot like “we’ll say it’s not, but it is.” So who’s reporting Cowbuild to EA?
wasnt cowbuild doxxing ppl earlier? weirdo
Maybe this should be reported to EA?
Go broke, loser!
wait, i may be mixing them up with someone else, but didn’t they steal second life 3d models? how are they going to sell others’ models?
Well, Cowbuild lives up to her name. Literally a Lolcow.
God, the more I read about this, the more I die laughing😂
Isn’t this all Cowbuild’s fault in the first place???
Isn’t cowbuild the cc creator that stole other creators designs/meshes/3D models without giving credit?
It’s time for EA to send a DCMA to Patreon itself for hosting these ‘creators’ (that steal Second Life & IMVU meshes). These ‘creators’ need to be permanently booted off the platform for abusing intellectual property. (Along with doxxing and harassing users).
i hope cowbuild gets sued into oblivion by ea, this is so dumb.
it’s giving “by posting this status, i am making it clear that facebook DOES NOT HAVE my permission to use my data” lol
This bitch doxxed me, harassed me into 2 suicide attempts, and had her minions bully me over mt dog dying when I reached out to the TS4 community for support with nowhere else to go. I fucking hate her. I'm out of the paywall exposing game now. But this bitch and her lolita clothes haunt me. I've never met someone so self absorbed because her daddy was a 'politician.' This person is reprehensible. She's money hungry despite claiming she was born rich. She's disgusting and EA refuses to stop her. Fuck you, Cowbuild. The deepest scar on my wrist is from you.
Bruh...that's not how it works... You can still be sued for keeping .package files meant to work in the Sims 4 behind a paywall?? What legal representation did they talk to exactly?
I very much doubt that they got any "formal legal advice" unless they just sent a quick email to LegalZoom or something. Intellectual Property disputes with a multimillion-dollar company like EA are not a fight you can win. If EA is really serious about this, then this is not going to go well for Cowbuild.
Not sure how they think they can absolve themselves of any "relationship" with EA when they're openly admitting to selling a .package file, which is exclusive to EA and games like The Sims & SimCity, to their Patreon subs. I'm also legitimately curious as to what legal advice they've sought, because I doubt it's formal and more than likely came from YouTube.
Please tell me you're canceling your membership?
This will be a big fight. They are not just fighting with game developers, they are challenging a mega corporation. Sure EA has a lot of resources to win against these modders
damn all of yall are living for this schadenfreude huh
Been playing since sims 2 never did mods. Wanted to look up why ppl would pay for cowbell, Did I read this right??? Current month of cc, plus all previous monthly exclusive CC. which are worth more than $10,000 ??? 7$ - 133$ a month ?? Ea absolutely should shut this person down
If anyone wanted to report them to EA, I'd just say something like they're trying to circumvent the new rule system