The never ending news flow around Fallout 4 has yet to taper off, this time though, there's no huge gameplay leak or leaked details for all of Ranks and Perks associated with each SPECIAL. No, this time it's about line C in Fallout 4's End User License Agreement (EULA).
According to the EULA (via NeoGaf), all mods created for Fallout 4 'must' be distributed for free by the mod makers. This line is likely to quell any fears left behind from earlier this year, when Valve attempted to create a paid mods market on Steam – starting with Bethesda's Skyrim. Of course, to use Skyrim Bethesda had to agree to be a part of the system, leaving plenty of users slightly upset.
While the mods makers can't charge players for their mods, the EULA states that the moment that a mod is created and has become a part of Fallout 4's mod 'Creation Kit', it becomes Bethesda's property. From that point on, the mod can be used for promotional purposes (or maybe even for them to sell themselves – but that goes against the 'free' thing). This line is very similar to Microsoft's EULA when it comes to video content that is created using their products.
An interesting thing to note is that executable files in Fallout 4 cannot be modified, this is likely because of copyright purposes, but it inhibits mod creation. The line that states this in the EULA is written so broadly that it can cover a number of different code lines that more in-depth mods for Fallout and Skyrim games have relied on in the past.
Mod creators should note that no trademarked or copyright protected work can be used in the modifications. This basically means that you can't make Master Chief in Fallout 4 (mainly for consoles – PC is a different world), but you can make Green Space Armor mods – cleverness is key.
