Dude this is straight up illegal.

[CammiePone]

My dude, first off Witchery was under All Rights Reserved, so even decompiling it and uploading the decompiled code elsewhere is illegal, but on top of that you set the license to LGPL-3.0, which is one of the most nonrestrictive licenses.

[Furry]

Oh what I'd give for Emoniph to come back and request this repo for removal.

[caspaas]

Oh what I'd give for Emoniph to come back and request this repo for removal.

yeah lol
hopefully you can update it for 1.7.10 ;D

[CammiePone]

Oh what I'd give for Emoniph to come back and request this repo for removal.

yeah lol
hopefully you can update it for 1.7.10 ;D

I like how you target that guy, and not the person who made the issue report. Is it because you took a look at my Github account and are aware that I make mods for Minecraft?

Here's the thing: many people could easily recreate Witchery 1:1 within the confines of the law. We don't because Witchery itself had many flaws, and most modders care about creating something unique, not what will get downloads. However, when you decompile a mod that is under ARR, and make it a public repository with a different license entirely, using assets and code from the previous mod, you violate copyright law.

If you want a Witchery-like experience, instead of supporting illegal ports that will never be permitted on CurseForge, and will just get taken down days after being uploaded, how about you support legal successors to Witchery that fix its flaws and are focused on creating a much more fun mod, like Bewitchment?

[caspaas]

Oh what I'd give for Emoniph to come back and request this repo for removal.

yeah lol
hopefully you can update it for 1.7.10 ;D

I like how you target that guy, and not the person who made the issue report. Is it because you took a look at my Github account and are aware that I make mods for Minecraft?

Here's the thing: many people could easily recreate Witchery 1:1 within the confines of the law. We don't because Witchery itself had many flaws, and most modders care about creating something unique, not what will get downloads. However, when you decompile a mod that is under ARR, and make it a public repository with a different license entirely, using assets and code from the previous mod, you violate copyright law.

If you want a Witchery-like experience, instead of supporting illegal ports that will never be permitted on CurseForge, and will just get taken down days after being uploaded, how about you support legal successors to Witchery that fix its flaws and are focused on creating a much more fun mod, like Bewitchment?

I meant it sarcastically towards both actually.

if someone wants to pick up the torch for it.
go let them
Instead of letting the mod die out. Unofficial fixes would be nice.

the guy behind witchery said so himself on the mod page
THIS WILL NOT BE UPDATED ANYMORE/ABANDONED.
Plus you can also ask it on their discord, cuz im on there too and on there they said it as well.

[CammiePone]

Just because it's abandoned doesn't mean that it's public domain. The license is still All Rights Reserved, and there are legal ramifications for violating that license.

[CammiePone]

Also on the mod page is this:

[CammiePone]

Also also: there isn't even a Discord server for Emoniph's mods or creations. If you have one, please do share it with me, but in the literal years I've been scouring for information on the man because I at one point wanted to port Witchery, found nothing but dead ends.

[caspaas]

Also also: there isn't even a Discord server for Emoniph's mods or creations. If you have one, please do share it with me, but in the literal years I've been scouring for information on the man because I at one point wanted to port Witchery, found nothing but dead ends.

yeah there is, its just pretty much dead, Like him and his projects.
Its all in Coven's Reborn, then it went to Bewitchment.

But they are ALL higher versions of MC.

People still play 1.7.10
and if projects like these Die.
Why not update them. (Even his profile is dead on curse now)

[caspaas]

And if you really want to go over these semantics.

Change the code slightly.
making sure its your own/ish.
and you are in a gray area of "copying" someone's work.

Just redo is "slightly" different and voila.
No one can "claim" a witch themed mod. It will be just your version of a witch themed mod.

[CammiePone]

yeah there is, its just pretty much dead, Like him and his projects.
Its all in Coven's Reborn, then it went to Bewitchment.

But they are ALL higher versions of MC.

People still play 1.7.10
and if projects like these Die.
Why not update them. (Even his profile is dead on curse now)

... you know I'm friends with Zabi and MoriyaShiine, the owners of Covens Reborn and Bewitchment respectively, right? Neither are ports of Witchery, they are recreations done through legal means, and don't use any of Witchery's code or assets. They are full on redos of the mod using nothing but testing the mod out. They have never once looked at Witchery's code to get an idea for what was being done. Any and all values not disclosed in the wiki were fabricated through trial and error, not through perusing Witchery's code.

And if you really want to go over these semantics.

Change the code slightly.
making sure its your own/ish.
and you are in a gray area of "copying" someone's work.

Just redo is "slightly" different and voila.
No one can "claim" a witch themed mod. It will be just your version of a witch themed mod.

That's not how it works. If I used a minor part of code in one of my mods from an ARR mod, my entire mod is now in jeopardy because I willingly used code that didn't belong to me. It's not the idea that's copyrighted, it's the code and assets themselves. You would have to be able to prove that every last bit of it was either your creation, or someone else's code under an open source license. That's like saying you can't plagiarize if you just changed things to be synonyms of the original wording.

[caspaas]

Yeah it may not by legal means. its still a full recreation!
but in their own way.(altho they do seem so similar and better too)

Whats to stop someone from typing the same line/an improved version of it too and calling it your own.
And still not have looked at the original code.

you are just "recreating the mod" but with a few better lines.
and the assets, well.... plenty of open source to drag that from and use it.(or create your own kinda similar but entirely the same)

I would encourage this.
Maybe he has some pointers, better lines of code, better ideas.
As creator reach out to these people so they could perhaps help or continue.

But no, The witchery dev straight up ghosts and dies out.

Is it immoral ? no.
Is it legal? ofcourse not, altho you can make it legal like bewitchment and coven's reborn.

Slightly altering the code and making it your own.(Just make sure its different for the most part).

Im against the completely stealing of mods and their work, but if the owner doesn't respond after 7 years, no pm's no messages anymore, nothing.
It should be picked up again(and I mean for 1.7.10) - If he would do it for 1.12.2 and higher its a different story.(Due to bewitchment filling that role very nicely.

[CammiePone]

Yeah it may not by legal means. its still a full recreation!
but in their own way.(altho they do seem so similar and better too)

Yes! That's what makes them legal! And the reason Covens seems so similar is because Zabi used to be on Bewitchment's team, until he decided to split off. Now both mods are going their own ways, with Bewitchment moving to Fabric and having yet another rewrite and redesign, and it looks significantly less like Witchery than it did in 1.12.

Whats to stop someone from typing the same line/an improved version of it too and calling it your own.
And still not have looked at the original code.

you are just "recreating the mod" but with a few better lines.
and the assets, well.... plenty of open source to drag that from and use it.(or create your own kinda similar but entirely the same)

And no, it has been ruled several times in court that just changing a few lines in something does not make it your own work. If you wrote a book, and someone else came by and changed even as much as 90% of the lines in the book, the court would still rule in favour of you because they stole your work without your permission.

That is how copyright works. Even using something as small as a single song lyric you don't own the rights to in a book is enough to get you sued and lose in court, so long as it was willful use of someone else's work. Unless you redo 100% of the mod, assets and code, you are doing it illegally.

[caspaas]

Under the Fair Use Clause, you can pretty much use anyone else's "anything" without their permission legally.
Do not forget the mods do not make money for most and especially not for "witchery".

Also the EULA of MC states.
Modders receive permission to play the game and distribute mods from Mojang, just like other players, through the terms of use. They do not get to dictate their own terms of use for content that is created for Minecraft.

And the mod license also states
Other people are allowed to replicate your mod's functionality, even if your mod is copyrighted, unless they use your code or assets directly in doing so.

In the end, unless they licensed their work from the IP holder, which would be Mojang/Microsoft, they have zero legal claim to their work. Mojang or Microsoft can at any time appropriate their work and incorporate it into the source game without even giving credit.

[CammiePone]

Everything you have so far stated has been incorrect, both about copyright law, and about other mods doing something similar to Witchery. It's clear you don't really know what you're talking about, and that's fine, but you shouldn't be stating it as fact. I've had to take a look into copyright law to figure out how to protect my own projects how I want them protected. You'll often see, however, that all my mods are under open source licenses, but are not in public domain. That's because I want the protections those licenses grant.

I get it, you think you know everything about it, because you have a perfectly logical idea of how it should work. Copyright law isn't logical in the slightest. I agree that if a creation has been officially abandoned, it should go straight to public domain, but that's not how that works. Unless it is explicitly put in the public domain, or the creator dies and 70 more years have passed after their death, it is still protected under the original license. It's stupid, it's illogical, and it benefits companies more than it benefits individuals.

However, it is still the law that we are forced to abide by, and it's something you just have to learn to accept. It's not going away any time soon. If you want a Witchery-like experience, prop up the mods that are doing it through legal channels because the authors took their time to learn what is and isn't legal, not some decompiled mess that has been dead for 3 years of a mod that has been dead for longer. Even if this wasn't dead, CurseForge would still not allow it on their site, and you would end up with a completed mod with no where to share it where anyone will see it. 1.12 itself is already a dead version. Many modders have moved on to 1.15 (if they're on Forge) or 1.16 (if they're on Fabric). Some modders still support legacy versions, but most don't, even larger mods such as Botania.

[CammiePone]

Under the Fair Use Clause, you can pretty much use anyone else's "anything" without their permission legally.
Do not forget the mods do not make money for most and especially not for "witchery".

That's not how fair use works. Fair use is extremely limited, and this would not fall under it.

Also the EULA of MC states.
Modders receive permission to play the game and distribute mods from Mojang, just like other players, through the terms of use. They do not get to dictate their own terms of use for content that is created for Minecraft.

And the mod license also states
Other people are allowed to replicate your mod's functionality, even if your mod is copyrighted, unless they use your code or assets directly in doing so.

That doesn't exist in the EULA in the slightest (https://account.mojang.com/documents/minecraft_eula). And the other bit literally is against your whole argument. It's saying that mods are allowed to replicate functionality of your mod, no matter your license, so long as they don't use your assets or code.

In the end, unless they licensed their work from the IP holder, which would be Mojang/Microsoft, they have zero legal claim to their work. Mojang or Microsoft can at any time appropriate their work and incorporate it into the source game without even giving credit.

The license holder is the creator of the mod, not Microsoft or Mojang. Mojang has 0 grounds to strip someone of their licenses with a EULA, which is not a legally binding contract in that regard.