Convergence: The International Journal into Research of New Media Technologies
Video Game Appropriation through Modifications: Attitudes Concerning Intellectual Property among Modders and Fans
Hector Postigo
University of Utah, USA
This article investigates an instance in convergence culture: the conflicts and compromises between modders [1] and their supporters, and the owners of the copyrighted works they appropriate. I suggest that current copyright ownership in cultural products interfere with the way creative industries can benefit from convergence; that modders (and fans generally) develop a specific rationale and set of norms rooted in Jenkins’ concept of a ‘moral economy’ (Jenkins, 2006) to justify their appropriations; and that mutually beneficial relationships can be teased out of the apparently contradictory positions of modders and copyright owners. This article focuses on two case studies that illustrate the ways modders re-use cultural products and incorporate them into their video game modifications to achieve a sense of creative ownership and meaning over their entertainment experience.
http://convergence.beds.ac.uk/issues/volumefourteen/numberone/abstracts