Mod Makers of v3.x Mods Go MIA
 

We are all aware about great mods created for v3.x which cannot be used by v4.x.

Worse yet, the original developer goes MIA and does not answer whether he is intending to port over to v4.x.

When someone else volunteers to do the port, they need to cross the hurdle of asking him for permission, which can be futile given that he has already gone MIA.

I was wondering whether the community thinks that there is any issues if someone ELSE were to port an existing mod without having to wait for express permission; if the original developer does not answer within say, x months, it is taken that the original developer is no longer interested.

Whilst there are some who abide by the "if the original developer doesn't expressly say I can port, I won't", I've seen other mods that have simply gone ahead with the port when they see the original developer has gone MIA.

Any thoughts?

You cannot port the modification. You can re-write a new version that copys the functionality.

As Zachery said, you cannot post the modification And share it. You are also welcome to port it for your OWN USE. I know there are some 3.x mods that I want to keep and I'll be updating it myself so I can continue to use it. If you feel the need to share the mod, then you will have to re-write it from scratch.

Actually, if we are going to take a strict interpretation of copyright infringement, porting it for one's own use will still infringe copyright.

I guess we will have to wait for the authors to return from being MIA.

Most of the addons are assumed for personal use. You writing code to update it for personal use falls under fair useage. You updating someones code, and re-releasing it does not.