Recently, CD Projekt RED's lawyers issued a DMCA strike to the popular VR mod for Cyberpunk 2077. Modder LukeRoss distributed it among Patreon subscribers.
CDPR representative Jan Rosner commented on the mod's blocking:
I would like to briefly address the discussion around the «Cyberpunk VR» mod created by Luke Ross. We did issue a DMCA strike, as the mod was available as a paid one (only for Patreon subscribers). This directly violates our fan content rules: we never allow monetization of our franchise without our direct permission and/or an agreement. Last week, we contacted Luke and informed him that he should make the mod free for everyone (with optional donations) or remove it. We are big fans of mods for our games — some of them are simply amazing, including Luke's mod for Cyberpunk 2077. We would be happy to see it return as a free release. However, profiting from our franchise in any form always requires CDPR's permission
Modder LukeRoss responded to the post and stated:
Thank you, Jan. Sorry, but I don't think you have the right to demand that my [VR software] be free. It's not a «derivative work» or «fan content»: it supports many games built on different engines and contains absolutely no code or assets from your game. Claiming that it violates your franchise rights is tantamount to claiming, for example, that RivaTuner violates the copyright of game publishers because it intercepts images that the game draws on the screen and processes them to overlay its statistics.
However, LukeRoss then added: «Nevertheless, I fully support finding a mutually beneficial solution that will allow your fans to continue enjoying Night City in VR, but without harming our interests».
He also noted that he had already discussed this issue with CDPR back in 2022, when he offered to make his mod "official" or "company-sanctioned." According to the modder, he said the same words to CDPR last week:
[...] I believe that the current state of affairs is not the best way to resolve this misunderstanding.