I have finished and released the patch! You can download it from my website in the hacks section. The patch cannot be redistributed without my permission.
Enjoy!
Errr. Not to be nit-picky, but unless you have written permission from Square (or you actually wrote Final Fantasy VII and have the rights to it) you can't say that you own any modifcation to the game - rather you wrote it or not. In other words - if someone distributes it besides your self you shouldn't expect much from the courts, or from Square.
You were not even legally allowed to write the patch to begin with under the terms of the license agreement. (when you entered in to a legally binding agreement not to modify the game when you installed it) Thus you can not own any modification to the game.
There was actually a case several years ago in which someone wrote a patch for software he did not write. The company that made the software actually decided he did a good job and used his patch in an official patch. He took them to court and was ruled against. The court decided he had no right to it.
Makes sense actually. If you could own a patch for software you didn't write to begin with (especially when the license agreement says you can't modify the software or distribute modifications) then you could go around patching software you didn't make, then telling the people who actually wrote the software to buy the patch from you before they could make the same modification/fix to their own software. That wouldn't be very good at all.
Specifically these parts of the license agreement I refer to:
"Your license confers no title or ownership in this Program and should not be constructed as a sale of any rights in this Program."
"User's Responsibilities. Except as may be permitted by applicable law and this Agreement, you may NOT:
* Decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble the Program and its components.
* Modify, copy, reproduce, rent, add or delete components or files, or produce derivative works based upon the Program in whole or in part."
"Export or re-export this Program or any copy or *adaptation* in violation of any applicable laws or regulations."
So legally even *you* are not allowed to distribute this patch, nor were you allowed to write it.
Anyway - as a software author my self I just don't think people should claim rights to things they don't have a right to. And I get the feeling you (and this site) respect copyright laws your self, so just an FYI for future reference.
I think the mod community for final fantasy is great and unlike any other. But let's please respect the fact that ultimately Square owns Final Fantasy and any modification per copyright law and the license - not individuals in the community.
