Modding Help question about how long w/ the author not posting before someone can assume it's been abandoned.

there is a mod i would like posted to steam's workshop, however the author has not been active since 2016, would it be considered abandoned and thus free to be uploaded to steam, or not. the mod is 'variable turrets' by vayden. i would give full credit to the author of the mod. i just would rather have it avaiable than have to send people to the forum if iI set up a server.

 

In the US and I believe Great Britain and large swathes of the developed world, copyright lasts for 70 years after the author's death. Given that the author chose "You must get the author's consent before altering/redistributing any assets included in this mod," they've made their wishes clear. It is an unfortunate choice, because it effectively dooms a lot of mods when their authors inevitably lose interest and move on. I encourage mod authors to explicitly allow redistribution and derived works, but I wouldn't use their work against their wishes.