Malfador Patches, Additions, and Player Mods

[ckotchey]

As I'm learning about this game, seeing new patches and additions come from Malfador, and seeing the many player mods/enhancements out there, I've been thinking....
It would be pretty easy for Malfador to absorb just about any suggestion, modification, improvement, etc., into future patches of of the game. While some might applaud such a thing - after all, it'd be nice for the game to be improved (especially from what I've seen in player AI modifications) - no matter how or who did the improving, but it could also become a sticky point, should the originator of the mod put up a big stink about Malfador stealing their work and thereby profiting from it.
The relationship between Malfador and their fans seems to be a good one, but that doesn't always ensure "safety" from such things occurring. I've heard in the past of companies making blanket statements like "anything you tell us become our property" or "please don't tell us anything, so we don't become 'poluted' by your ideas".
What I'm getting at here is to drum up a little debate on such issues - after all, if all these player mods out there really make the AI smarter and the game better, then I for one would like these improvements to become part of the base game, and not an ad-hoc mod. But if they are incorporated into the game, when does it become plagiarism and therefore possibly liable?