I think it depends on the situation sometimes. I too recently went through this. A few years ago, a modeler in a nearby NTrak club wanted me to paint up a few of his locomotives into the CB&Q Blackbird and Chinese Red schemes. They were pretty easy to paint up and he paid me for his work. This modeler took both models to a Burlington Historical meet and won first place in diesel. Imagine my surprise when I saw the locomotives in my monthly publication with his name. I recently saw him at Galesburg RR Days and he told me that he had given me the credit, just the editor may have forgotten it in the magazine. I believe him, he has nothing to gain. I told him, it's a lot like a car guy restoring a car, selling it and the new owner gets the hardware. I also know for a fact that he runs these locomotives all the time and always gives me credit. I was also happy that my work won first place in a sea of HO. Yeah he got a ribbon, no big deal to me really. If the new owner of the module in question is only motivated to display it for awards, his heart is not in the right place. The fun is going to a show, meeting with folks, talking about techniques and having fun.
I cant honestly receive an award for something I had no hand in making. That being said, if I were to buy a module from a fellow club member and do nothing to it, and then someone offers me a reward I would refuse it, or redirect them to the creator. Now if I have modified and improved upon the module and that is what the reward is for then so be it. As for the animations being repaired by the original creator? Well sometimes custom work is best left to those who create it to repair. They invented the mechanism, and knows what makes what do what. If the original creator is ok with this arrangement then so be it as well, if not then he/she should instruct the new owner on maintenance and repairs. If the new owner is not skilled enough (hence buying the module over building one) and cannot acquire the skills to repair or maintain, then they should avoid buying complex modules in the first place. I mean having a red button on the module of a Nebraska farm module that when pushed will open a secret hidden door to a missile silo and an ICBM lifting out of the silo would be really cool (and kids would love it), it may be a too complex for some modelers to maintain and repair...
