Question about Digital Rights

I'm creating icons to post

from WinCustomize Forums

OK .... in another thread I was told that I need to get permission from the creator of any image that I use (in whole or in part) for creating another icon or dock icon to post here.

I'm fine with that statement as it regards original images posted here by other artists, even though they are free to download.  Absolutely, no one should be able to co-opt something like that and call it their own.

However, I was told that I also need to contact the original artists with regard to any of the bundled images that I use (those which came with Object Dock).  The problem there is that I have no way of finding out who the original artists are in that case.  So, do I need to get permission from Stardock to use those images??

Also, many of my images are made after quite a bit of manipulation of the original icons that came with my other programs.  Am I supposed to get permission from each of those companies before using their potentially trademarked logos??  Or wouldn't this be a case of fair use? 

I would like to be absolutely certain that I am doing the correct thing before I put much more work into any of the icons I am making for posting purposes (obviously I can do whatever I want for the icons to be placed on my own computer ... that's not the issue).  

I'd rather know the rules regarding this up front before getting my butt kicked out of here for something really stupid.  And, yes, I've looked for the answer on the site, but just haven't stumbled across it yet, so I gave up looking.

2,258 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Also, many of my images are made after quite a bit of manipulation of the original icons that came with my other programs. Am I supposed to get permission from each of those companies before using their potentially trademarked logos?? Or wouldn't this be a case of fair use?
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That is considered fair use here unles BigCo, Inc. asks that they be removed.
The problem there is that I have no way of finding out who the original artists are in that case. So, do I need to get permission from Stardock to use those images??
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Yes

There are "rules" and there are "guidelines" and there is the space in between where Wincustomize tries to protect the artists IP.

From the Dream submission policy:
Additional rules on fair use of video clips:
Fair Use allows for the limited reuse of copyrighted material so long as it is not done for financial gain of the person reusing the work, nor does it financially harm the original author by denying them sales etc.  In the case of Dream animated wallpapers, users can make limited reuse of video files created by other authors provided they meet the following requirements:

  1. The animations used in the .Dream file is either 15 seconds in length of shorter OR less than 25% of the original video file in length (whichever is shorter).  So if you found a 20 second video you want to use in a Dream, you can use no more than 5 seconds of that video.  Anything else, you are limited to 15 seconds.
  2. You provide credit to the original author in the skin comments AND provide a link to your original source.
  3. Understand that if the original owner of the work asks us to take it down, provided proof of ownership, we will comply immediately.
Failure to comply with these fair use rules will result in an item being rejected from the submission queue. 

If you find your work is being redistributed here against your wishes, please
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And here is the word from the owner of WC from 2006:

WinCustomize allows FAN art.  This isn't open to debate.  If someone wants to upload a Superman wallpaper that they made, that's fine. If they want to submit an X-men wallpaper that is fine.  If there is an issue with it, Marvel, Warner, whoever will let us know.  However, in "real life" there are thousands of fan sites that post the same thing.  WinCustomize does not exist in a vacuum.

We allow fan art because no one will be "confused" or "misled" by what the fan art is about.  There is no confusion over the ultimate owner of the trademarks or trade dresses involved.

Ripping, however, is something different.  No individual skinner or icon artist has the fame or distribution in which a "casual user" would recognize their work as opposed to being the work of someone else who uploads it or uses it in their product.

WinCustomize takes copyright and trademark rights very seriously. So if someone sees a product, service, website, skin, or theme that is making use of another individual's work that they don't think they have permisison, you should feel free to post it here to draw attention to it.

In the past we have seen our own content made use without our permission.  We have seen Paul Boyer's icons used without permission.  We have seen our own skins used without permission.  So it is clearly a problem and as a community we should work together.

I realize there are some people who have much more stringent definitions of what copyright protection means and I realize there are those who have much looser views on what copyright means. This is not the place to debate that.  We have struck a middle ground (so no one will be quite happy).

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It might not be as lawyerly an answer as you might like . . but that's what I got.  :)

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Any time you take an image, and reuse it in your skin, even with heavy modification, you require permission from the original artist or copyright holder.  What you are doing is a derivative work.

With Icons, it can get a little bit fuzzy.  Are you making a high-quality version of the Adobe Photoshop icon for ObjectDock? Well, if you're just cleaning up and enhancing the original application icon, that's generally considered OK and fair use.

However, when you start to take custom icons created by other artists, or by Stardock, you're getting into murky waters.  You're not just doing a cleaned up version of a standard application icon, you're manipulating someone else's artwork and submitting it as part of your own artwork.  In this case permission must be obtained.

For obtaining permission from Stardock, email me at [email protected]  Include as much detail as you can surrounding your request and I'll be able to take it to the proper people.

Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ignore anything I said tha counters what Zoomba said . . he's always more right than me.
[But my ears are smaller and more girls like me {granted, I am counting my wife, daughters, mother, and sisters}]   ;) 
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Zoomba,

I will email you an example of what I am doing. Of course it's a derivative work ... no question about that. In most cases I am taking the original 48x48 icon and using that as a "billboard" in my button render. Imagine if I were able to print that original icon on paper, then cut it out, then mount it in a steel rimmed and glass button .... the steel rimmed glass bit is my constribution, but the image I used for the cutout isn't.

As mentioned, I will gladly email you with one of the dock icons I made from one of the images bundled with Object Dock.

Not to put too fine a point on it ... but I snapped up one of the rivets from Tiggz wall paper to use on my dock background .... that's all I used of his ... but I did use it rather than make my own (I'm essentially lazy). So, is that too small an item to worry about permissions, or should I PM Tiggz and ask just to be sure?
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Not to put too fine a point on it ... but I snapped up one of the rivets from Tiggz wall paper to use on my dock background .... that's all I used of his ... but I did use it rather than make my own (I'm essentially lazy). So, is that too small an item to worry about permissions, or should I PM Tiggz and ask just to be sure?
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PM for permission.  It's a slippery slope when you only use a bit of this or a bit of that.

The cool thing is that it's unlikely that if you provided credit in your work that permission would be denied.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'll be providing Tiggz with more than just credit. My dock and icons are all inspired by his work.