Rip in progress - metalX

from WinCustomize Forums
I'd just like to thank both Frogboy and davad70 for bringing to my attention the efforts of one 'drewster2100' to rip my metalX WindowBlinds skin. This person had taken my original skin (or rather, a screengrab) and attempted to convert it over to StylesXP. For more information, take a look at this thread over on NeoWin: http://www.neowin.net/bboard/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15402

A few minutes ago I posted the following reply on the thread:

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"drewster,

Contrary to what you've been telling people here, you have never attempted to contact me for permission to convert my metalX skin over to another format, either through Deviant Art or e-mail. Had you done so, I would have been perfectly happy to take a look at your attempt and consider giving my approval for a release to the public. However, as you have blatantly disregarded my copyright over this work and have even started to distribute an unfinished version to certain parties, I am hereby instructing you to cease all attempts both to modify my original work and to distribute the results.

I take all breaches of copyright very seriously, and have no problem with persuing this matter further if my wishes are not respected. The fact that you are asking other people to e-mail me in order to gain permission for this venture only serves to illustrate just how little respect you hold for both myself and the work I originally put into this skin. Should you attempt to post this skin on any other sites, I will ensure that it is swiftly removed.

In the meantime, if anyone wishes to port my skins over to other applications, I would ask that they show the decency of requesting my permission first.

grayhaze."

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I urge anyone who feels so inclined to make this person's life a living hell...
5,156 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
He can rip it all he wants as long as it's not released to the public and there is nothing you can do about it.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
grayhaze, please explain why on gods green earth you would want to make a person's life a living hell? what exactly did i do..? lets see, got your skin, installed it in my own computer in my own home, and for my use, and possibly others upon consent, for use publicly. So i did as i planned, created the theme for stylesxp, slowly, but eventually better, in my attempt at making the theme better, i installed window blinds, to fix quite a few bugs i had with it, so i did. meanwhile, on the forum as grayhaze says, i have shown a screenshot of what i had, and proposing that if they get permission, its out to the public, despite many people just asking for it without approval, i didnt, with the exception of me asking people to see if the theme works on their computer, since mine would not work, as i thought because of wb having had stylebuilder say something about it, so 2 people received what i had, which was not much and reported it did not work on their computers either, so i realized it must be a problem with stylebuilder, meanwhile noone has asked for permission from grayhaze for me to publicly release metalx for stylesxp, so since noone asked i thought i would ask through deviantart sending a *note* after having sent 2 notes, one regarding the asking of the permission, and the other saying i accidentaly forgot to add in my email address for a reply. Much time later, this last night, i check my email finding a reply at neowin, so i check it, finding that it was what you have read, *not including pretext, and him wanting to ruin my life*. as it escalated further to him questioning my honesty, issues and other unrelated personal things, so now you have heard my side of the story, good luck, ladr
WindowBlinds - Free yourself of the default settings, customize your desktop.
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
one more thing.
despite thoughts that he had recieved my "note" i had done a test and found that a note will not go through unless you are logged in, and i had known nothing of the sort, nor was i warned or told at the time of posting those notes.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
My last comment was a joke drewster. It's well known that WindowBlinds skinners don't like their work being ripped, and tend to rally round when it happens. You're quite right that nobody could 'make your life a living hell' online, and I certainly wouldn't want to start an e-mail campaign toward you, like you asked people to do to me when you couldn't get in contact.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
dReWsTeRxP....[I loathe alternate caps]
It is a violation of copyright to forward an artist's work to a third party without the artist's permission.
This is not a negotiable comment, but a statement of fact.
When an artist or skinner or whatever posts his work publicly, it is specifically for the private [that's PrIvAtE' use of the downloader....to be used Privately on his own system.
If it is re-engineered in ANY way from the original and transmitted or communicated to a third party it is an offence or breach of copyright.
The posting of a static [non-functioning] screenshot is acceptable, but distributing the actual 'skins' is not.

To grrinder....just read my previous as well...it covers your comment too.

I hope this clarifies things....
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm not sure I understand what's happening. Was the skin posted on a web site? It is my understanding that the port was forwarded to only 2 persons for testing purposes only, and that he had planned to try to obtain permission before releasing it publicly. Although technically wrong, it is imo excusable. Besides, he does say that he can't release it without permission. The reason he seems to be requesting people to email you is that he thought he had asked you but that you had ignored him. Anyway, from what I read so far, all this seems to be a great misunderstanding.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Probably, Patric....
I'll leave you to keep an eye on them....I'm off to the races for a few days....
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Yes, I really think tha drewster never planned on ripping the skin. He made it for hmseft first, then posted a screenshot to get people's opinions. Nothing wrong with that. He was planning on obtaining permission before the port was made public.
This is a quote from that thread on Neowin: "(...) and the only reason i had passed it to a select few is to test it, i have msged grayhaze the maker at deviantart, but as i suspected he did not read it as i never really do, i am going to mail him some time soon (...)"

I have made a few ports myself too, and always have asked permission once I was done. Never before. But always before making it publicly available. Why? Because I'm never sure about the result before I am finished. I want to make sure I like the end result, and once I do, then I email a copy to the original author with a screenshot to ask permission. Once I get, then I upload it.
From what I understand, that's what drewster was planning to do.
I really fail to see any wrong doing on his part. He made a feeble attempt to contact Greyhaze at DA, but seem to have not think much of the absence of reply since he was planning on emailing Greyhaze in a proper way before making the skin public. Perfectly correct as far as I'm concerned.

But I know Greyhaze is a good guy. I am sure all of this just the result of a great misunderstanding, as I said before. I urge both parties to talk it over between themselves and clear this matter up.

Cheers! And don't forget : Because skinning should be fun!
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Just to add my 2 cents here - if I were Grayhaze, the parts I would object to would be:

a) Encouraging OTHERS to contact the skin author to pressure him to give permission.

b) Emailing friends copies of the skin which violates the skin author's copyright.

c) The ported skin is never going to be nearly as good as the original because the original has that really cool text back image behind the title bar text with the icon just to the left of it along with other missing features. If the skin could be ported identically, I would object a lot less but a bad port is worse than no port.
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
i fail to see the point in this thread, to get pity? or to feel like the *big man*? if otherwise please tell me... i also fail to see reason for such anger, ladr