**another Stolen Texture Topic**

I won't even post a pic of each ..This was my first skin ever that i have made(got better ) since which everyone knows omg how incredibly hard that is its not my best but my first and it was all hand drawn makeup wasnt best but practice you know?

The person selling them had no reply (names will be given in IM) contacted linden labs answer: was resolved went back to look there they are

Replied to letter and contacted live help got a linden (who said to just reply to letter)
well anyways im sooo venting lol..

Excuse my typing im not good in writing these posts..
What can we dooooooooooooo designers ??????

Your first skin got ripped off? Harsh. That sucks

Is there a group out there in SL that collectively campaigns for designers rights? If not, let's make one! I beleive that many people shouting the same thing together is hell of a lot more effective than lot's of people shouting on their own!

If anyone cares to start the group, send me an invite please

I found that someone has stolen and is selling items made with my textures this morning. I'll join that group.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25689-2215565,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5049840.stm
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200606070144.html

It seemed kind of relevant. A Japanese artist stole what amounts to a texture from an Italian artist, won an award based on the art made from it, and subsequently got striped of the award when caught. Needless to say, his career as an artist is now over.

What really, really gets my back up is that the reason I sell my textures at all is that I want people to be able to match their own creations to the things they have bought from my store.

All that I ask is that people do not sell the things they make with my textures, because that's my only income stream.

The woman in question bought a set of textures from me a few weeks ago and upon discovering that she couldn't resell them (having apparently missed the permissions clearly marked on the box) demanded a refund. When I told her that I couldn't refund her on non-transferable items but I was prepared to refund her half the box price as a gesture of goodwill she flew into a rage and became quite insulting.

Today a friend noticed "her" new Tiki range on SL Exchange and notified me that the textures looked like mine. I buzzed over there and she's selling shoddy copies of REZOLUTION Tiki items using badly blurred screengrabbed versions of my textures and at almost double the price.

I'm thinking about sending a DMCA notice. I'd rather not because it should all be so unnecessary, but I don't see what other recourse I have.

Send me your pics and THE NAME -- I'll post it on my website and we'll see if they have any answers after that.

You have to NAME AND SHAME, dear, and since the Lindens won't let you do it in the forums, do it on my site.

I feel for ya, ShyOne.

I said it before and I'll say it again, even if our work gets ripped off I don't think there's anything we can do to really protect it. Someone also ripped my hair textures. Not only did they do that, but they also tried bastardizing them by erasing and mucking up the alpha. But it was still my textures.

And when confronted, folks like these take the easy way out. Blame it back on the hair designers for using the texture. Say the designer didn't make it, just got it from another site. OR someone else sold it to them. It's all just hard to swallow when she's wearing wigs of mine bearing the very textures she's stolen.

Just really fed up with it. I liked it better when I just heard about people ripping my textures, but it really gets frustrating when I have to stare up at their ugly ass displays showing the evidence that it's true. I didn't know what was sadder. Seeing how desperate they are to make a quick buck or how awful they are in using my texture effectively.

Just have to tell yourself this ... You as the original artist, THE artist, can only get better. That's your work, your sweat, your talent. They can sell stolen shit. Big whup. But that's as far as they'll ever fucking get. It's sad reflection onto themselves. You can either move on, keep on evolving to something better, or stay stagnant like them, using stuff they'll never have a good grasp on how to improve on.

Is there any way to embed a code of some kind in another channel/layer of the texture, as a proof of origin?

I checked out the tiki stuff on SLX for Sally and got a name for that one, but you have to tell me who stole your skin, hon. Email me -- [email]merlyn-bailly@hotmail.com[/email] -- please? They can't sell it if everyone knows they stole it.

Hmm, well I tried to give the woman the opportunity to take her items down, but she's having none of it.

Seems so spiteful to resort to naming and shaming, Merlyn but I can't see what other recourse there is that going to have any effect.

Has anyone tried one of these DMCA notices? Does anyone actually take any notice of them or is it just a legal sidestep for Linden?

I went back this morning to see if she took them down and nope she hasnt so Mer i sent you pics and name

I haven't heard of anyone doing it, but you might want to try. LL will probably consider it a form of harassment, though. They don't want to be bothered unless the person who's being ripped off is one of the CORPORATE "partners". THEN they'll get hot and bothered about protecting the rights of others, just watch.

They don't publicize what they do to any of the griefers or the names of the *-!!)&***s, you actually think they'll tell anyone what they do to someone who "only" rips off a texture or a product?

At this point, I think the residents are here as "placeholders" and test dummies -- we're here to try out their system until they can market it to big corporations, and we're paying for the privilege of being saps. All their "improvements" (most particularly the browser, which is a built-in vulnerability, asking to be hacked with a virus) are here for the benefit of corporations who want to sell their crap in-world. Why would anyone want to use a browser to buy a book from Amazon or a CD from CDNOW while you're in-world? But that's what they want to do -- use up your RAM for crap that only benefits the corporations who are in partnership with them -- every one of these things that ups the system reqs for accessing SL is for corporate benefit, not residents.

And I'm downloading that Egyptian game that someone else mentioned in another thread as I type, btw, even though I won't be able to get into that until I upgrade the computer I'm using -- with griefers running amok and trojan kids all over the place, I'm not sure it's worth my quarterly membership fees.

Thanks, hon -- sent you a reply -- (yawn) just woke up -- need coffee...

Damn, someone tell me if this b(*ch owns land or rents or what...

http://www.1001megs.com/members/merlynbailly/texture-thief_makeme-rich.html

There's also a link on my main page -- under the ALERT notice. Anyone who visits my site can't avoid seeing it.

Ok, that made me laugh. I like straight to the point.

This is not directed at anyone specifically, but more for public awareness:

If anyone is genuinely serious about issuing a DMCA and have no idea how to go about it, you may wish to contact katykiwi Moonflower who has acted on behalf of fellow SL residents in her real life capacity as a lawyer.

It may be more a moral victory then anything else though as despite a legitimate and verifiable claim on the behalf of one well known skin artist, LL did NOT pull the texture. I guess you have to be a well known real life brand before you get them to move on it, but its worth a shot.

See also this post by katy.../108/29/110582/19.html#post1075529

I would say though, if you go the "name and shame" route you might lose her support for legal action. She's not big on those avenues as also evidenced in that post.

Anyway, its an option open for anyone that feels their textures have been stolen and want help from legal experts on how to proceed.

I am not affiliated or endorse katykiwi as a professional lawyer, nor have I engaged her services. I'm merely pointing out what was already publicly available in the forums as this option was being discussed.

One other comment, and this is just my opinion. If you take the "name and shame" route you run a real risk of it falling back on you, if it is later investigated and verified that the textures were not ripped off directly from the complaintant, but instead very similar textures ripped off from another source.

If you feel strongly that the individual has in fact stolen your specific textures, going the "official DMCA" route first, even if LL doesn't remove them puts the complaintant on more solid ground ethically and publicly.

It may be something to consider in the future to add a small watermark to any texture you hand create for SL resell. Adding a unique element that would be very difficult for a rip off artist to remove would make verifcation of a claim even stronger. Namsoor from Second Skin Labs does in fact watermark his skin textures. Another idea to add for those who are in this situation.

I genuinely feel for artists that are ripped off. Sam spends a great deal of time creating our own textures for use in our prefabs. I know how angry he would be if he started seeing his textures showing up on other's prefabs and customs. Its a risk we all have to take to do business in SL.