Consumer Etiquette

You buy an object that consists of one flattened box prim, textured so that its actually worth buying. But..... you want to edit the texture slightly (NO resale -- Just for personal use). Since you bought the object, is it alright to take a snapshot, edit, and upload the changes yourself, or should you contact the creator?

i'd contact the creator.

I agree. Look most people who make and sell things will be prety willing to accomodate requests for mods. But taking a picture and remaking it, whether you resell it or not is just plain old IP theft.

Alo the big dark secret of SL is that a lot of textures seen in SL are availble for download off of sites on the internet, like turbosquid. You can purchase a commerical use licensed version of the texture and make the cube yourself as well.

The big plus for me has been, in addition to getting in touch with the maker, I've made a lot of great friends along the way. To me, it's far beyond business as a consumer.

And, we have a gaping hole in that there aren't more original texture creators in SL. Those that are, have work that tends to REALLY stand out. For example, Nylon Pinkney's painted prims, or the crafted work of Cory Edo+Makaio Stygian as Tiny Seadog, and what I've seen Forseti Svarog do (ask him about his "applebaked warmwalls". These are a few blooming highlights.

Making the message fit the medium. Now thar's the spirit!