Texture Thief!!!

My hair textures are for sale on SLX. Someone has bought them and is now reselling them.
THIS MAKES ME FURIOUS!!!!!
PLEASE DONT SUPPORT THIS JERK.

here are the links.


My Listing:
http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=130476


His listing:
http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=233412

Please help!
Digit Darkes

This is against DCMA. Abuse report them.

What a shame You should also contact someone at SLE, I am pretty sure they will have it removed.

you sold them as Permissions... \

Because of this you have no claim with a DMCA. You basically gave anyone who bought your images the full rights to do as they see fit with the images, and they are selling them.

Chalk this one up as a lesson learned.

I think she set her conditions on how they should be used

It's hard to say if they're really the same or not. I took one image from each listing, and overlaid them in Photoshop for comparison. The basic shapes are very similar, yes, but there are differences. The patterning of the strands is almost the same but not quite, the shape of the alphas are slightly different, the width of the gradients (shine) varies from one to the other.

Were it not for the similarity in the alphas, I'd say both could well have been achieved simply by happening upon similar settings in Photoshop filters. It's not like the process to create stranded textures like that is all that hard to replicate. Considering the alphas though, to me it looks like one was certainly inspired by the other, but not a direct copy.

Now, whether or not one counts as a derivative work of the other is certainly open for debate. If it's a concern, file a DMCA takedown notice with SL Exchange and with Linden Lab, and then take the alleged copycat to court. Only a judge can really determine who's right or wrong here.

Chosen could be right. But they sure do look the same to me. but have exactly the same colors in the exact order as yours is almost too much to be a coincidence.

Either way, I'd much rather use your free textures than pay for someone else's identical textures, so I guess you can feel good in the fact that you are having the desired effect. Thanks!

P.S. - Everyone else please copy everyone elses' cool stuff so that I can get that free too!

(just kidding)

The offending listing has appartently been taken down since I can't see it anymore...

Not true, copyright applies whether you restrict permissions or not.

he's about the 2 millionth person (okay maybe not that high) but I was avoiding posting this to official forums but your not the first. They are even using people's logos at this point. If you sell textures or well anything at this point seems fair game even ads are not safe or logos or well if it can be ripped off it will be..

example

take one guys banner
take another guys item
stick em in a box and call it his

mystery box..

things copied that weren't full perms include houses with modify permissions..
guy didn't even bother to change the floor textures about 4 or 5 builds were copied exactly by exploiting modify.

so then i removed any prim item that had modify
then i removed most modify permissions
now i just removed the rest of my stuff because now people are using people's ad/banners you name it

outa hand

sorry had to say something at this point

also seems if you try to do something positive you turn into the bad guy so look out

the only recourse is DMCA its a wasted effort informing slexchange or LL they won't do anything I've had textures ripped and prim items cloned. The only feedback we got from the Lindens was any item sold either mod and or copy the permissions can be broken and advised us to sell with no mods ..so now we do.

Are you saying filing a DMCA is a waste of time, then?

I need to do that for some of my textures some one refuses to stop reselling.

So should I just resign from SL and go to turbosquid or something?

God, this theft issue blows so bad.

I can't tell you how stressful it is!

Well I think it's worth a try at getting SLexchange or the LIndens to get involved if you have truly been ripped off.

Just suggesting to make items 'no mod' is a cop out. I like keeping my items modifiable because it allows people to individualize their items.
If action isn't taken by the appropriate people, well then.... getting the word out about what horrible theiving scumbags the copycats are has got to be worth something. I would never buy something from someone who stole textures, prims, etc.
I would much rather support the original designer, who probably has a lot more good publicity, is probably better at advertising, and I'm guessing would have a much nicer and more professional store.
I guess I just have to beleive that people would choose authentic over ripped-off.

You gave the perms good luck convincing anyone that you were wronged, that's why anything that I think can easily be copied gets copy/no mod/transfer right off the bat though some of my stuff is copy/mod/no trans to be more user friendly.

Also, you may not like it, you may be in denial but practically speaking writing a terms of use on a notecard you give out with the item doesn't mean anything unless your actually willing to go to real court and press your case and so far only one or two people have been willing to do that (that sexbed case and I don't remember the other one)

Honey, as I said in your other thread, it's not that it's a waste of time to file a DMCA takedown notice; it's just a waste of time to do it incorrectly. When it's not done right, service providers can't be expected to act. They're only required to respond to a properly submitted notice.

If you're going to file a takedown notice with LL, go to http://secondlife.com/corporate/dmca.php and follow the instructions to the letter. Failure to follow all instructions (such as E-mailing the notice instead of mailing a hard copy, or faling to include the listed required information) will result in no action taken. Most people screw this up in one way or another, and then go crying, "DMCA doesn't do anything". Make sure to do it right.

Be aware though, that as Gordon said, there are practical considerations here in addition to just legal and moral ones. The alleged offender can just as easily file a counter-notice, and have the stuff put back. After that, your recourse is to go to court. Linden Lab is not a court, and so cannot make judgments about these things, no matter how obviously right you might be, or how anyone who works there might feel about it personally. It's simply not their function to interpret the law. Just like the rest of us, their duty is simply to comply with it. Settling legal disputes like this is the job of judges (and possibly juries), not anyone else.

If I were you, and this were a deep matter of principle to me, I probably would take it to court. I have a hard time letting matters of principle go though. You obviously will make up your own mind about what's right for you.

Yes please everyone who reads this..understand that Second Life permissions and Copyrighted textures are not the same...just because you handed over or sold a texture with permisions does not mean the person who bought or received them can give them away or resell them as their own.Go to TRU..accept the notecards.."read" them.

~Lana Tomba

Yeah I accidentally bought some in Jessygate thought the guy at slexchange was the orginators.

Leave it to graphical guru Chosen to whip it all out in a graphic app, and tell it like it is...you rock Chosen.

So, I'd say if there are enough changes in layering, it is possible (like Chosen said) that a particular amalgam of filters could reproduce a very similar effect between two textures. I have not seen the alpha, and don't know how strong an argument that portion is...

Had this person purchased your items before? Is that where they are 'ripping' your assets from?

You can file reports and complaints and take-downs...but it may just be more work than it's worth. If someone really wants to steal someone's assets, they're going to do it. And you catching them on it is only going to do one thing: force him to make a few more changes in the raw file, so you can't pin it on him ever again. Maybe I'm being cynical...maybe the principle of this all is worth all the time you'll spend on reporting this bastardly theft.

Look on the bright side...they like your stuff enough to steal it.

I just ran across your textures on SLX.
http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=483169