Themes and ripping

Started by bloc, May 14, 2007, 06:16:46 PM

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Dannii

#60
May 16, 2008, 09:57:27 PM
Yeah, I do find it a little ironic that one of the devs is breaking the licence ;)
I'm not sure what licence changes it would take (legal stuff sucks) but yes I don't expect it would take much. Or they could release the default SMF theme under a different licence to the other files.
"Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise."

青山 素子

#61
May 16, 2008, 10:03:36 PM
Quote from: antechinus on May 16, 2008, 06:10:25 PM
Perhaps it would be a good idea to reword the license agreement so that everyone is kosher. All it'd take is a short paragraph telling people to ask permission from SMF before posting their themes elsewhere. Admittedly this would increase the workload on the SMF staff, so I can understand if they'd rather avoid that.

Work is being done on revising the license. I cannot say any more on it right now.
Motoko-chan
Director, Simple Machines

Note: Unless otherwise stated, my posts are not representative of any official position or opinion of Simple Machines.

deathwilldie

#62
May 22, 2008, 07:20:38 PM Last Edit: May 22, 2008, 08:35:34 PM by deathwilldie
Ok someone stole my Style Sheets that I made for SMFforfree.  I found them while looking at themes on here: http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/  His name is wdm2005 seeing by the authors name that he has for the themes.

Themes that were ripped:
http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/index.php?lemma=678 - Aqua Angular Theme
http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/index.php?lemma=677 - Hardcore Change
http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/index.php?lemma=635 - My PS2 theme that he ripped.

The skins he Riped you can find on smfsupport.com.  There are links to the original topic below.  Also you can find all the Themes I made on my forum.
The skins he stole are called:
AquaAngular - hxxp:www.smfsupport.com/support/stylesheet_codes/stylesheet_aquaangular-t16111.0.html [nonactive]
Hardcore Change (Change is what he called it) - hxxp:www.smfsupport.com/support/stylesheet_codes_and_help/stylesheethardcore_change-t8065.0.html;msg39156#msg39156 [nonactive]
PS2 Themed (Sleek Black) - hxxp:ultimategraphics.smfforfree3.com/index.php/topic,233.0.html [nonactive]


You can find where he put them on for a demo hxxp:waynesworld.kicks-ass.net/114test/index.php?theme=26 [nonactive]

If you would need more proof then PM me for it.  I can give you all the proof that you need to show that these are my style sheets.

Deaks

#63
May 23, 2008, 09:11:34 AM
Firstly we appologise for this, each theme mentioned above has been removed from the Theme Site, and we are looking into the others.
~~~~
Former SMF Project Manager
Former SMF Customizer

"For as lang as hunner o us is in life, in nae wey
will we thole the Soothron tae owergang us. In truth it isna for glory, or wealth, or
honours that we fecht, but for freedom alane, that nae honest cheil gies up but wi life
itsel."

Frost™

#64
June 03, 2008, 06:01:44 PM
Well, as a style author on many forum softwares in the past, I can tell you loads of stories about finding your work ported,ripped,destroyed,claimed etc all day long. It's something every designer fears and goes through. In the past you could do little more than sit and watch or verbally fight with the offenders, but now there are so many laws and companies who do what they do to resolve issues like this and they do it well.

This battle of right and wrong has been going on for more than 10 years that I have been designing and I don't think it will ever stop. What I do know, is that the #1 way to fight and ultimately stop this in each community of forum softwares, comes down to the community itself. Each one of you no-doubt browse the themes section regularly, looking for that new cool style to use on your own board. Also, it's doubtless that you have used another forum software or seen styles created for it as well. When you see similarities or even the same style/code, you should always take a moment to tell someone about it.

One of the top 3 reasons a style designer will stop, ultimately never bringing new styles or ideas, is because of nothing more than being tired of his work being ripped off or feeling like it's not worth it anymore.

---

Anyway, if anyone is still reading after that little venting...

I am curious to see if any of my old work was ripped off in all of this. Is there a list somewhere, links or a wall of shame posted so that an old style author could investigate this matter any further?

I have recently come back from an extended absence from designing and am about to continue where I left off. Previously I mostly dealt with phpbb but will start designing styles for SMF as well.

I took a stroll through the theme site and I feel confident I could bring plenty of new styles and ideas.

I won't spam anything here, but I do look forward to getting to know the community here and soon hope to bring diversity and new style to this impressively growing forum software.

-Frost

JAMMAN

#65
June 04, 2008, 12:32:59 AM
If I see a "layout" that works but I think the graphics need ...um... help... I'll re-do all the graphics and leave the code alone (except to add flash to replace the graphics).... I do leave the original credit posted at the bottom for the layout, but definitely re-site credit to the killer graphics folks I use.   

So, am I lame or cool with "enhancing" existing LOOKS?  Again, I don't remove credit nor change code (except where there is new flash content)...

Dannii

#66
June 04, 2008, 01:28:02 AM
QuoteIf I see a "layout" that works but I think the graphics need ...um... help... I'll re-do all the graphics and leave the code alone (except to add flash to replace the graphics).... I do leave the original credit posted at the bottom for the layout, but definitely re-site credit to the killer graphics folks I use.   

So, am I lame or cool with "enhancing" existing LOOKS?  Again, I don't remove credit nor change code (except where there is new flash content)...
If you're doing that on your own site, it's all good. If you want to release the theme here you MUST get the original author's permission first. It doesn't matter how much you change, or what kind of changes you make, you simply have to have permission to distribute a derivative work.

Flash is always pretty lame though.
"Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise."

Saurus

#67
June 09, 2008, 02:35:44 PM
Moderator: If this question is not allowed - please remove.

Found this topic by accident while looking through the forum, as I am planning to migrate my current forum hosted by ProBoards to my own server and forum software. At this point SMF is at the top of my list.

The thing is, it took me a while to design my current forum, create the graphics using my rudimentary graphics programs, and set it up the way I wanted it. I would like to keep the same look for a new forum for my people, but SMF is a bit over my head right now to do this or create a theme - in ProBoards it could all be done easily in the admins panel.

So my question - does anyone here build templates based on existing ones from another source? Note that I OWN all the copyrights to this design - I created the graphics myself - so it is not a theft issue as described in this thread at all. I only ask for someone with more experience than me to look at my current forum and then use the colors and graphics to build a new SMF template.

Current forum is hxxp:sunrisers.proboards46.com [nonactive]
I have all the graphics used archived on my home system if that helps.

Again - if this is not the proper place for this question, feel free to move it.
-Bruce

青山 素子

#68
June 09, 2008, 03:32:03 PM
Quote from: Saurus on June 09, 2008, 02:35:44 PM
Moderator: If this question is not allowed - please remove.

Not really the right topic, but I'll give a quick answer. We can always split this off.


Quote from: Saurus on June 09, 2008, 02:35:44 PM
The thing is, it took me a while to design my current forum, create the graphics using my rudimentary graphics programs, and set it up the way I wanted it. I would like to keep the same look for a new forum for my people, but SMF is a bit over my head right now to do this or create a theme - in ProBoards it could all be done easily in the admins panel.

ProBoards is based on YaBB, and the style it uses is very similar to YaBB 1 Gold - SP1 (See the screenshot here).

Luckily, the Classic theme that comes with SMF is almost exactly the same (it replicates its ancestor, YaBB SE, which forked at that time). There are a few new images for functionality changes, but the overall style is quite similar. You can easily achieve your look by replacing the images and editing the CSS for Classic. I've done that successfully.
Motoko-chan
Director, Simple Machines

Note: Unless otherwise stated, my posts are not representative of any official position or opinion of Simple Machines.

JonB

#69
September 16, 2008, 05:32:04 PM
Hi -

I am glad this group/collective (SMF) has made a stand on derivative works. Its an ugly quagmire. I don't personally expect to soon develop SMF themes, but I do like to know where I stand.

I don't find anywhere in the Customize, Themes area any guidance on licenses or their inclusion in themes other than SMF team members are going to review them. I'm not going to play IP lawyer here (I'm not one anyway) but i do know what mine would tell me about that policy. I'm a big fan of WordPress and am looking forward to learning about SMF  :D

In fact I was getting ready to post a question about how to update the theme credit info appropriately. (Something I DO know how to handle in WordPress).  Where should that inquiry be posted 1.x support or Graphics and Templates?

Is there a stated policy on these things? Thanks in advance for any info.

8)

JoeX51

#70
November 09, 2008, 12:01:57 AM
Quote from: Gazmanafc on February 23, 2008, 10:41:25 PM
Quote from: JoeX51 on February 23, 2008, 10:34:29 PM
I was alittle confused as this topic started to sound as if it was an issue to use other peoples work, that was submitted to the theme site, which did not make sense, since these people submitted them for other people to use.

They may have been submitted for use, but once a work has been published, they become copyrighted and since we have to honour copyright laws, we can not allow it.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying, When I said to "use" someone Else's work I meant on MY own Board, not use it or tweak it and then publish it as my own. Personally I don't see the issue with mixing ideas from different themes that have been submitted to create my own theme for use on my own board. If there is a problem with people doing this then I guess people should not submit themes to be downloaded.

青山 素子

#71
November 09, 2008, 12:53:50 AM
This topic is concerned with providing themes using another's work as your own without permission. If you want to combine two themes on your own site for display, that is not our concern.
Motoko-chan
Director, Simple Machines

Note: Unless otherwise stated, my posts are not representative of any official position or opinion of Simple Machines.

JoeX51

#72
November 15, 2008, 11:57:57 PM
That is what My original question was. Thank you for the clarifiction!
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