StopPiracy

Fighting Piracy

Our goal for this blog:
1.  To be a resource for digital designers who need help fighting piracy
2.  To be a resource for digital scrappers who need to understand what piracy is and how to avoid taking part in it.

A quick definition of piracy:
Piracy is the theft, reproduction, or redistribution of a copyrighted work without the permission or knowledge of the creator/copyright holder. YES, redistributing something you got for free is still piracy.  If you didn't create it, DON'T redistribute it!  Click here for why.

Jen Strange ~ Meredith Fenwick

Contact Us:
stopdigipirates AT gmail DOT com

Please Note:
This isn't a regularly updated blog.  Really, it's a compilation of information -- a static content resource.  When the need arises, I will post new information here . . . but on the whole, the basic message of the blog has been spelled out in previous entries.  I'm always open to e-mails suggesting new content or letting me know if a link is broken; please don't hesistate to contact me! ~ jen 

Table of Contents: Digi-Scrappers

I'd made browsing easier; all the entries have been assigned a category.  (List in the right sidebar.)  Please take time to browse all the categories; the categories most relevant to Digi-Scrappers/consumers/confused pirates are:
Piracy 101
Conversations

Quick links to important entries:
~ What is Piracy?
~ Why it's not ok to share freebies.
~ No Piracy Blinkies
~ Help us with Piracy Reporting!
~ * A letter to share . . .  *
~ 10 Big Myths about Copyright, explained.
~ Two great articles about piracy
~ United States Copyright Office

Table of Contents: Designers

Hey there designers!

I've made it a lot easier for you to browse the blog and find what you need.  All entries have been assigned to a category -- so one click on a link and you see all the relevant entries.

Here are the ones most important for you:

Piracy Policies / Reporting -- quick information about file-sharing and community websites and how to contact them

Stop Piracy Graphics -- ideas and graphics from fellow designers.  Some graphics can even be used by anyone.  Also includes some tips for dealing with piracy in your business.

Hope that helps!!!

Sharing digital kits with your immediate family

I've gotten lots of questions about whether the children (or husband!) in your household can use your digital kits.  I've asked designers about this, and overwhelmingly the answer is yes!  Sharing with your friends?  Not so much.

kits are licensed to one user only:  the person who purchsed it.  Most designers have agreed in message board discussions on the topic that sharing is fine within a household for members of a household -- i.e. a mother buys a kit, her 12 year old daughter can use it.  Having friends over to use the kits you bought is a shady area.  My best friend digi-scraps and I don't let her use my kits, nor do I ask if I can use her kits.  I personally wouldn't feel ok about it, since I know that it not what the designer intended when they sold us those kits. 

Kits are not to be shared, except by family members in a household.  One designer compared it to a gym membership -- you are the only one who can use your membership.  You have to pay extra for a family membership if you want to bring people with you, and if it's a friend who wants one, they have to buy their own.

Hope that clears it up!

A funny cartoon

The cartoonist who draws the Bol's Eye cartoons e-mailed me and told me he thought we might get a kick out this cartoon -- I laughed out loud the first time I saw it.  Click here to view.

Copyright Myths Uncovered

Jeanine from ScrapDish was nice enough to share a link to a great article with me, and I thought I'd pass it along.

It's an article entitled "Copyright Myths Uncovered," by Tammy L. Browning-Smith, intellectual property law attorney.  Click here to read it.

Graphic TOU in German

ConnyB was kind enough to create this and send it to me.  She says "in Germany the digital scrapbooking is also getting more and more popular. There are some German Yahoo Groups, too.  I´m a moderator in a German Forum, I know that there are many people who don´t understand English. Of course - they are nice people, not pirates. But I have had the idea that this could be a try of an excuse for some pirates, too "I don´t understand the TOUs", that´s why I have designed a Stop-Piracy-Graphic in German, too.   I´ve attached it on this email, if you like to - you can put it on your blog, and every designer who likes it can use it for their files. I´ve used my own kit "Modern Elegance" for it and the Font is Arial. So, at last I beg you to excuse my bad English - but I think you will understand my text *g*
Hugs from Germany,
Conny (known as ConnyB :-))


And here´s the translation of my text on the graphic:

Stop Piracy

On the left tag: Copyright belongs to the designer

These graphics are meant for personal use and may not be used in any
commercial way.

You may not offer them to others (neither on websites, groups, per e-mail or
any other way, neither for free or for sale

This is also for Freebies!

If you have any further questions contact the designer. Make sure you read
his TOUs.

You know someone who likes these graphics, too? - Give him the link to the
side where the designer offers his works!

"Not for Sharing" graphics

I got an e-mail from Shelle Pukas today, letting me know that she has started including a "Not for Sharing/Copyrighted Work" directly on her previews and it is already helping people understand what not to do.  I agree with her when she says "I think it would be a good idea if everyone started using the NOT FOR SHARING GRAPHICS on their previews & another separate file in the zip."  Designers, here's another trick to add to your toolbelt.

Software Pirate Fined

I love reading stories like this, when companies are compensated for their loss and pirates are shut down (umm, and fined $4.1 million.  Owch.)  My favorite line in the story?  " 'Modern-day pirates ought to expect modern-day penalties,' said Chuck Rosenberg, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia."

Software Pirate Ends Up Paying The Price

* edited to add: the story WAS here: http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/632623/software_pirate_ends_up_paying_the_price/index.html?source=r_technology but is now gone. 'doh.

4shared Policy/Contact Info

The following was forwarded to me by a designer who reported her work being illegally redistributed:

The reply from 4shared.com:
Thank you for the information. This account has been closed and all users' files were removed. If you know other illegal using of our site, please, do not hesitate and contact us.

Thank you.
Best regards,
Andrew

In their TOU page, 4shared.com states:

HOUSE RULES

By using the 4shared service, you agree not to do any of the following:

Post, distribute, or otherwise make available or transmit any data, message, text, computer file, or other material that infringes any right of a third party and/or any domestic or international law, rule, or regulation, including but not limited to:

1. 1. copyright, trademark, patent, or other proprietary rights;
   2. right of privacy or publicity;
   3. any confidentiality obligation.

For contacting 4shared.com about misuse, click here for their contact page, then click on "report abuse."