StopPiracy

The wrong idea.

As in, "No, no, you've got the wrong idea."

I got the following comment the other day, which I actually thought was hilarious and clever:

DISCLAIMER: Please do not turn me in for sharing a tube of an apple. This apple may look like an apple in your kitchen but I can promise you this that I did not rip off your apple, I did not take a picture of this apple, and if you'd like to turn me in for downloading fruit, you have too much time on your hands. Please be kind, this apple was tubed by an individual on the net, this isn't your apple, I promise, she tubed her very own apple, not yours. No theft, no illegal act has been committed, it's simply a 45 cent apple, one you can find at any store. I admit, I did not create the name "apple" and copywrite it so technically I guess I could be breaking the law and I could be going to hell. If you do not want to go to hell with me, simply do not download this apple and delete this e-mail. Thank you.

Bwah ha ha ha ha.  Ok, so I think maybe I need to back up and clarify.

Random graphics and images and photos, I don't care what you do with, in the sense that I am not chasing every single graphic user on the internet.  I know there are "tubers" out there who share all sorts of graphics with each other.  And truthfully?  As long as it wasn't made by a digital scrapbook designer, I don't personally have a beef with that, as in I am personally not going to "come after you."  (This isn't to say that sometimes the things tubed are from copy-righted graphics or photos and is still WRONG and copy-right infringement, but like I said . . . that's not the battle I'm personally fighting.)

What I'm trying to do here is to help people understand that the kits, elements, papers, etc., created by digital scrapbook designers -- whether purchased or obtained for free -- are not to be redistributed in any way by anyone who doesn't have permission or a license to do so.

So spread your picture of the apple all over the internet.  It's all good.  And thanks for the laugh.

*Edited to add: I got the following comment today on this entry:

Normally I completely agree with what you have to say, but this time you are wrong. I would put it more politely, but I like to be frank :)

When you write "Random graphics and images and photos, I don't care what you do with." - you are WRONG. This IS the battle you are fighting!

Piracy is piracy. If you don't care about any copyrighted graphics except those that belong to scrapbook designers, then you are effectively using exactly the same rationale as the "tubers" do.

I hope that you will reread this article and decide to do a little editing, because what you are saying to people is "Copyright violation is OK by me as long as it isn't scrapbook stuff."

So now I need to clarify.  (Thank you for your comment, though.  I guess other people might interpret this that way, too.)

I did say that "This isn't to say that sometimes the things tubed are from copy-righted graphics or photos."  And I'm not giving permission to steal other graphics or photos that are copyrighted.  And it's not that I think it's ok to do so.  I don't like what I've heard thus far about tubers, but that seems to be a WAY bigger issue than I can take on.  It's just that I personally don't have the resources to know where all graphics and photos that are under copyright are originated from.  Thus I wouldn't know how to notify the copyright holder of the infringement.  These are not the groups we monitor and report.  I stand by the statement we often repeat here, that unless you did not personally create an image or have permission from the image copyright holder, you should not be distributing the image in any form.  That applies to many things, and as an educational effort, is at least a notice to tubers that they need to stop and think about the images they are working with.

The previous blog entry, "More websites about piracy" lists 10 websites of various industries and groups that are specifically about piracy.  Piracy of software, music, videos, books . . . I obviously can't fight these battles, either.  And while I support their mission, their individual industries have specific organizations to deal with the problem in the respective industry.  And that's what we're about here at the Stop Digital Piracy Blog, for the digital scrapbooking industry.

Perhaps there are groups like this for photography copyrights and general graphic copyrights.  If there are, I would love if someone let me know.  Then we could post their information for people to contact when they run across infringements and could help in this respect.  I've edited the paragraph in question, edits in italics, to help clarify the point.

I hope this clears things up.  Let me know.  Thanks again for the comment.

More websites about piracy.

I moderate comments around here because I've learned that the kind of people who make it necessary to have this blog in the first place -- you know, the people who like to steal things and refuse to accept that it's wrong -- can be pretty nasty.  So you will no longer see their nasty comments, although I still get the pleasure of reading them.

Anyway, the other day I got one from someone in or around London that said "lol, i just stumbled upon this blog from google. dude, do u really think by doing this, piracy will somehow disappear? havent u got a real job?"  Well yes, I do have a real job, and I choose to do this in my free time because it's important to me.  And no, I don't think piracy in all its forms will magically disappear.  But specific to digital scrapbooking, this site has made a lot of progress already as far as education, awareness, and centralized information for the problem.

Now just so you don't think I'm the only one on the internet concerned about piracy in the industry I'm involved in, here are some piracy specific websites from several different industries and organizations.  Entities much bigger and more important than little ole me (you know, like the FBI.)

1. United States FBI:  piracy site

2. United States Patent and Trademark Office: piracy site

3. Motion Picture Association of America: piracy site

4. Copyright Infringement and Piracy Watch: http://www.copynot.com/

5. Microsoft:  piracy site

6. The Software & Information Industry Association is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry:  piracy site

7. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is the trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry:  piracy site

8. Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. ("SFWA"): piracy site

9. The Alliance Against IP (intellectual property) Theft is the new name for the Alliance Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, a unique coalition of British trade associations and industry enforcement organisations:  piracy site

10. www.piracyisacrime.com/ 

Wording to include on kit previews.

AmyG, who checks the Stop Piracy e-mail for me and helps me out more than I can tell you, sent me this e-mail today:

I just bought Dianne Rigdon's Simply Marvelous Papers and Solids (awesome, by the way) and I noticed new wording on her previews.  She has her name, website, "Authorized downloads only" and "If you are downloading this kit from an unauthorized source, you are contributing to digital piracy".  You can see it here: (click.)

I e-mailed Dianne, and she gave me permission to post the preview here so other designers can see the graphic at a glance.

Cutest TOU graphic I've seen

Miss Mint of Peppermint Creative is new to the digi-scene, but I am already so impressed with her.  She's nice, she's fun, her designs are amazing.  I downloaded a freebie from her site today, and I absolutely LOVE the TOU graphic that was in it.  She gave me permission to post it here:

Freebie TOU notification for download

Have you been to Taran Conyer's site recently?  TKWhimsy.com.  She has a section for freebies, and once you click on that tab, you see an image of the beautiful freebie she has available.  Then you click on the image to download the freebie.

But.

First, a graphic pops up (click on graphic to view larger) that explains that the freebie is not to be redistributed, used for commercial use, or claimed as your own.  It goes on to explain why piracy sucks.  LOL.

A prompt box asks, "Do you agree to our terms?" 

If you choose "yes," then the download starts.

If you choose "cancel," then the box says "You must agree to download product."

I LOVE IT, TARAN!!!  She has given me permission to post this here to share with other designers this option for freebie distribution.  She said, "The pop-up piracy graphic is something that my 'webguy' said wasn't TOO hard... it's just a pop-up dialog code."  So if you are interested in doing this, I'm sure either you or YOUR "webguy" can figure it out!!!

One more TOU graphic to share!

Hi, I’m Sylvie aka Sausan Designs !

As I’ve been affected by digital piracy long before I started to officially work and sell as digital designer at Scrap2gether I now want to do at least a little bit to help fighting digital piracy. So besides informing my designer colleagues on digital piracy I created this graphic for your convenience.

Please feel free to use it with your digital kits as an addition to your T.O.U. text files !  (click on image to view full size, then right click and save to desktop.)

TY for your attention!
Sylvie aka Sausan Designs

A polite letter to ask theives to stop.

Well, many pirates/shop-lifters are all up in arms because designers have the gall to come off as "rude" when they are asking for their copyrighted work to not be illegally redistributed.  So here is something for designers to use as a polite cease and desist letter.

(Pirates reading this?  DON'T SHARE ANYTHING THAT YOU YOURSELF DID NOT PERSONALLY MAKE UNLESS YOU HAVE THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF OR A REDISTRIBUTION LICENSE FROM A DESIGNER.)

Thank you to shelleyrae to writing this for me:

Here also is a template for a polite letter to those that are sharing links. If you wish you can make it available on your blog for others to use:

To the group owner:

Dear List Owner ( insert name of group )
Please be advised that a file shared in your yahoo group was done so without permission and against my TOU.  File redistribution is not permitted. (file sharing host ) has been contacted and have deactivated the link upon my request.

Please encourage your members to respect copyright law and do not permit sharing of files where the redistribution is against the TOU. You can delete files after they have been posted and moderate postings to ensure you are not legally liable for the actions of your members.  I thank you in advance for your cooperation with this matter

For more information on the efforts to stop digital piracy, including contacting Yahoo and filesharing services, please visit http://jenjen.typepad.com/stoppiracy/

To the poster of the link:

Please be advised that a file YOU shared in the yahoo group (name of group) was done so without permission and against my TOU. File redistribution is not permitted. ( filesharing site name ) has been contacted and have deactivated the link upon my request.

Please refrain from posting any materials that were not created by you. Whether you are the one who made the link available by uploading it to (filesharing site name) or are simply passing on a link you have received from elsewhere, choosing to share the link which is obviously not your own work and without the permission of the original creator is an illegal act on your behalf. The post has been brought to the attention of the list owner.

For more information on the understanding the issues of digital piracy and what constitutes illegal behavior, please visit http://jenjen.typepad.com/stoppiracy/

Best Sharing Policy/Contact Info

On their homepage, BestSharing.com has a statement that says "Warning! The uploading of copyrighted materials (and adult images) is strictly prohibited! Please, read our Terms of Services for more information."

Included on their Terms of Services is "Copyright Policy: The Best Sharing Service may be used only for lawful purposes. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you are the author and copyright owner and/or proper licensee with respect to any hosted content and you further represent and warrant that no content violates the trademark or rights of any third party. Best Sharing reserves the right to suspend or terminate a user’s transmission(s) that, in Best Sharing’s discretion, violates these policies or violates any law or regulation." 

and

"Any questions relating to our Legal Agreements and Policies or abuse management may be directed to info@bestsharing.com

Illegal files will be removed immediately after notice. Best Sharing will add them to its file-filter, so they can’t be uploaded again. ."

There is also a form right on their website, if you click on the "Abuse" tab.  There is says: "Use this form to report Illegal files on Best Sharing.   You may also report violation of Terms of Service.  Abusive files will be deleted within hours after notice. Best Sharing is against software piracy or any kind of copyright infringement. We apologize for any kind of misuse of our service and promise to do our best to find and terminate abusive files.."

The "Fair Use" law

Some pirating groups now have this disclaimer on their websites and e-mails:

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for non-profit research and educational or criticism purposes only.

After speaking with our lawyer about this, we have this information to share with you:

Here's what the Federal Law on fair use actually says - and I've highlighted the key parts:

§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include— (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

A court is the one that is going to decide if any of the list of 6 purposes apply, and then weigh & apply the 4 listed factors as necessary.  I think there's probably a good argument for extending the "teaching" and "educational" language of this section to other kinds of training, though I don't think these Yahoo groups would ever fall within anyone's definition of an educational group, no matter how you defined it.  I've seen this argument floating around for months about these Yahoo swapping groups, and never thought it was a good one. (i.e., I don't think those terms should apply to these kinds of groups - that's not primarily why they were created, and they're being used as a diversionary tactic). 

Overall, I just can't see any court condoning as "fair use" what amounts to unauthorized reproduction -- digital theft .  Laughing at it, or continuing to do it, after being informed that it is unauthorized reproduction of a copyrighted work only makes their offense more egregious, at least in my opinion. 

I don't think a judge would even get to weighing the factors in these instances, then.  I think those are saved for cases such as newspapers that quote just a bit too much of a copyrighted work, and it is challenged as being more than "fair use", for example, under factor #2.  Or a university that distributes copies of a copyrighted material in teaching a course, and perhaps the professor copies an entire book for the class (I've been in one of those), and the author challenges the use under factors #3 and #4 (because the professor has taken away the market value of the book for class members, by copying too much, when maybe just a chapter or two would have sufficed).  Those are just examples.  I think I also mentioned the other day about running into a university policy online for posting student portfolios and complying with fair use principles, and deleting the material within a fairly short time period.  That university seemed to be very conscious of the possibility of copyright infringement from the student portfolios if they remained online too long.

Another cool graphic.

Remember the entry "A great idea to fight freebie sharing"?  (Replacing the kit at the URL being shared with a "Don't steal" graphic.)  Well, Sophia with Sophia Davies Designs has come up with a graphic of her own for this problem -- and hers is a little stronger than Jen Reed's.  LOL.  Sophia has graciously said that if you need to use this graphic, you may.

Click on the graphic to get the full-sized version in a pop-up window, and right click + save as from there.  Thanks, Sophia!!!