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Teknidermy Magazine - Issue 6 , Vol. 1
September/October, 2001

The Right in Copyright
by Kenray

Prologue: It is against the law in the USA for anyone to give out legal advice unless they have a law degree. The following article should not be taken as legal advice. It is simply a recounting of the experiences I have had. Should you choose to see it as an example, you do so of your own will....'nuff said.


How do we protect ourselves, and our rights on the web?

What rights do we have, exactly, and how can they be enforced?

Questions like these come up all the time, and are close to the hearts of every working artist publishing today. These questions became especially relevant to me, quite recently, as I witnessed the deplorable actions of the Nullsoft Corporation, the makers of Winamp, in regards to an act of copyright infringement against the well known skinner Treetog.


To recap: someone made an obvious rip of Treetogs "Sputnik" skin for Winamp, and posted it to the Winamp homesite at www.winamp.com. This person admitted freely that the work was not original, and had not been approved by the original artist.

As if simply being on the site wasn't bad enough, the rip was then chosen as a "featured skin" and placed on the front-page at winamp.com. As if that wasn't bad enough, the ripped skin was then featured in the Winamp newsletter.

Treetog made every attempt to get the rip removed form the Winamp site, and eventually, after days of negotiations, the ripped skin was removed from the aforementioned site. But not until it had been downloaded tens of thousands of times, without the artists approval.


As I witnessed this event happening on the messageboards around the community, I immediately looked up my original zip file for "Sputnik" for Winamp to see what exactly, was stated in the"readme" file.

(This file is usually distributed with a skin, and, generally, contains copyright statements and so on.)

Unfortunately, there was not a single instance of the © (copyright) symbol in the readme for sputnik. In fact, the readme that came with "sputnikwa.zip" was actually written for the "Hang On" suite.

And I think Nullsoft knew it.

You see, without that © symbol attached to the file, Treetog was at Nullsoft's mercy. And they strung him on for enough days for their newsletter to circulate before they corrected their mistake. And they could have strung it out much longer, if not for the strong reaction of the community, and the universal respect for Treetog and his work.


Attaching the © symbol to your work "copyrights" the work.
According to the Berne Convention, anything you create is copyrighted
the second you create it, but see how that stands up
against your opponents attorney if you seek damages.
The © symbol comes with all the standard font sets, use it.
These things are hard to prove, hard to prosecute, easy to alter and/or fake,
but at the very least, attaching the © symbol is a start.


*In almost every standard font set, get the © symbol by
holding down "alt" then the sequence "0169" - "ALT+0169".


After these events, I took to caring a lot more about just how I release my skins. Not that I think my stuff is In horrible danger of being ripped, but better safe than sorry... I am now attaching to all my "zips" the following text In a file called "readme.txt":


<skinname> for <program> © 2001, by Kenray


This art/skin is copyrighted freeware for any noncommercial use or distribution. This document (readme.txt) must be included with the art/skin when distributing.

I, Kenray, retain all rights and copyright to all my works In this art/skin. You can use it freely for your own personal use, and can distribute it to anyone as long as the original file remains intact, including this 'ReadMe' file. However, you cannot put any part of this art/skin onto web pages, BBSs, CD-ROMs, books, magazines or other media without my permission.

This art/skin may not be altered for redistribution without my written permission.

kenray
editor@teknidermy.org

<skinname> for <program> © 2001, by Kenray


Lets look at what we have here:

1.) <skinname> for <program> © 2001, by Kenray

This blanket statement identifies me as the owner of the skin, it names the skin, and the program for which it is intended, and establishes that I intend to enforce my copyrights upon it.

2.)This art/skin is copyrighted freeware for any noncommercial use or distribution.

This basically tells the world to use my skin, and to share it if they choose.

3.) This document (readme.txt) must be included with the art/skin when distributing.

This statement shows my intent to retain ownership, and the enforcement of my rights, through the process of "free distribution". In order to comply with my "freeware" agreement, the "readme" file must follow the skin at all time, letting any and everyone know about my ownership of it, and my intent to enforce my rights.

4.) I, Kenray, retain all rights and copyright to all my works In this art/skin.

This lets everyone know that the skin is not a "partial work" or a "work made for hire". I am establishing that every pixel is mine, "lock-stock-and-barrel".

5.) You can use it freely for your own personal use, and can distribute it to anyone as long as the original file remains intact, including this 'ReadMe' file. However, you cannot put any part of this art/skin onto web pages, BBSs, CD-ROMs, books, magazines or other media without my permission.

This statement is a reiteration of statement #2, In much simpler language, so as not to "confuse" any low-I.Q. individuals. It also establishes that I will not tolerate any "back-engineering" of the work, such as taking a widget out and using it on a webpage, or including the skin on a CD-ROM (see: Computer Magazines) or webpage without my prior permissions.

We should all be aware, by now, that when we submit a file to certain websites, we give away part/all of our rights. Each website that distributes skins will have a legal agreement somewhere. If you got time to upload, make time to read the agreement for each site.


Scarebear recently informed me:

"...by submitting skins to the Sonique website, you give up your copyright in a way. Their submission rules state:

By uploading any skins or plug-ins to the Sonique web site, you grant to Lycos and to users of the Sonique web site the perpetual, world-wide, royalty free license
to copy, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, and create derivative works from such skins or plug-ins.
You represent and warrant that all such skins or plug-ins are original works, created by you, which do not infringe any third party intellectual property, proprietary, or other rights.

"...and to users..." so anyone who downloads your skin can do with as they wish. That's why my skins now appear on CDs in France renamed, no credit given to me and no money coming to me. also why I won't submit to Sonique anymore."

Be aware of what you are doing when you put your work on a website other than your own.


6.)This art/skin may not be altered for redistribution without my written permission.

Pointed right at a potential copyright violator, this easily understood language is meant to pre-empt any "I didn't understand" defense for a violator. There is no simpler way to state what is being said here, and no defense for not complying with it.

7.) kenray
editor@teknidermy.org

Signed, sealed and delivered...but the important part here is the e-mail contact.
If no-one can reach me, then my points In lines 5 and 6 are moot.

8.)<skinname> for <program> © 2001, by Kenray

The statement again, like a footer In a report. A triple-redundancy on the whole issue, as it were.


So, what does this file do for me?

Well, for starters, it can be traced. When I upload a skin file to sites like Deviant, LotsofSkins, Wincustomise, etc., a publishing date can be identified, and
my copyright's public history begins with that publishing.
All else flows from that single piece of information.

Simply stating my ownership of my work, and claiming my intent to enforce my rights, is the cornerstone upon which all my possible futures are built. Without that statement, I would have little or no hope of retaining my rights in court.

I will be more mindful of how I go about distributing my work, how 'bout you?

Everyone would benefit from a review of the US goverments copyright page: http://www.loc.gov/copyright/


Epilogue: it has been suggested that "embedding" your personal info within your skin files might be a good idea, too. Look at almost any .ini file, and you will see where the programmers/authors left comments. It would not be hard to add additional comments in your skin's .ini file.

 

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