TEKNIDERMY - ISSUE 8: February/March 2002

The Rules
Or, The Unwritten Rules of Skinning, Written Down.


1. Thou Shalt Not Steal

Taking someone else's graphics and claiming them as your own is, quite simply, theft. In the skinning community, this is commonly referred to as "Ripping".

This applies universally, whether it is someone taking a skin and modifying its colors, or someone taking a website's theme and adding their name over that of the original artists.

Downloading a theme or skin, and making some modification to it for your own enjoyment, and on your own desktop is fine. That's a part of the learning process for some, and just a function of creativity for others.

The moment that work is uploaded, where it can be downloaded by another person, it is a rip.

Conversely, if you love some artists work, but they have not made a skin for your favorite program, then you may seek their permission to "port" their work, meaning, you take the graphics from the skin they made, and fit them into the program that you love. There are rules for ports, too. See Rule #4: Any unauthorized port is a rip.

 

2. Thou Art Thy Brothers Keeper, Report a Rip

Action from the community has been instrumental in "motivating" rippers to amend their ways, from little personal sites all the way up to Winamp.com. You don't think that "Report a Rip" button is there because some marketing flunky thought it was the "right thing to do", do ya?

If you find a piece of art somewhere that you know is being credited to someone other than the author, go on every skinning site you can get to and post a loud ALL CAPS message about it, with a link to the offending site.

If you see a loud ALL CAPS message about a rip, get involved. Read it. Go to the site in question. Write the ripper, and let them know that you know what they have done.

Taking part in a letter writing campaign to stop a rip is your honor and your duty. Someday that might be your work getting ripped out there.

When bringing this transgression to the notice of the ripper, do it in a polite and orderly fashion, as aggressive flaming is counter-productive, and in some cases, what you think is a rip is actually an authorized port that has not been properly labeled as such.

 

3. Thou Shalt Copyright Thy Work

Technically, everything you do is copyrighted upon creation. But that won't do. Include with every skin distribution file a text document called "readme.txt', and in that document, state that the art in the distribution file is copyrighted to you. Use the © symbol.

If you don't know what to write for your copyright message, see the article:

"The Right in Copyright", Teknidermy Magazine, Issue #6

It will be much easier for the community to help you stop a rip if you have made this simple effort to cover your own ass.

 

4. Honor Thy Developer, Thy Host, and the Author of Thy Port

Running a skin site is not a goldmine. Creating great skins is not a holiday. If you partake of the benefits of the skinning world, show some gratitude form time to time. Drop a note to the host of your fave site and say thanks. Send a note to your favorite skinner and let them know how much you enjoy their work.

If you use a freeware app, as many skinners do, drop a note to the author, and let them know how much you enjoy their work. Leave a note on his or her forum so everybody can see it. These little things have greater value than you can possibly imagine.

If you desire to port another artist's work, you must seek permission, and get in in writing (an e-mail will do). Include a copy of that written permission with the skin file you distribute.

Any unauthorized port is a rip (yes, all OS ports not accompanied by a written permission from the original developer are RIPS).

If you have ported another artist's work, make sure and note that prominently in the description of the skin wherever you upload it.

 

5. Thou Shalt Not Post a Photoskin

Photo skins can easily be described as "a skin entirely made up of photographs, usually of a pop star, vehicle, or product". There are many programs that make it easy for John and Mary Download to put the latest post-pubescent starlet on the surface of their fave program (winamp comes to mind).

If you want to look at your favorite car or cola all day long, that's fine. Just don't go uploading it to the skin sites. Photoskins are offensive and insulting to anyone who has worked hard to create something genuinely original.

 

6. Thou Shalt Not Speak Ill of A Fellow Skinner

Constructive criticism is the fuel that makes truly great artists. Leaving pointless negative comments on someone else's work is just plain evil, unproductive and childish.

By the same token, flaming (talking trash in newsgroups message boards or chats) is not acceptable. It degrades all parties who partake of it, and lessens the value of skinning on the whole.

Constructive criticism: "This skin would be better if it were a little lighter."

Flaming: "This skin is a piece of sh!t"

If you really feel you just have to say something negative without having any constructive recourse to your comment, tie a plastic bag over your head and say it to yourself for about fifteen minutes.

 

7. Thou Shalt Give Alms to the Poor

Everyone was a newbie at some point. If you come across a person asking a question that you can answer, answer it. If you come across a person needing help, and you can help, then help. It may be the next great skinner you are helping.

But by the same token…

 

8. Thou Shalt Not Beg

Everyone has something to offer, and if you ask for a skin, you need to offer something in return.

If you are just a user, and you want a skin bad enough to ask for it, you want that skin bad enough to pay for it - somehow. 20 bucks. A "fansite" for the skinner. A bottle of nice Merlot. Something.

If you are a FREEWARE developer looking for skins for a freeware product, offer to include the skins in the download of your program, and to feature the skinners in the programs "Help" or "About" menus. Offer to feature the skins and the skinners on your products website.

IF you are a shareware or payware developer looking for skins, offer to PAY THE SKINNERS somehow. A fully registered version of the product in question is a given.

Offer the skinners "points' on your project… say, 25 cents per download for the first year, something like that. If you are going to charge for your product and you are asking skinners to make skins for it for free, you will get beaten down, and you will deserve it.

 

9. Thou Shalt Not Promote "Warez"

Warez. Cracks, serialz, and all other forms of "pirating" are not welcome anywhere in the skinning world. What you do in your own home, on your own machine, on your own time is your own business. Taking it onto a skin site's message board, chatbox, IRC channel or newsgroup makes it everybody's business.

If you are involved in Pirating, keep it to your damn self.

Asking for serial numbers, or posting links to "warez" sites will get you banned from everywhere in a hurry.

 

10. Thou Shalt Not Upload Color Variants Separately

Many skins will look awesome in a number of different colors. Many users will appreciate these options, and the time a skinner takes to put the variants together.

These "variations on a theme" need to be uploaded as one distribution file, not eight separate posts.

Which naturally means...

 

11. Thou Shalt Not Update One Skin A Thousand Times

Part of the public dispersal of a skin a skin is getting response (see Rule #6), and reaction to that response is often an "update" or "upgrade" to the original skin, which is just fine, and may well be greatly appreciated.

But, constantly tweaking one skin time and time again is annoying overkill, and especially so if such tweaking is done just to keep a skin in the "New Uploads" section of a skin site.

 

12. Thou Shalt Try to Have Fun

For the most part, skinning is about entertainment. Sure some skins can enhance productivity for some people, but for the most part, it's just about enjoying your computing experience.

Try to take it that way. Enjoy the interaction, the experience and the results.


 

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