I just don't understand...

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I just don't understand...

I'm looking through some of my resources to make a mini kit for a blog train. I found the perfect CU embellishment, but when I read the TOU it states you can't use the resource to make freebies. I know some designers stipulate this, but whats the point? I don't understand what difference it would make to the designers if the other designer wants to give away the finished product? Its kind of like buying yarn and knitting a sweater, but the yarn company saying you can't give the sweater away, but can only use it yourself or sell it. That's why I love the stuff here on PS. The terms are easy to understand and the products are easy to use. smiley

Thanks Fran! I thought I might be the only one thinking this way.

I just wanted to add to my above rant smiley that the resource I was going to use wasn't a finished embellishment, but was a greyscale/template item. Its not like you would just include it as is in a kit, but would have to do some "creative work" to it to match your kit. I can understand if it is a finished item that you would use for S4H or part of a cluster. I'll abide by the TOU of course, but I still think its silly...

I totally know what you mean Cat. I only do freebies. I try to remember to check but sometimes I miss. Today, I bought a bunch of kits from a designer (on sale) and then I read the TOU...ugh, it said for freebies you had to do more than recolor....well that is kind of hard with some things. So I emailed her and she gave me some suggestions of what she meant especially with charms....like adding a string or chain or just including it with a flower. So that makes it easier but I still wish they would not have that restriction.

I agree with all of you, and I definitely disagree with designers who state they can change their terms at any time, and it is up to you to keep up with her TOU changes & updates.

I also think it's getting a bit ridiculous...the TOU "terms" stating "Okay for Personal Use" (what on earth does this mean?! What else could it be used for if it's a PU kit/item?!, "CU4PU", others stating "Limited Commercial Use", etc. I HATE when it is not simply stated on the preview whether the item(s) are PU or CU or CU4CU. It's pure drudgery going through some of their TOU's...in notepad and formatted with lots of text and single-spaced...to try and figure out what the darn TOU is!

If these designers want to be successful, they should make their TOU simple and obvious...and do it directly on the preview. Also. name their items consistently...not "element 1" and not "TOU" for the folder...why do some of them leave their name off of the TOU title and kit papers or elements? They want credit and they wish to sell their items, but they (and I mean SOME of them, certainly not all) make it so difficult!

That's my rant! And that's my story, and I'm sticking to it! smiley He, he!

You are all so right! It gives me a headache trying to sort out what I can or cannot use for freebies. Things that state CU are suddenly not meant to be used for making a freebie? Why? You've just given it away yourself haven't you? To be used for CU you just said?! Ugh...

I try to use PS items only and do the rest by hand - I tend to stay away from anything other designers have made, just to avoid getting a headache...

What I find absurd about the notion is if they are giving it away, but saying you can only use it to make money with it (or for your own self - which is stupid too because then you wouldn't need a cu item if its just for personal use). It would make more sense if it was a freebie and they stipulated that you can only use it to make other freebies - like with Creative Commons licensing. I think maybe I'll have to take more time to make my own stuff, which I try to do anyway, but I'm not that great at drawing.

I wonder if they're afraid that their work is going to be given away for free. If person A is selling an element in a kit that person B buys, then person B gives away the element in a freebie, person C could just download the freebie from person B and not buy the kit from person A. And depending on the TOUs of person A, person B could possibly give away 5 or 6 elements (or more). But, if person B is only allowed to use it for CU, then at least person C is having to pay for it somewhere and not getting it for nothing - and that makes person A feel better.

I think it's convoluted. I think it's so much easier to use something like the Creative Commons instead of just making stuff up as you go along.

I understand what you all are getting at. It got so crazy keeping up with the different terms that I just put ALL my cu stuff on an external hardrive and OFF my computer, then I made cu4cu folders and now only use those! You just never know, and I try to make most of the stuff myself or use stuff from very few sources, like here at PS, I LOVE HER TERMS! I can't seem to find any cu4cu stuff online, and I am only interested at making stuff to give away for others, so I need very simple easy to understand terms! I certainly don't want to have to pay for anything, so, I've gotten to where I am drawing stuff myself, and taking photos and extracting myself, etc.... Its harder, but I just wanna make sure I don't get into trouble! I wanna get to the point of making stuff and labeling it cu4cu. We need to start a thread to find out more cu4cu freebie sites!:)

The headache was too much for me, so I gave up and made my own stuff. Hopefully soon we'll have more designers who will share in our easy to understand terms.

Yes!

There is a difference:

Copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of "original works of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished. In digital scrapbooking, this is the kit and its contents.

A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. This would be our brand, in my case, ViVa Artistry.

A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office. Nothing in digital scrapbooking is really patented, maybe the software.

As far as copyrights as concerns to the kit itself...you are absolutely right that a lot has to do with the business itself. We get asked many times to use our designs not just in other kits, but also as elements/papers for traditional PAPER scrapbooking, calendar designs for print, designs for print on demand services, scrap for hire services, wall design companies, graphics designers, web design companies, etc. We have to keep these in mind and so do a lot of the CU sellers. It's not just the digital designers they sell to.

It is all confusing, absolutely right. But it is well worth it to figure out all the details on it before you decide on doing business in digital design. It keeps you legally clear and out of the mess of copyright issues...

I agree with Marisa. I have downloaded a LOT of stuff in the very few months that I have been digital scrapbooking and after looking at the TOUs, I have decided to lump it ALL in a folder that I intend to never share, use to make anything for anyone other than myself, and probably not to use on anything I intend to display online (because apparently even that violates some TOUs). It's just all so convoluted. I am keeping the PixelScrapper CU stuff in a separate folder because I feel comfortable using it (and stuff from anyone else who adopts Marisa's easy TOUs, or has similar easy TOUs). And I plan to make everything else myself. There seem to be enough generous souls and tutorials on the internet that I can learn what I need to know.

I just came across one tonight: "[you may not] alter the graphics to create derivative works and then claim them as your own". For this, I wonder, wouldn't "no derivative works" be enough? It seems a bit redundant to me - if I can't create derivative works, then how can I claim said unmade derivative works as my own? And, lets suspend the no derivative works part for a moment, if I were to make a derivative work then I would have to say that my work belonged to the person whose item was used in my derivative works??? o.O

Granted, those were terms from a PU freebie blog train item, but that sort of thing/attitude completely discourages me from buying stuff from people. I think Marisa said in her TOUs that other TOUs made her feel guilty before even using the item, and I agree! Somehow, some TOUs make me feel like a criminal for even looking at the stuff.

I dunno. I like Marisa's TOUs and the Creative Common's licenses are pretty straight forward. Even better, I love Leo Babauta's "uncopyright" over at Zen Habits. But, then, I believe in this "uncopyright abundance" movement that's going on. I want the lives of other people to be touched and made better, more beautiful by my words or art or whatever more than I worry about my own financial stability, honestly. I think that if people love what I do, then they will want to give back so that I can create more. If I give energy of generosity into this universe, then I believe wholeheartedly that it will be returned to me. But, that's just my philosophy in life.

I respect the TOUs of artists regardless, but I will steer clear of anything too complicated for me. I like things to be simple. smiley

(and the word "steer" looks really awkward to me tonight... every time I look at it, I can't stop picturing longhorn cattle... -_-)

@Mollie: It probably means that you CAN create derivative works, but CAN´T claim as your own... which means simply that you can´t use the derivative work in other terms that aren´t the ones for the rest of the kit.

I have a state more or less like it in my PU/S4H terms of use. It says: "If you alter any of the files of this kit, you CAN´T claim the altered file as your own. You may alter them as you please, but your rights about the altered item will stay the same as they are stated in those terms of use."

I am a person that, depending on the kit, have a long TOU. Not that I intend to make people give up of using my stuff or things like that. The main problem is that I am brazilian, and, although I really hate the "brazilian way of doing things", I can´t ignore that it happens: Lots of smaller brazilian "designers" download tons of freebies, then mix them and sell at online stores as their own, or sell "graphic collections DVDs". Unfortunatelly, even in phisical craft stores you can find these DVDs here, and some of them are just a collection of freebies out of their original folders. Also, too many party makers simply share "their" files (aka, digikits) with their friends, and sell things made with them with no allowance at all. I am not saying that all Brazilian designers do that; there are some great of them in the market (but that´s why most of them prefer to sell at international stores, as this kind of people usually stay out of them for not knowing English or not willing to pay with an international credit card) but that the ammount who make it are really disturbing. Having how to prove that the files were originally mine, and that they had a TOU forbidding this acts (that´s why the "please read the TOU and the same thing written in Portuguese in my previews, and that all my things include the TOU also in Portuguese) I can at least take their products out of the majority of the online stores by prooving it.

On the other hand, I try to leave a door open to the "good" scrappers and designers in a way that, if they are not sure if they can/can´t do something they can ask me, or that I can even grant bigger permissions for no extra fee for people that are honest. If you feel uncomfortable about some of my TOU someday or want to check if an specific image on a PU/S4H kit was made by me and I can give you permission to use as CU, feel free to mail me, or send me a pm through this site. Some things, however, I just can´t offer as CU because I use CU products to make it.

My stuff... I made it to be used, use it in the way you want, whether I give it away or sell it, use it. That is what it's for.

I sometimes think it would be nice to just not LOOK at TOU from anyone and play dumb. (I know, that isn't right, but that is the way I feel sometimes.) LOK