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Topdownloads.net has YOUR walls
Sunday, July 8, 2007 by Jafo | Discussion: WinCustomize News
http://www.topdownloads.net/services/search.php
Click the link.....enter your nick....or your name....and search.
I found 4 of mine....[under Jafo and Paul+Martin - since removed by request]
BoXXi has 167.....
Anyone I can think of is there....Nuvem...Treetog...Alexandrie...Pixtudio.......list is endless
Yes, this person at 'least' has our names on them....but that's only a small part of the issue of Copyright and distribution.
YOU as the property owner have the inalienable right to determine how, when and where your property is displayed and/or distributed.
This site [Topdownloads.net] is violating your rights.
However, fortunately the site admin appears to be aware he has no right to be doing as he does and promptly complies with requests for content removal.
It is up to each individual artist/owner to determine whether there is a case for proceeding to sue for material loss/compensation.
Domain Name: TOPDOWNLOADS.NET
Administrative Contact :
van Opstal, Leo
[email protected]
Technical Contact :
van Opstal, Leo
[email protected]
Anyone wanting to retain/maintain legal ownership of their property and control its dissemination would do well to contact Leo for content removal....
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Reply #22 Sunday, July 8, 2007 5:27 PM
Reply #23 Sunday, July 8, 2007 5:56 PM
Reply #24 Sunday, July 8, 2007 5:57 PM
If they're free, then I see no harm done.
"Premium for free" is a whole other matter.
Reply #25 Sunday, July 8, 2007 6:00 PM
Reply #26 Sunday, July 8, 2007 6:52 PM
Chinese I believe. At least that's what the 'about' in English says (down on the bottom)
here's the contact page: WWW Link
Reply #27 Sunday, July 8, 2007 6:58 PM
But I will get flamed probly, so don't bother, I know: saying anything bad about Stardock or one of it's slaves (I mean memebers offcourse, where did that come from...) will get you banned, deleted or worse ignored!
Reply #28 Sunday, July 8, 2007 7:13 PM
The information quoted is freely available on the internet and is in the public domain, and so does not come under the Data Protection Act. Neither is it stored in a 'relevent filing system'.
It's not paranoid to show concern about a breech of copyright law and act upon that law. It's taking care of people's rights. It is my right not to have my work distributed without my permission - to ignore that right is theft, pure and simple...
Flamed, banned, deleted or ignored - no, treated as clueless maybe...
Reply #29 Sunday, July 8, 2007 7:32 PM
no flames here but.. i will say its pretty smug to defend his actions while at the same time bashing us for being upset...IM no slave and willingly offer my stuff to sites as long as they ask...but thats the POINT..... ASKING. it's called consideration..
why you seem to be on the attack is beyond me ..
Reply #30 Sunday, July 8, 2007 9:08 PM
Everyone has the right to treat his/her OWN property rights with disdain or indifference.
No-one has the right to treat others' in that way.
YOU may consider the giving of credit sufficient for YOUR peace of mind, but others definitely do not.
This is not about 'paranoia', it is about preventing the erosion of your property rights.
mschleisner ... the difference between Wincustomize.com and Topdownloads.net is that with the former the OWNER of the artwork is submitting it themselves for display/distribution and the act of so-doing indicates consent for its distribution. With the latter a person or persons unknown has TAKEN your artwork and has reposted it on a site outside of your control and consent. You should NOT now be forced to jump through hoops to have the work removed....it should NEVER have been posted there in the first place.
Here's a quite valid hypothetical.
You upload your works for public [free] download. You become rich and famous and realise you want to now charge for your works. You subsequently delete/remove them from all the sites you uploaded them to....and instead post them for sale elsewhere. No-one buys them. You then discover they are being distributed elsewhere freely....on a site you were unaware of.
This is why you CANNOT be lackadaisical with your property and its protection.
Whatever commercial success sites such as topdownloads.net may be enjoying is purely because of content they have no legal permission to be distributing.
At no time did I [or clearly very many others] consent to the commercial profiteering of our works by an unknown third party.
In contrast, we ALL did just that with our submissions to Wincustomize.com, and Deviantart.com, and all the other LEGITIMATE public art/skinning sites.
If an artist openly goes on record [through inaction] of failing to protect his own copyright it can come back to bite him in any future litigation against similar issues....
Reply #31 Sunday, July 8, 2007 9:18 PM
Reply #32 Sunday, July 8, 2007 9:29 PM
It will be Deviantart.com...
Reply #33 Sunday, July 8, 2007 9:43 PM
The whole thing made sense to me until I read comment by Mrs mschleisner. That's when I realize I was in the Dark. Most of the files here are not worth downloading. Sometimes I write nice comments to encourage new skinners to better themselves, but would not download their works unless they pay me to do so. If it's not from the masters, then I don't want it. Copyright is very important and should be respected. But some so-called skinners should not worry about some stuff their created - When your work is out there, your name is out there and that's good. They should instead secretly pay sites to host their works for them and give them free of charge. Nice and Clear!
I see why this site gets mad because when people can go elsewhere for the same free stuff here, the fewer visitors they get. They're the one with something to lose. No one said their premium work was being posted as well. Truth is a skinner has the right to ask for their works to be removed at once from here and elsewhere.
Last but not least I would be a hypocrite to blame the skinners who want their free work remove from the site anyway. I don't like sharing my work - I'm a teaser! I have the gene of the true master in me. I'm the creator of Reactor windowblinds based on TSF rector player ( I made it rain), I'm the creator of the most beautiful Windows Media 11 windowblinds ever created (The ultimate one), I’m the creator who used to work on Mike Bryant works and make it rain. But skinners such as Vstyler, JJ Ying took me out of business. They made it rain harder than I do - They make it flood.
Don’t like me? I still think I’m beautiful. The matter fact, my mom just told me I’m beautiful.
Reply #34 Sunday, July 8, 2007 10:19 PM
There is no discrimination regarding 'quality' in the eyes of copyright law.
'This site' isn't getting 'mad', its members whose works are being redistributed without consent are.
Wincustomize.com does not limit or restrict artists' rights as to where they may or may not also post content which they choose to post here [except in the specific case of contest rules from time to time]. Most infact DO post to other sites as well.
Too often this issue is misunderstood by those who have little or no history with artwork and its protection.
There is content searchable on topdownloads.net via 'Digital Blasphemy', yet DB has written and specific limitations on content redistribution, namely 'thou shalt NOT'.
People upload here and elsewhere for others' personal use and enjoyment. Public redistribution [freely OR for associated profit] is not 'personal use'.....
Reply #35 Monday, July 9, 2007 1:21 AM
All but 1 of the 7 of my walls I had them remove could only have been taken from WC. The 1 is here and at SA, guess they didn't like the walls I have at DA. lol
Reply #36 Monday, July 9, 2007 1:27 AM
Reply #37 Monday, July 9, 2007 1:38 AM
Reply #38 Monday, July 9, 2007 7:40 AM
Kinda how I felt. Still, I prefer to control where they get posted.
Reply #39 Monday, July 9, 2007 8:22 AM
It's a bit of a nooby question I know ,but I find it incredible that people such as yourselves have to do their own policing.
I mean if my apartment was robbed tonight it would be like me having to take the responsibility to track down and arrest the burglars.Clearly this is not the case and I find it a strange state of affairs that you guys have to do all this leg work to protect your intellectual ownership.As well as being time consuming for you it also puts you in contact with some really dodgy barstewards.
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Reply #21 Sunday, July 8, 2007 5:22 PM
fired off a letter.
to answer the question?
Its my property I upload for Private use by others.any other use needs AUTHORIZATION BY me....they were not uploaded for some yahoo to build a site and use my stuff to pad his pockets by selling ad space while using mine and others stuff as bait for traffic..I control it's distribution on the net.
Now if he had simply asked me...I would have been glad to offer them up to help start a new budding desktop customization site...but to just take...thats a No No