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Ethics Question relating to Styles
05-17-2007, 12:30 AM
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Title: Gas 1.43
Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3,984 Location: back in TX     
| Ethics Question relating to Styles How much of a change does one have to make to a theme (style, skin) before it's no longer remotely the same thing as when you first downloaded it? In other words, how many changes must you do before you can call that style your own? (and remove the link in the footer)
__________________ I went to Vegas, and all I got was this Blister. - true story!  | ||||
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05-17-2007, 12:46 AM
| #2 |
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Title: Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 585 Location: New Delhi, India | Unless the style’s copyrights specifically state that you can remove the link, I would say this is some thing for the original style author to decide. | ||||
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05-17-2007, 01:21 AM
| #3 |
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Title: Still Alive
Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3,082 Location: Michigan, USA Recent Blog: New SWTOR Dev Article and Blog 
| My first thought is that if its not recognizable then you can call it your own. But you have to think about the fact that you still based your style off this other one and it still has the creators code in it. So I guess its a judgment call on your part whether you leave the link in the footer or not.
__________________ World of Warcraft Forums - Your #1 place to discuss all things World of Warcraft. | ||||
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05-17-2007, 01:58 AM
| #4 |
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Title: Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 652 | Well, the sad truth is that the only way to truly call it your own is to open up NotePad and Photoshop and start from scratch. Of course, I would have to agree with the consensus saying that if you can't recognize it, you could remove the link, though your safest bet is always to say you made it by modifying the original theme. | ||||
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05-17-2007, 02:56 AM
| #5 |
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| Title: Apprentice
Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 222 Location: Kingsport, TN
| Generally speaking, if you use the same code, images or anything from the style, then you cannot really call it your own. To truly call the style your own, you'll need to develop your own code, images and so forth. | ||||
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05-17-2007, 03:20 AM
| #6 |
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Title: Gas 1.43
Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3,984 Location: back in TX
| So, if you were to use photoshop to create new forum markers and all the other buttons & graphics, and change all of the gradients, and all of the CSS, then it would be like you edited the default skin, right? Here's another question. What if the target is defunct? If the link is pointing to a website that has nothing to do with skinning, AND you made all of the changes above, THEN would it be okay? Say you couldn't contact the dude. Remember kids, this is a hypothetical question. 
__________________ I went to Vegas, and all I got was this Blister. - true story! | ||||
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05-17-2007, 06:27 AM
| #7 |
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| Title: Apprentice
Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 222 Location: Kingsport, TN
| Simply because you cannot contact the author does not give you the right to modify the style a bit and claim it as your own  .If the style offers any form of unique coding, beyond that of an original stock installation, changes the images would not justify calling it your own. | ||||
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05-17-2007, 06:34 AM
| #8 |
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Title: Forum Addict
Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 1,435 Location: Baton Rouge, LA 
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05-17-2007, 09:45 AM
| #9 |
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 Title: Member
Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 109 Location: teh Ether | Give credit where credit is due. If you customize your '58 Mercury beyond all recognition, isn't it still a Merc? If you mod the hell out of an Antec case, isn't it still an Antec? If your wife got a boob job, collagen injections and dyed her hair, wouldn't she still be your wife? If the skin is modified, it is still the basic product of its original creator. Changing colors, graphics and a few other details doesn't make it yours, it makes it your modification of a work by someone else. Give them credit for giving you something that inspired you to make it better. You also don't need to use a link that is no longer the domain of the creator. Make a good faith effort to locate the person and link to them. At the very least, give text based credit, even if you are unable to link to them. Just my opinion, Jim
__________________ Always a work in progress: www.TheFloorPro.com | ||||
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