(There was a previous blog post that talks about this:
Copyrights: Are they always Black and White?)

I love the huge variety of templates on CL. There are so many great and original works. So many styles, so many subjects.

...And, alas, so much plagiarism.

Some template makers are exceptionally skilled - but the style of the artist differs so greatly from one template to the next that you wonder how they do it.

...And then you see an eerily familiar vector floating around elsewhere on the web, and realize that they don't, they cheated and took a shortcut, and did it in such a way that they ended up deceiving people.

You know that window that pops up every single time you upload a template?
Yeah, this one:


It can happen quite innocently; I don't mean to paint with too broad a brush. Most of us who are even thinking of designing have collections of vector shapes, and I fully understand the desire to create something wonderful with them. It's not about theft, it's about creation.

It's okay to use other people's shapes, if the original artist gives permission, if you then meet the criteria the original artist provides in order to re-share their work. All it takes, in most cases, is attribution.

If you are 'borrowing' material, please:

- Be aware as to whether your shapes are free for use.
- When in doubt, the answer is 'No', not 'Maybe" or "Yes."
- Large 'free vector' sites are not okay, since their provenance is cloudy.
- (i.e. It's still theft, just from someone else.)
- Make a note on the template page
- Say that the shapes (be specific!) aren't yours.
- Say whose work it is. (This should be an artist's name.)
- Say where you got it. ( A link would be nice. )

Otherwise, please be aware that you are not borrowing. You are not remixing. You are (whether intentionally or otherwise) misrepresenting someone else's work as your own - which is stealing, and it reflects badly on you, and it reflects badly on CL.

I want to be clear: I'm not trying to discourage borrowing or to downplay the creativity and effort of those who use borrowed vectors. I just want to make sure that credit goes where credit is due.

We are a community of artists here- and it behooves us to respect the rights and property of other artists.

-P
(post has been edited for tone and content)

Thanks, sweetie! Totally didn't realize you'd been sweet enough to comment. :)
OrigamiMei wrote:

Bump. This should be made a sticky. For real.

OrigamiMei wrote:

Bump. This should be made a sticky. For real.

i second the motion.

Made sticky. A lot of creativity is inspired by others. We want to support that, but it is a slippery slope of being inspired by to copying. I prefer to let the community moderate themselves and only step in to try and mediate disagreements or larger issues. So this is a great start to open a dialogue and address some issues.

I think it's always a great idea to first directly ask somebody you think has done something offensive and first ask questions and get information... Not accusations... Questions.

Hi. I noticed this and to me it seems very _______ to me. I'd love to better understand why you _____. Thanks.

I'd say 99% of the issues I've ever stepped in to help moderate here were simple miscommunications.

Thanks, Darius. ❤

...

I think there are really two issues regarding attribution.

The first is that the original artist needs to be credited, unless they specifically say otherwise, or (I suppose) if the image has passed out of copyright.

The second is that you don't want to misrepresent yourself as creating more than you actually are. (You can see in comments when people compliment a piece where they haven't realized the work was borrowed. If the template maker doesn't come clean at that point, my respect meter starts dropping.)

I'm not against using imported vectors, only against the implicit fiction that they were created by the template maker.

These two both use vectors/images that I did not create; both of them say so. In the case of the one that is commercially available, there is a link so other people can go buy it from the original artist if they so choose.


These two are 100% made by me, but are based on pre-existing works. Both link the original artists/websites.



I guess what I don't understand is that a person can spend 3+ hours working on a template, fiddling and perfecting, but they can't spend 2 minutes on an honest description? It just doesn't sit right with me, somehow.

...I do hope Lucy comes back, but I would like to point out that she's the one who chose to respond by leaving - nobody made her! She could have just added a disclaimer to the template page like Heather suggested, and the subject would have been closed.

Darius!
I thank you very much for this article

Wish people would understand this.
COLOURlover wrote:

Made sticky. A lot of creativity is inspired by others. We want to support that, but it is a slippery slope of being inspired by to copying.

"I am GUILTY" : (
When I create a template, I will go into my 'vector' folder which is full of 100's & 100's of various vectors. Some of which I copied off the internet, some totally original stuff which I created myself using art programs, and some which I learned how to create in 'Inkscape' (such as swirls) that look very similar to all the swirly type vectors out there, but are 100% made by me. So basically when I use a vector, I'm getting it from my folder at that point & not directly from the internet, so I hadn't really given any thought to where it had come from, that it wasn't mine, and that I should be giving credit where credit is due (no excuse for not 'thinking', shame on me). & I am very sorry for my thoughtlessness on this matter.
So, I do sincerely apologize! & I am in the process of correcting this issue, as I have been re-editing my templates (those which apply) 1 by 1 (as I don't know of a faster way) so as to give credit duefully.
Thank you for opening my eyes to this matter, as it was never my intention to deny anyone the credit that they so deserve, or to take credit that I don't deserve.
Jenna

praxicalidocious wrote:

(There was a previous blog post that talks about this:
Copyrights: Are they always Black and White?)

C'mon, guys. We are better than this.

...Aren't we?

I love the variety of templates on CL. So many great and original works. So many styles, so many subjects.

...And, alas, so much plagiarism.

Some templates are exceptionally good - but the style of the artist differs so greatly from one to the next that you wonder how they do it.

...And then you see an eerily familiar vector floating around elsewhere on the web, and realize that they don't.

You know that window that pops up every single time you upload a template?
Yeah, this one:

Wow! That’s a beautiful pattern... Did you create all those shapes?

With how talented our members are, it’s hard to know when they used their amazing talents to create a custom shape.. or when they imported a vector shape from another source.

It’s ok to import shapes from other creators when you have the appropriate permissions to do so. Please do not upload pattern templates that include imported shapes / images that are copyrighted. If you use shapes that are licensed with a creative common license, please link the source in the description. Unattributed pattern templates that include copyrighted content will be removed.

It's okay to use other people's shapes, if the original artist gives permission, if you then meet the criteria the original artist provides in order to re-share their work. All it takes, in most cases, is attribution.

If you are 'borrowing' material, please:
- Make a note on the template page
- Say that the shapes (or some of them- be specific!) aren't yours.
- Say whose work it is.
- Say where you got it. ( A link would be nice. )

Otherwise, you are not borrowing. You are not remixing. You are (whether intentionally or otherwise) misrepresenting someone else's work as your own - which is stealing, and it reflects badly on you, and it reflects badly on CL.

I'm not naming any names; you know who you are and this is not a witch hunt.

I want to be clear: I'm not trying to discourage borrowing or to downplay the creativity and effort of those who use borrowed vectors. I just want to make sure that credit goes where credit is due.

We are a community of artists here- and it behooves us to respect the rights and property of other artists.

-P

Jenna, sweetie!

The only people who are 'guilty' are those who don't care if they are doing anything wrong, not those who didn't know.

While I really appreciate that you are updating your templates, your work is defnitely value added. 'You' come through in all your work.

I'm sorry if I made you feel bad; that was never my intention. I will look at rewording the opening post.

(hugs)


Jennafire wrote:

"I am GUILTY" : (
When I create a template, I will go into my 'vector' folder which is full of 100's & 100's of various vectors. Some of which I copied off the internet, some totally original stuff which I created myself using art programs, and some which I learned how to create in 'Inkscape' (such as swirls) that look very similar to all the swirly type vectors out there, but are 100% made by me. So basically when I use a vector, I'm getting it from my folder at that point & not directly from the internet, so I hadn't really given any thought to where it had come from, that it wasn't mine, and that I should be giving credit where credit is due (no excuse for not 'thinking', shame on me). & I am very sorry for my thoughtlessness on this matter.
So, I do sincerely apologize! & I am in the process of correcting this issue, as I have been re-editing my templates (those which apply) 1 by 1 (as I don't know of a faster way) so as to give credit duefully.
Thank you for opening my eyes to this matter, as it was never my intention to deny anyone the credit that they so deserve, or to take credit that I don't deserve.
Jenna

One person who actually 'borrowed' a lot of vectors without attribution was Sunmeadow herself.

I mention this here not to tarnish her memory, but to illustrate the problem without calling anyone present on to the carpet.

These templates (and some others) are actually taken from the work of Jess Volinski, also known as Blue67.

Here is her website.

Hi there!

Again, as Darius pointed out elsewhere, this whole situation is relatively new to CL, and a lot of this stuff is 'behind the curtain'.

I really, really don't want to make anyone feel bad, and I have no desire to target any individuals. I'm just trying to draw attention to things as I become aware of them, and as it happens, the top five templates of the day all turned out to have improper attribution.

I don't mean to insinuate malicious intentions, and so if you feel that I have, then I offer you my most heartfelt apologies.

moldypetunia wrote:

I used (allegedly?) free vectors in my most recent templates. I thought that attributing the website where I found it would be sufficient. I guess not. Sorry. I tried!

During my time of perusing various vector sites, I noticed a lot of familiar vectors that have been used in a good amount of templates. Some of the aforementioned templates are among the most popular on here but there are no attributions of any kind.

Anything that I did not create, I made note of it. No malicious intentions on my part.

Oh wow. I'm new here and this is some very good information. I have several photoshop brushes, patterns etc. on my computer from all over but free to use. I most likely won't use it here but this information is useful for anything. Thanks for opening my eyes to look for a username and a Creative Commons license. Thanks.

Totally agree with Praxi..I rather see a clumsy but orignial design..than a smooth design that is showed as an original of somebody and what is not. You will not be a better of more beautiful person by stealing other one's feathers.

I have a question about copying & didn't see a topic about it so I hope it is ok to just ask it here. I saw that someone copied a palette. I don't know if this happens often on here so I just thought I'd ask if anything happens when this is done. The original one was made in 2008, and the copy was made just a couple months ago. Hope someone will be able to answer about this soon (ie within a day or 2) ty :)

Copying happens all the time here at CL. As a matter of fact, there's been a lot of controversy concerning copying recently. The admin won't do anything the situation and most members choose to turn a blind eye to the matter in order to "keep the peace". So, yeah, what can be done?

JMG84 wrote:

I have a question about copying & didn't see a topic about it so I hope it is ok to just ask it here. I saw that someone copied a palette. I don't know if this happens often on here so I just thought I'd ask if anything happens when this is done. The original one was made in 2008, and the copy was made just a couple months ago. Hope someone will be able to answer about this soon (ie within a day or 2) ty :)