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from WinCustomize Forums
so i was looking about the various libraries that concern me, thinking about uploading and curiosity struck as i passed through wallpapers. is moderation still in effect? if it is has it been changed in policy? is it only used on some or all libraries? the way i remember was everything was passed through as long as it was "in order" except for walls which had quality screening or whatever you'd call it.

and i remember the idea of feature quality skins/items only journeymen or higher rank could submit that would have some sort of a price, and if people would buy it, the author was entitled to some sort of commision. did that idea ever go anywhere?

has the copyright policy changed any? i seem to remember any original art being allowed since it's free anyway, except in a case a trademark holder disapproved, such as when apple made it clear they don't want their logo and such showing up. in icons and so forth you see logo's all the time, it'd be pretty hard to do things otherwise, but in wallpapers i noticed it's almost completely devoid of any recognizable symbols or characters.

i had a ton of questions, but some got answered already, and some i forgot when i decided to finally ask them.
6,333 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Wallpapers are still moderated, but moderation is more relaxed than it used to be. Some which would previously have been rejected now go to people's personal page. Generally walls are only rejected outright if they are rips/wrong size etc.

Moderation in other areas is the same as always, if its not a rip and it works, it goes public - even if its really bad...  ;p 

The skin sales you refer to is called Master Skins. Only those promoted to Master can sell skins.

Copyrighted items are not allowed, unless they are fair use or fan art. As always in such grey areas the original copyright holder can request an item be removed, and it will be immediately.

If you have any more questions, fire away!

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
master skins can include anything? or do they have strict requirements such as what features, and what components (windowblinds, icon packager) must be included. namely is it possible have a master skin icon set, or would it have to have a complete gui scheme.

with the copyright question, i mean is original art, where you have the copyright to the image, but not the copyright/trademark to the subject matter considered fine and dandy so long as mr. trademark doesn't approve and demand its removal?

or in less babbly terms, if i drew a uh oh god i can't think of any other example... if i drew sailor moon, not traced, not a manip of an original official piece, but a completely new piece of art, and it made a respectable and not just a "oh cool/neato" wallpaper, would that fly?

edit: on the copyright thing i mean for works under the 100% free category. i realize how even pushing the boundaries of infringement on a master skin where revenues are collected isn't asking for trouble, it's demanding it. i'm just curious on whether or not i could share some harmless/tasteful fanart on wallpapers still for the most part.
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Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Master skins can be any item, such as a WB skin, or DX theme etc. But they do have to pass strict requirements from Stardock as to their suitability for sale - an incomplete item would not make it through. Take a look at the skin galleries - you'll see a 'Master Skin' logo on some items, these are the items for sale.

Your first copyright example is fan art and perfectly acceptable. You can make as many Spiderman wallpapers as you like, what you can't do is take a Spiderman wallpaper from elsewhere and post it here.

The second needs a bit of care, its ok to use fan art to construct a wallpaper. To use the whole original art unaltered would need permission. Using bits to make up a larger image would be ok - but would have to pass moderation. They only way is to make something and see if it gets through ;)
This is why you see so many images in the bootskin section. The image quality is reduced so much from the original, the origin of the images becomes somewhat moot. The same would apply to a constructed wallpaper.

 

Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
i think i stumble over my words, but yeah i just mean sitting around with a pencil and paper and felt like drawing daffy duck for some reason, scan it in and color it, all that good stuff. i was always kind of careful before, but after taking classes that deal with stuff like that it started to just make me paranoid lol.

so how about promotions, is it like still run like a workplace, if the people in charge deem it worthy it'll happen, or for some of the lower ranks that don't carry responsibility in that high a measure is there clear cut methods for promotion such as # of downloads or referrals?

and no wonder i couldn't figure the master skin thing out, i was looking for the "master skin" category haha.

thanks for the help.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
WinCustomize Access Classes

* Exile
This is a user who was banned. We do not delete accounts, we exile them. Exiled users cannot do anything on the site other than download files. They can only download skins that have been rated at 7 or above.

* Visitor
This is a non-registered user. They can only download. They can only download skins that have been rated at 7 or above.

* Citizen
This is a registered user. 99% of users are going to be Citizens. A citizen is a member of the community. They can submit skins, download and talk on the message board. Citizens can modify their preferences to display skins of any rating or above. The honorific "Citizen" is appended in front of their name.

* Apprentice
A citizen user who has submitted skins can be nominated to be promoted to an Apprentice. To become an apprentice one needs to be contributing to the skinning community in some way. WinCustomize is not the skinning community, helping other websites in the skinning community counts as well. The honorific "Sir" or "Lady" is appended to the front of their name. There is also a Master Apprentice rank for those right on the verge of becoming Journeymen.

* Journeymen
A handful of "super-citizens" will be at this class. These are people who are significant contributors to the community. The honorific "Sir" or "Lady" is appended to the front of their name. If you're a journeyman, then you are one biggest contributors to WinCustomize.com. The difference between a Journeyman and an Apprentice is that a Journeyman is contributing significantly to WinCustomize in particular as well as the skinning community in general. A Journeymen's skin is automatically made available upon uploading. It does not have to go through moderation first. As a result, only the most trusted users will become Journeymen because of this power. They also have the ability to post news items to the front page of WinCustomize.com

* Masters
These are the "elders" of the skinning community. People who have been around for awhile. Only a few people will be at this class. To be a Master, not only must the user be a significant contributor to the community, but instrumental to the day to day life of WinCustomize. A Master can do everything a Journeyman can do plus they can nominate and vote on users to be promoted. The honorific "Master" is placed in front of their name A master has to think of WinCustomize as their home skin website.

Master users will also be able to sell their work through the WinCustomize store.

* Moderator
Compuserve has "Wizops", we decided to call our moderators Wizops too. Wizops can do what Masters can do plus add/delete news items, moderate skins. One can only become a Moderator by a 3/4ths majority vote of the Admins. The honorific Wizop is placed in front of a Wizop. A Moderator has the ability to authorize the promotion of a citizen to an apprentice.

* Administrator Admins are the administrators. There will be 7 Administrators total: Frogboy, T-Man, Zoomba, MikeB314, KarmaGirl, Yarlen and Jafo. Any of them have the ability to promote a user up to a Journeyman. Only a majority approval can promote someone to a Master and only 3/4ths to a Wizop. Zoomba and Jafo will run WinCustomize on a day to day basis. The others will provide additional help and resources. You want something changed or done, Zoomba and Jafo are the ones to talk to. They have the ability to make many changes as long as it doesn't violate the covenant. Only 7 Admins will be active at a given time. If one person should leave, another person will be promoted from the community.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
cheers again. i never thought i'd be asking the same questions twice, but it's not exactly like riding a bike i suppose. speaking of masters, i wonder if adni and jairo are still at it, i think i'll go look~
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
that only makes me more curious, i remember there was a page to show top authors per library and 1 for overall, but i can't seem to find it now. am i overlooking it?
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
https://www.wincustomize.com/top.aspx?type=authors&sort=1 ;)
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
thanks again, made sure to bookmark it this time.

i have this feeling like maybe i shouldn't be asking this but... where is the skins factory?
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Not around anymore ;)