for my information

I can't speak in any official terms, but I still think the best idea would be to contact the author if you plan on posting it. That read me doesn't say anything about distributing the theme, just making your own.

Butch, out of respect for the author, it's best to email him directly and ask for permission. That just goes for any themes you want to port, written permission is always needed. I often see vague readme's like this, but even if the file implicitly said "port and distribute as you wish", it's STILL best to get permission directly! That way it can never come back to bite you in the future...

Developer BlueDev
Thank for the advice. i sent the author an email about 1/2 hour ago. This question I wrote was just to find out exactly what this meant on a legal term being Canadian our laws are different. Copyright material in Canada at least in Quebec must be deemed copyright and stated or its not, and becomes free. Anyways I wont be anything until I get a reply from the author. But if I dont I was just wondering if that was legal or not. Thank you.

Port is, yes
Upload it, no
You still have to get permission to do that!

Always contact the owner of a skin directly and specifically for permission to alter and/or distribute his/her work publicly in any form what-so-ever.  99 times out of 100 the included permissions are limitations on personal use and do not clarify terms of use for public reproduction dissemination.  ALWAYS ask the owner prior to upload/distribution.  There can be no exceptions....

Butch123....Canadian Copyright law will be the same as anywhere else.....as signatories of the Berne treaty.  Proprietorship of a work or art is deemed inherent in the work without a requirement for explicitness.

After 32 years of Architecture I'm quite conversant with 'inherent' and 'implied' copyrights....having drawn/designed literally thousands of projects and on occasion had to initiate 'proceedings' to retain my rights.  

22.This drawing is the property of PAUL MARTIN, and is not to be used or communicated in any way without his prior written permission....... Is included on every drawing...but not actually needed.

And...one last thing....Wincustomize.com is owned/hosted/sited in the United States and therefore any and all works accepted on this site must abide by United States laws pertaining to copyright as any potential infringement/violation is actionable within the host country and its law....

Wizop Snowman thank you for the info.

JourneyMan Hus thank you.

Admin Jafo
thanks.

"When you use another's skin to create your own you need to alter/create ALL of the images to be your own. Half of the files here date back a year older which indicates they are not original to your work."

I think it's time there was a nice, clear new list of what is expected of a skin submission....and why.

If a 'flag goes up' with a skin submission whether due to clear 'familiar' appearance with something else, or the uploader has 'got it wrong' in the past, the submission is looked at more closely.....especially if another member has brought it to our attention as well.

Sometimes it's a per-pixel comparison combined with dates to determine the original work and the 'copy/derived'.

Image creation dates are a clear indicator that not all images were original to that skin....then the only thing to determine was whether all images irrespective of date were original to that author....or whether consent was included for any that were not.

This isn't usually a complicated task...but it IS time-consuming...which is where the general community has the chance to lessen the load on the volunteer admins.

2 ways.

1. Help find them and clearly provide links to original and 'copy' for the admins to deal.

and better...

2. Do not add to the workload by uploading any 'problem' works yourselves.

butch123...

Just as an update....the last two logons you submitted are exactly what we require when submitting a 'ported' work. Thankyou.

Specific permission for 'modification' [porting] and subsequent upload/distribution has been correctly included with the skin archive...and reference to such is mentioned in the description.

This is perfect, as it makes the Admin's lives just so much simpler when we know for sure that property rights are being honoured....

Admin Jafo

Thank You very much. Sometimes it takes me a while to get it, but I get it. also I just uploaded 2 blindes exactly the same with the author's permission. hope it meets your criteria (which it should)...trying my best to follow the procedures. Thank you again for your nice comments.