Sheesh, I really sturred up a hornets nest. Yeah, I only noticed after I posted the message here that the guy was actually an admin of the site. Why is it that people think this kind of stuff is ok?

Case in point, Juni makes a Zlauncher (PalmOS) and Wassup skin for me out of the goodness and kindness of his heart. He posts at Brighthand (a PDA forum) as there's nowhere else to post Palm skins. And what do people do? They start ripping it immediately. They see not one thing wrong with it. Now Juni's easy-going, if you need permission, ask and ye shall receive.. but these guys see nothing wrong with ripping, and if you bring it up, then you're the one who's a jerk.

Can't people understand that someone created those pretty pictures? I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but had to vent.

There's no such thing. They have no right to post that image without written permission from the author. > > >

Their reaction is not untypical for that kind of site. They have no respect for other people's property. There does seem to be a breed of people around these days who think they have a right to do or say what they like. That sort of self-righteous arrogance is the worst kind of behavior. No matter what you say they will believe they are right. I've come across this type of people many times and they need slapping down hard to have any kind of impact.

Fuzzy Logic says string 'em up by the...er...(censored)

You'll note they are now claiming it has become property of their website - astonishing >

WC warriors! Just be carefull... posting there is enough to make you 'theirs'.

Styl...yes, but put also that this is on behalf of myself...
Paul Martin
Jafo
Admin of Wincustomize.com
Admin of Pixtudio.com
and Senior Member Deviantart.com

And long-time acquaintance and friend of the original TRUE author of the work who is very definitely NOT the person who posted the work on that site.

Also, Scott...if somehow Devart is being drawn into this via being the source or something then it's time you did your bit as well, as Admin of DeviantART.com.

Russ does not deserve to have his work plastered around without consent by some child in Sydney, Australia...

The buttheads think it's a joke and are having fun with it. Hmm.

I got in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

Post one...
Sorry, folks, but Deviantart's copyright disclaimer does NOT cover your redistribution of this image publicly without the original author's consent.
If you doubt me, may I suggest you contact jark [Scott Jarkoff], Admin and founder of Deviantart.com for clarification.
When you do, quote my name, Paul Martin [Jafo], Admin Wincustomize.com and Senior Member Deviantart.com.

Thirty years in professional graphic arts and I fully understand copyright law. Also, local to the poster of this work, as I'm in Melbourne, Australia myself.
Contacts in the AFP may be interested, likewise.

I suggest you remove this work immediately to avoid litigation.
Thankyou.

Post two...
It is imperative that artist's rights are respected and protected properly.
It is also imperative that sites intending to co-habit in the online 'art' community do so with mutual respect and understanding of those rights.
Sure, you can think 'who gives a proverbial...it's only fun?', but ultimately it will reflect poorly on you and your site's reputation, with the potential ramifications of punitive damages being sought if an equitable solution is not reached.

One could also direct them to that wallpaper on Dangeruss' website:
http://www.dangeruss-industries.com/wallpapers4.htm

If you read at the top, it clearly says:

"IMPORTANT: Artwork on these pages are not covered by the open source agreement and are copyright Russ Schwenkler - aka Dangeruss."

And at te bottom of the page:
"Dangeruss Industries.com
Copyright2002-2003 All rights reserved"

BTW: Did somebody email Russ to let him flame the heck out of them too?

Also, on the left side below the line, Dangeruss put his info.

I don't want to become a member of that crappy site just over this, so maybe somebody could post something like:

" Well, yes, that would be a good start. How about you only uploads things that is legally yours in the future?"

Russ uploaded that picture on Wincustomize.com, so we have a vested interest in protecting its copyright.
Anything posted here and subsequently unlawfully redistributed without consent elsewhere is as much an afront to Wincustomize.com and Deviantart.com [both being legitimate hosting sites] as it is [in this case] to Dangeruss, himself...

WHAT!! they don't even care, now i am angry >