| I've always wanted to know Why you can use copyrighted images in bootskin and not in wallpapers?. It's something thats always nagged me because I can use what ever i like to make a bootskin but not a wallpaper,every wallpaper i've submitted has been rejected but every bootskin has been execpted.Can someone please clarify this up for me,Many thanks in advance. |
Essentially...
Another person's image used as a wall is not yours to submit.
Taking it and resizing to a screen resolution is no kind of 'value-addition'. It is the exact same image.
Bootskins are skins, albeit overly simplistic ones. To create a boot there is actual 'creative' input though again, it's about as simple and bland as you can get...being nothing more than a progress bar image and an ini text file.
These are still moderated for 'quality', and, when it is clear they use restricted images, or rather, the images used have restrictive copyrights, then they are rejected.
'Fair use' considerations [in the US copyright laws] [and just now in Australia, thanks to Bush and Howard and their free trade agreement - as we are now aligned with the US system] allows for such things as 'fan art' to ultimately muddy the waters of copyrights and image use.
What we ask for, in the case of Logons and boots is the posting of links to the image source so we [or anyone else who is curious] can verify whether that specific image source allows its re-use in a public way, or not.
'webshots' or whatever it's called does NOT allow re-use as public distribution in ANY form ....so all shown to be sourced from there will be removed.
There's a 'shit-load' of images on the net.
No-one is going to be able to verify them all....so the onus MUST be placed fairly and squarely on the uploader to verify HIS PERMISSION to do what he is doing.
When in doubt of an image's source/permission we can simply reject it.
If an image is shown to specifically contravene the copyright pertaining to the source of that image it WILL be removed.
The only issue with that is there can often be more than one source of the same image....and perhaps one with, and one without restrictions....and no idea as to whose is the original and who is in violation.
Because the waters are 'muddy' ...it's always going to be difficult.
If anyone has a 100% foolproof solution...we don't want to hear it...go become the next Pope instead, or cure Cancer....cos such fantastic acumen would otherwise be wasted.....
