Egyptian Textures Pack

[Cardia]

I was just reading with my sister the rights and laws regarding pictures, sounds , videos, etc. in the internet, and in the end we find many of those laws ridiculous...right see if i care using a figure of the Egyptian God Osiris in my mission. i´m going to shut up and proceed with the same politic, just follow my sense of moral.

[john9818a]

Having observed this "community" for many years I can say there is a lot of truth to that statement I have to admit, but in fairness Cardia I must say you get quite bold a times in your grabbing of resources from other games and I think that's what has gotten people so sensitive to these issues. There's many FM's including mine (to be fair I try to give credit in the txt) that have tapped into textures and other resources from a variety of games. If we all got uptight about it, half of the FMs that are out there would have to be expunged.

I wasn't out to break the law or create problems for anyone, I scanned some images from a book that were taken of egyptian artifacts that were thousands of years old. Had I not put down where I got them, who would have known where they had come from? I didn't withhold that information because I wanted to be honest in where I got the resources-not to mention perhaps stirring up some interest in the book which I found fascinating.

As for this rule:


The scanning of copyright material referred here seems to be focused on magazine articles, which could be interpreted as simply ripping off gaming magazines without paying for them-not obtaining images for use in FM work. Tannar, perhaps you might consider adding a clarifying clause to this rule to make clear scanning of images from copyrighted materials for dromed editing would fall under this rule as well.

Come to think of it...perhaps it would be a good idea to pull my missions until I could replace all the custom stuff with OM resources.

I think the reference to magazine articles was just an example. In many cases the content i.e. magazines, books, movies, video games etc. are sold to generate revenue which pays the salaries of those who were responsible for providing the content. Whether it is illegal or not it's still in bad taste to take commercial content and redistribute it either in hard copy or online for others to obtain for free. This is no different than the issues Napster had years ago when people were making music available for anyone to download nor is it different than bootlegger resellers hacking Firesticks so people can receive channels for free.

This issue was discussed extensively in the Object Repository thread, and the general idea is that if you didn't make it yourself or you didn't get permission from the author then don't redistribute it.

Independent Thief I hope that you do not feel as if anyone was trying to get down on you. My initial post was to give a friendly advisement so that you would be informed.

Mike I hope I didn't step on anyone's toes when I posted the forum rules.

[Independent Thief]

I think it's time to close the thread now-there will be no more content from me. Sorry folks, but there's no use in taking chances getting burned over a hobby.

Edit: When I said 'no more content' I mean making stuff like the texture pack-not that I wouldn't ever mess with dromed again-but I will be sticking close to OM resources from now on.

[Cardia]

what can we say John...we´re all humans... so we forgive you´re innocent inconvenient interventions.

[Nameless Voice]

Sorry to be the harbinger of damp squibs and TTLG is quite correct in banning it altogether because different countries might have different laws but TTLG is in the states and must abide by those laws.

Did anyone even read the article that I linked which clearly states that it is impossible to copyright mere photographs of other peoples' artworks in the USA?

[Tannar]

I did.

And I think it's clear that using images from this book is not in violation of copyright for this reason. Still, it's a useful, and hopefully educational, discussion we've had here, so it wasn't time wasted, I think.

[DarkMax]

Well Independent Thief has taken down the link, you can all relax now.

[john9818a]

Did anyone even read the article that I linked which clearly states that it is impossible to copyright mere photographs of other peoples' artworks in the USA?

I read the article. This article seems to be aimed at copying public domain artwork such as paintings, but does not specify whether or not photographs of scenery or motifs would be a reproduction of publication of art. Wall, ceiling or floor textures would not generally be considered artwork in the sense that you would find them at a museum on display. Unfortunately I did not go to the link Independent Thief posted nor do I know the original source of those images used in the book, however I got the impression that the author provided photos and documentation on specific types of Egyptian motifs, not public domain artwork found at a museum.

Cardia I'm not the one who needs forgiving in this discussion. Sometimes we all hear things we don't want to hear because they aren't convenient with our own shenanigans.

[Cardia]

[Nameless Voice]

I would think that artwork which predates copyright laws, and where the artist has been dead for millennia, should count as being in the public domain.

The artwork in ancient Egypt is still artwork, is still something that exists publicly in the world, so I don't see how it's any different.

[john9818a]

We never determined that the book contained artwork. Being ancient doesn't make something artwork, but my issue was primarily copying from the book itself. Anyway I don't know how clear or useable scanned images from a book would look in Thief.