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[Chris]

Recently we've been experiencing problems with ripping

Therefore, I'm going to provide a little lesson for those of you who aren't aware of what ripping is, or what it consists of

First of all, ripping is something that's more easily understood as plagiarism in the writing world. Most everyone on this site is in some sort of schooling, so odds are you know what plagiarism is. It's stealing someone else's work, and claiming it as your own. Now, there are degrees to the extent as to which you claim, but nevertheless, it's still someone else's work.

Read about plagiarism here, provided by Wikipedia

You are NOT allowed to use someone else's work that is copyrighted. Plain and simple. Here's a small clip of what 'copyright' means, once again brought to you buy Wikipedia. Read about it in full, here.

Copyright is a set of exclusive rights that regulate the use of a particular expression of an idea or information. At its most general, it is literally "the rights to copy" an original creation. In most cases, these rights are of limited duration.

The symbol for copyright is "©". The letter C inside parentheses ("(c)"), although a common practice, has never been a legally recognized designator.

Copyright may subsist in a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms or "works". These include poems, theses, plays, and other literary works, movies, choreographic works (dances, ballets, etc.), musical compositions, audio recordings, paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, software, radio and television broadcasts of live and other performances, and, in some jurisdictions, industrial designs. Designs or industrial designs may have separate or overlapping laws applied to them in some jurisdictions. Copyright is one of the laws covered by the umbrella term intellectual property.

Copyright law covers only the form or manner in which ideas or information have been manifested, the "form of material expression." It is not designed or intended to cover the actual idea, concepts, facts, styles, or techniques which may be embodied in or represented by the copyright work. For example, the copyright which subsists in relation to a Mickey Mouse cartoon prohibits unauthorized parties from distributing copies of the cartoon or creating derivative works which copy or mimic Disney's particular anthropomorphic mouse, but does not prohibit the creation of artistic works about anthropomorphic mice in general, so long as they are sufficiently different to not be deemed imitative of the original. In many jurisdictions, copyright law provides scope for satirical or interpretive works which themselves may be copyrighted (See Fair Use). Other laws may impose legal restrictions on reproduction or use where copyright does not - such as trademarks and patents.

Also, using content gathered from someone else's work is also not allowed. Though it doesn't have the copyright symbol on it, IT'S STILL SOMEONE ELSE'S WORK. You did not create it, therefore you cannot use it. This includes using a direct, flat image of someone else's tag, LP, or copyrighted material. It DOES NOT matter how you use that layer; whether it be just for colors, or just for effects. It is simply not allowed.



It is also considered ripping to use someone else's layers from a particular tag or LP. You cannot use someone else's generated materials as your own. Once again, you didn't make it, it's not yours.

The same goes for PSDs; people post PSDs for learning purposes, not to use and make your tags better. You can open the PSD and LOOK at what the person has done to create effects/lighting/whatever, but that does not mean you can USE IT AS YOUR OWN in your tag. Plain and simple.


Please, don't get this confused with resources. If someone posts C4Ds, etc and says 'Free to use', then obviously they're free to use without worry, once again, without claiming them as your own.

If it's at all questionable as to whether you'll be ripping content or not, contact the questionable contents owner and just ask for permission to use it. In that case, more than not, the person is more than happy to let you use it and are even curious to see the final outcome.


Failure to comply with these rules and regulations can result in: Infractions, suspensions, bans, demotions and/or revocation of premium (no refunds).


I don't mean for this to be negative, it just means people are uninformed. That's fine, everyone has to learn at some point.




Thanks for reading and understanding

The LayeredGFX Staff

Originall Posted by Joemal