Can I steal vBulletin's smileys and use it on my non vBulletin board? Or is that wrong?

Might find this useful: http://mysmilies.com/

(I realize it doesn't answer your question, but...)

Thanks Chicken

I'll add that to my list with the following.

http://www.maxismiley.fr.st
http://www.coolarchive.com/icons.cfm

I just don't know if the smileys on vBulletin are copyrighted or not. Can you copyright a smiley?

Hello purplemokey,

If you *steal*... obviously you know you can't do that or otherwise you won't use that word ;)

The most clear cut method is to email the author and ask for the permission if you are talking about their images etc.

Choon

I was being fastidious :dgrin:

I'll check with vBulletin and let you guys know.

Originally posted by purplemokey
I was being fastidious :dgrin:

I'll check with vBulletin and let you guys know.
Fastidious? Hardly.

2 a : having high and often capricious standards : difficult to please <critics... so fastidious that they can talk only to a small circle of initiates -- Granville Hicks> b : showing or demanding excessive delicacy or care c : reflecting a meticulous, sensitive, or demanding attitude <fastidious workmanship>


Could you have meant facetious?


1 : joking or jesting often inappropriately : WAGGISH <just being facetious>
2 : meant to be humorous or funny : not serious <a facetious remark>
synonym see WITTY


Of course in your follow on posts you are simply being specious.


3 : having a false look of truth or genuineness : SOPHISTIC


You already managed to get one thread closed by beating up on Jelsoft - and I'll remind everyone that you are not even a customer; you simply took sides in an issue and decided to slander a vendor with whom you have no professional relationship and no personal experience.

I'll leave the adjective defining this behavior up to you.

-t

Originally posted by thewitt

Of course he was being facetious starting this thread:rolleyes:
Now you want to turn it into something else :eek:
I'm sure it wasn't purplemokey that got the "other thread" closed.
I'm willing to bet it goes much deeper than that [insert speculations here]

As for "stealing vB smilies; I read in their forums that vB lost copyright to them when they made them public domain quite a while back. Again. . . . I only 'read' that. I base that statement on the statements of others and not from a statement by Jelsoft itself. And in no way stating that they 'are' public domain.

The link Chicken provided is a Great one; if you want smilies ;)

Now let's not turn this thread into another :argue:




:D

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue
[clip]As for "stealing vB smilies; I read in their forums that vB lost copyright to them when they made them public domain quite a while back. Again. . . . I only 'read' that. [clip]
A search on the vBulletin forums did not turn up any references to Jelsoft putting their smilie images in the public domain. I'd be curious where you read that they have released their images into the public domain, and that it is OK for PurpleMonkey or anyone else to use them in another context.

Copyright law is not particularly obscure or difficult to understand, however many people interpret it to suit their individual purpose. I own the copyright to anything I create, whether I specifically state it or not. If I choose to place something in the public domain and release my right to the image, I need to specifically state this is so.

If you wish to use something someone else owns or has created, it is at least common courtesy to ask permission. If you are not certain that something is free for the taking, you should not take before you ask. Basic building blocks for a civil society. Not rocket science.

In the case of vBs images, the bottom of every page on their site states a claim of copyright. This by itself does not guarantee rights to the items on their site, however it certainly does not by itself place anything on the site in the public domain either.

-t

Originally posted by thewitt

A search on the vBulletin forums did not turn up any references to . . . . . . For those of you not listening; let me again say I, in no way, am stating that vBB smilies are public domain :rolleyes:

thewitt, I'm not going to waist my time combing that forum just to show you some obscure reference to such a . . . . .

thewitt is merely saying that if something is made by someone it's implicitly copyrighted, whether it's stated or not. To make sure that the art (in this case smileys) is ok for you to use, just fire off an e-mail and ask.

Actually in some cases people will allow the use of copyrighted material, just because you *did* ask. These days it often comes as a shock to artists that people still do go out of their way to get permission instead of just using the 'it's on the net so it's free' speech :D

As for copyrighting a smiley (post ages ago), I don't see why not. Of course to make a deal out of it, you'd have to make sure your smiley didn't look the same as a smiley that came before yours... that might be why people just don't care too much. A few like the non-circular purple set here could possibly be made so if the artists so decided. Smiley's are more a hobby for people though and not something ever designed for commercial gain (who'd pay for a smiley after all) :)

Greg Moore

Originally posted by akashik
thewitt is merely saying that if something is made by someone it's implicitly copyrighted, whether it's stated or not. To make sure that the art (in this case smileys) is ok for you to use, just fire off an e-mail and ask. . . . .Thanks Greg,

I probably shouldn't have posted something "overheard in the locker room." But your advice, and choon said it earlier, are the best course of action.
I've never heard of anyone refusing their smilies when asked.
And then there's Chicken's link . . . . . . Should be enough there for anyone.

The link I provided is a collection of smilies from the web, although they do attempt to credit the creator, and there *may* be requirements if you use one from the site. Just be sure to credit anyone who requires credit and I don't think it will be a big deal. It seems the majority of things like smilies are free to be used by others and the creators like seeing their work used/enjoyed by others.

I pm John Percival about where he got his smileys and can I use them on a non vBulletin board. Guess what? No answer so far ... so do I assume he is using it illegally and doesn't want to be caught? Or is he just ignoring me? What are my plans of action if he doesn't answer me?

When I get a couple weeks off I'm just going to reengineer vBulletin and release it for free and no one will have any problems with them again.

Any problems in that.

Originally posted by thewitt

Fastidious? Hardly.


DAMN I always get those two confused.

Originally posted by thewitt
You already managed to get one thread closed by beating up on Jelsoft - and I'll remind everyone that you are not even a customer; you simply took sides in an issue and decided to slander a vendor with whom you have no professional relationship and no personal experience.
-t

First John Pervical knew who yourhostsucks was. I think it was revenge.

Second, when I see someone being beat up on the street then I go and help.

Third, I'm sure John Pervical had something to do with getting that thread shut down so he doesn't get any more bad press.

Fourth, I wonder if John has apologized to yourhostsucks or to his webhost?

John apologized in the thread, I think this one needs to be shut down as well. There've already been 2 others shut down, this one's not doing any good to it.

Yes shut this one down too so it goes to the bottom of the pack and no one will read it.

Update: still no answer from John about the smileys.

Originally posted by purplemokey
Update: still no answer from John about the smileys.Just curious if you PMed him here or at vBulletin.com about this. IIRC he has his PMs at vBulletin.com turned off. You would probably have more luck with john@vbulletin.com.

Originally posted by purplemokey
First John Pervical knew who yourhostsucks was. I think it was revenge.What was revenge?

Third, I'm sure John Pervical had something to do with getting that thread shut down so he doesn't get any more bad press.Have you noticed how many other threads around here have gotten shut down lately? The mods are on a rampage and will close anything remotely controversial.

Fourth, I wonder if John has apologized to yourhostsucks or to his webhost? *sigh* As you can see by the text in the (first) closed thread, John apologized to YHS in that thread directly.

There still seems to be a lot of hurting people around here, so I would ask that anyone who still has any grievances against me would email me. I am not going to continue reading these forums here, and I have asked anyone on the vBulletin team to leave these discussions too.

I am sorry to the WHT moderators for causing so much inconvenience and uproar on your forums. That was never my intention when coming here to reply to the original thread, and I am sorry it has turned out like this.

I have already apologised personally to Yourhostsucks and his web host for the misunderstanding, and I have also removed his license details from his profile as he requested.

I have not had anything to do with the threads here being closed. Purplemonkey, I will respond to your message after the weekend, when I am in the office, not at home. I did not even know that I had an email from you as I do not (usually) work at the weekend.

The vBulletin smilies are copyright of Jelsoft and may not be used except within vBulletin without explicit permission from Jelsoft. They are not public domain.

Finally, I encourage anyone who wants to discuss anything with me to email me.

Regards,
John Percival

Originally posted by JohnPercival
I have already apologised personally to Yourhostsucks and his web host for the misunderstanding, and I have also removed his license details from his profile as he requested.

That's all I wanted to hear but I hope you didn't phrase it as a "misunderstanding" and you were actually sorry for calling yourwebhost a thief.

Well I was in high hopes I would not have to post in here, "But"
I feel others have stated their position, so here is mine.
Listen to it close.

I have emailed John with no reply.. so I will not keep writing to myself...

I have already apologised personally to Yourhostsucks and his web host for the misunderstanding, and I have also removed his license details from his profile as he requested.


You should have never put my license information in my profile..
It is also nice I had to read here that you took it out. You talk
about email but seem to forget how to send mail yourself.

Your "we are sorry" does not mean alot when it is followed by a huge and uncalled for "BUT"...

You did not take the time to send one mail to anyone @yourhostsucks.com to ask
about our license. You instead choose to go direct to our provider demanding they
shut down our site because we are running illegal software. There is NO defence.
You say you had just cause because your took time to only speculate and assume things that
were not true. But took no time to just ask us for our license number.

The only mail yourhostsucks.com got was the one also sent to our provider demanding
they shut our site down:


Greetings,
Please be informed that the site listed in the Subject Line is using
Jelsoft's software - vBulletin (http://www.vbulletin.com/) - without a valid
License in clear violation of Jelsoft's Licensing Agreement.


Please remove this infringing material from your
servers for this violation or disable access to the same.


Sad thing is we do have a license.... you are so lucky they did not take your letter to heart
and delete our site, We have put a lot of work into this venture and all because of your uncalled
for actions we almost lost it all. YourHostSucks.com, a licensed customer, was almost shut down because
of Jelsoft's childish and unprofessional actions. This was all because I would not enter my customer
number and password into my profile at vBulletin forums. Very unethical actions............


Every effort has been made to find the name of the registered agent(s) on
the Web site(s) in question



I certify that the information in this notification is
accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that I, John Percival


Sad thing is, we were never contacted by anyone from Jelsoft. Not one
mail to anyone @yourhostsucks.com. But yea they took Every Effort/and
their information is accurate.

*sigh*

It is so sad that in todays world none takes responsibility for their actions, you
know you were wrong, we know you were wrong. Just take responsibility for your
uncalled for and unprofessional action. I will not speculate as to what kind of company
just attacks a site and tries to get it taken down without one mail to anyone at that site.

THE FACTS:

We run YourHostSucks.com.
We have a license.
You demanded our site be shut down on pure speculation and never contacted us as to what our license number was.

We will have to suffer because of your actions.
We will have a very hard time getting any kind of support in your forums//if we get any.. and why is this? (Because of your actions)
You have hurt us so much. You can not even step back and see that because you are to busy trying to defend your unjustified actions.

We love our vBulletin board.. but now we can not go to the vBulletin forums and request support because of your actions.
(well we could request.. but we are sure we will get no help)

Final Words:

Your actions were uncalled for and very wrong, they have hurt us in so many ways you could not imagine.
Be professional about it and take responsibility. Because you have done so much damage that can never be undone.

Best Regards,

YourHostSucks.com



PS: purplemokey..


First John Pervical knew who yourhostsucks was. I think it was revenge.


*no comment* :)


Second, when I see someone being beat up on the street then I go and help.


;)


Fourth, I wonder if John has apologized to yourhostsucks or to his webhost?


He did but with a huge "BUT" at the end.. still insinuating we were cunducting illegal activity *sigh*

YourHostSuck, I feel bad for you. I think everyone can read into this situtation what they need to know.

And on to the actual topic of this thread, I looked at infopop's board and they have essentially the same smileys but vBulletin just put in shading to make the smileys look 3D and some are colored differently. All the smileys are inbreeding with each other so my guess is that I can do the same thing.

BTW Can you copyright homer???

Thanks purplemokey...

I would like to try to contribute to the point of this thread.. :)

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24739

After alot of searching I found this on vbulletin forums,
which I would guess is the thread people have been talking
about in this thread.

I did not see a reply from a vbulletin rep, just people talking..

Third, I'm sure John Pervical had something to do with getting that thread shut down so he doesn't get any more bad press.Have you noticed how many other threads around here have gotten shut down lately? The mods are on a rampage and will close anything remotely controversial.

John had nothing to do with the closing of the other thread. It was closed as people just started insulting eachother and nothing new had been posted for a couple of pages. While rehashing the whole thing over and over is wonderful and all, personally, I got the picture after the first two pages.

As for the 'rampage', yes I have closed threads in which a host came and posted the same message in 6 threads, as well as one or two where adult related links were being posted. These weren't controversial, they were inappropriate.

While we'd rather not lock threads, when one is locked, that doesn't mean 'just start another one' nor 'drag the topic into other unrelated threads'. While I sypathize with yourhostsucks, I do not need to read it over and over again to get the idea.

This is the *final* tangent of the thread. I'll leave this thread open as purplemonkey is *attempting* to continue his discussion that he started.

The thread topic is:

Can I steal vBulletin's smileys and use it on my non vBulletin board?

-anything after this that is unrelated will be removed.

John already said it's copyrighted so there's nothing to discuss :)

Originally posted by purplemokey
YourHostSuck, I feel bad for you. I think everyone can read into this situtation what they need to know.

And on to the actual topic of this thread, I looked at infopop's board and they have essentially the same smileys but vBulletin just put in shading to make the smileys look 3D and some are colored differently. All the smileys are inbreeding with each other so my guess is that I can do the same thing.

BTW Can you copyright homer???

Actually, the smilies are copyrighted to Jelsoft/Kier Darby. He did those smilies totally from scratch using PhotoShop 6.

Thanks Chicken, I was getting tired of it too.

And on to the smileys, John said they were copyrighted but look at the following smileys. I will only post a few but I think you get my picture. They look the same to me. So I think according to John, smileys are copyrighted as long as you add some shading or change to a different color face. The file names are even the same too. Now that's funny part. Now if I was infopop I would be pissed.

Made the infopop smiley with 3D shading
http://ubbforums.infopop.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Made the infopop smiley orange, colored the mouth black and 3D shading
http://ubbforums.infopop.com/ubb/redface.gif
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/images/smilies/redface.gif

Made the infopop smiley darker blue with 3D shading
http://ubbforums.infopop.com/ubb/frown.gif
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Made the infopop smiley purple with 3D shading
http://ubbforums.infopop.com/ubb/confused.gif
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/images/smilies/confused.gif

Originally posted by Nicholas Brown


Actually, the smilies are copyrighted to Jelsoft/Kier Darby. He did those smilies totally from scratch using PhotoShop 6. Which smilies?

Originally posted by YourHostSuck
Thanks purplemokey...

I would like to try to contribute to the point of this thread.. :)

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24739

After alot of searching I found this on vbulletin forums,
which I would guess is the thread people have been talking
about in this thread.

I did not see a reply from a vbulletin rep, just people talking..

Thanks yourhostsucks, I read up on that thread. Very interesting.

Originally posted by Nicholas Brown


Actually, the smilies are copyrighted to Jelsoft/Kier Darby. He did those smilies totally from scratch using PhotoShop 6.

Not all of them as I proved above. I didn't have time to look at them all but I'm sure if you look up the filename for vbulletin and type that into infopop then you'll get the same smiley.

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue
Which smilies?

Im talking about the brand new *all yellow* smilies. The smile, frown, redface, biggrin,rolleyes ones that are green,yellow,blue,orange etc were done by Menno (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=19) for the vBulletin 1.x series.

In reply to purplemokey...never seen graphics with the same filenames??? :)

Originally posted by Nicholas Brown
In reply to purplemokey...never seen graphics with the same filenames??? :)
:eek:

Nicholas Brown,

Not to just but* in here, but I would think he means they would seem to be the same exact smilies, take a look at them... don't be s****d about it. I think you know what he ment.

:rolleyes:

Yeah whatever the filename is you can tell they are the same smiley. So does anyone know what the copyright law is on manipulating existing works? Also can you copyright homer or spam for your own

Originally posted by purplemokey
So does anyone know what the copyright law is on manipulating existing works?
The copyright for derivative works still belongs to the original copyright holder.
So all those silly girls who right-click my photography and edit it extensively & come back at me with a "but I changed it so it's mine now" can bite my @$$!
Sorry.. getting personal there ;)

Originally posted by lovelie

The copyright for derivative works still belongs to the original copyright holder.
So all those silly girls who right-click my photography and edit it extensively & come back at me with a "but I changed it so it's mine now" can bite my @$$!
Sorry.. getting personal there ;)

OH DAMNIT SO YOU'RE THAT GIRL I THOUGHT I WAS TALKING TO