Attached Link: http://members.lycos.nl/alwaystubes/index2.htm

I downloaded every single one of them! Not to use -I've deleted them all but if everyone who reads this downlaods every tube of that site.....think of the bandwidth limits LOL!!!!! Might get it shut down between us...even if only for a while There were a few there I recognised from the galleries here and they were marked 'unknown'

Personally, I find that highly abusive activity, gillbrooks. It is always a better idea to contact the artist who's art is being redistributed, rather than attack the person redistributing. That in itself creates a more hostile territory to tread when an artist does request an image removed and/or credited. Why attack, when it is so much easier to educate? MorriganShadow

This idiot even links to which site he tubed them from: Mariann's world, Soryama, davenestler.com, jessica's pinups, etc. I am off to notify those who have been ripped-off. This tubing stuff is just insane. If it aint your damp pic, don't tube it; plain and simple. I'm glad that my artwork sucks so that tubers pass it up. -The Starkdog

From what I saw, only one artist on his/her list gives limited permission to tubers. The others do not, although they do have contact information for anyone wanting to license their works. Oh and don't feel too bad, Starkdog, mine ain't good enough to swipe either. Or maybe they all avoid it like the plague 'cuz I don't got no nekkid wimmen. ;-)

Well, I would call stealing someones art and tubing it abusive activity. Also, how would they know they were being 'attacked' just by people downloading those tubes? That is why they put them there. Very few who do this are capable of being educated - they don't even consider they are doing wrong. Because they erased the background from the subject they even consider it theirs and have even on some sites put a copyright on it. Sorry, but I don't agree with you on this one but I won't argue on it further, and I'll delete my earlier post if you would prefer that.

I hear what you're saying, gillbrooks, and we both have our opinions. I'm still of the school of "you catch more flies with honey". ;) MorriganShadow

Interesting. I saw this thread in the copyright forum too. I just did an experiment....

Some of the images that don't have a site link listed appear to be "stolen" from other tubers. The ones with links attached seem to be "originally" tubed by the site owner.

The way you can tell is if you open the tube in PSP and use the eraser tool set to 100% and about 80 in size then then right click while moving the eraser tool across the background.

Even if you transplant the image onto another backgroundless template, it will still show a the original background.

#92 (page 10, top right) is a Greg Korn (Horn?) image if you add the background back in.

Message edited on: 03/12/2005 20:01

Message edited on: 03/12/2005 20:02

Just look where the site is hosted and, not in English? well, some english. Doesn't Lycos have rules about posting someone elses copyrighted material on users sites in their TOS? If they break the site's TOS the site could be taken down for copyright infringement.

Better contact the artists (I already did with two or three ^_^) On Epilogue we have such threads pretty often and we have defined policy in this cases: contact the artists you think were harmed and let THEM do the rest (e.g. contacting the site owners, the host owners etc.) If you are not the one harmed you can do very little.

Hello, What is a tube? Sorry but Im a bit ignorant on copyright infringement lingo.

A "tube" is a an image that has no background. It's saved in a format that has no background and is able to be used over and over again.

It can be an image that has been extracted from existing art IE: a single figure, a tree, a rock, a weapon, from it's background picture.

It can also be an image that someone made specifically to be a tube IE: a poser render saved in a .png format, which is similar to a "tube" in that it has no background.

What people here are upset about is that art images are being used to make tubes. Portions of the image are being extracted for use in other things and new backgrounds being made for it, sparkly things, glitter and animation etc. Not all artists get upset about their art being used to make tubes and signature tags etc. I made a post in the copryright forum about how Greg Horn embraces and even displays what others have done with his art, on his website.

Message edited on: 03/13/2005 06:18

It's not tubes or brushes or whatever your paint program calls them that are illegal, it's the fact that the artwork from which they are made very often belongs to someone else who has not given the tuber permission to use it. Personally I avoid all tubes & brushes/what-have-you that do not have clear terms of use & all permissions listed. No matter how good it looks or how perfect the tube is for my project, if it's in any way "unknown" or "found on the net" I simply do not download it. What with all the lawsuits over copyright infringement & such, it really pays to be safe.

It's not tubes or brushes or whatever your paint program calls them that are illegal Exactly. There are many contientious, copyright-aware folks out there who make and share or sell completely original graphic tubes (also nozzles, brushes, stamps, etc.). I've downloaded and even bought tubes from reputable people whose work I knew was legitimate. The problem is that there's a certain kind of mindset in a certain kind of group that says, "If it's on the web, it's mine to do with as I please," and that includes chopping the work up and passing it around like a joint at a party. bonni

Worse than that. I mean, someone has to buy said joint in the first place, which means he/she can share if they wanna since they own the thing. Tube thieves don't, they're the ones that steal someone else's party joint & pass it around with no consideration at all for the poor sap they ripped off. Bummer, man. :-(

Hello to all of you I want to tell you that I have written permission from the artists to use their art for tubes. When the artist says NO to me I do respect that and don't use the art.Most of the artists also wanted that I make a link to their site and give them credit for the pictures wich I did ! And I also can say that that each tube is made by ME ! I don't rip off artists ,if they asked me to remove the tubes because they don't agree any longer for some reason I will remove the tubes immediatley. I'm sorry that you didn't asked me first about the use of art, you all could have used the emailbutton on my site! Mackie I

I saw toxicangel's "The Forest Lake" on there dont know him but i bet he would not be happy. Anyone knowing him please let him know.

Thank you for telling me. I have some unknown on my site and I really don't know who they from. I will remove it. Thanks again Mackie

If you've asked permission from the artists, how is it that you have so many "Unkowns"... You know... If you asked them, you got to know who they're from? Logically? hummmm... yup...

Mackie, the fact that you're getting permissions & making an effort to sort out the okay stuff from the no-nos is a very good thing and I applaud your efforts to do it right. Perhaps, as part of your site's terms of use or FAQ, you could post a list of all your permissions so that the question doesn't come up again. Most, if not all, copyright-safe tube groups & sites do that. That way you don't get hassled & people wanting your tubes don't get confused about whether or not it's okay to use them.

The Unknows that I have are pictures that I found on the net long before I started my tubessite and used them only for psp so I really don't who they are from. Sometime I get a email from someone who know the artist and then I remove the tube or I'll mail the artist and get permission.I've also recieved an email from a unknown artist who didn't want her art to be tubed so I removed the tube. I totally respect the artist wishes and also some of my tubes has a copyright label on it because the artist asked me to. So you see I really try to follow their rules. After all it is their ART not mine. And I don't sell or get paid for tubes. It is my hobby to tube and I'm starting to learn Poser so I can make my own tubes. I really enjoy all the beautiful things I see here and I hope I'll get to make such things myself. But it isn't easy ))) But maybe you're right Byrdie and should I make some changes on my site. Thanks for responding and maybe some of you changed their minds about this tuber ))) Mackie

http://groups.msn.com/Safetubeproject/links.msnw Lots of advice on becoming a copyright-safe tuber here, also suggestions on how to identify your "unknowns". An excellent place to learn how to set up a good tube site. There's also TWRAR -- Taggers Who Respect Artist's Rights -- on Yahoo. Plenty of people there willing to advise & help out.

Thanks for adress. It's really appreciated and I'll go check it out now. Thanks a lot,Byrdie

To do the right thing, you should remove all those unknown from your site untill you actually know who made these images and can ask them properly. Because right now, you're redistributing the artwork of those artists you say you respect without knowing if they are ok with it or not. What if they're not ok with it? You'll remove them when you're asked to remove them, that's good, but by the time they find out you're redistributing their images and ask you to remove them, many people may already have grabbed them from your site and that's not so good.

I keep all my "unknowns" in a folder marked To Be Identified and don't use them until I know whose they are and that it's okay to do so. And if I can't get permission, I delete them. Also, I keep the ones that are only for personal use separate from the commercial sets. Same way with my Poser, Fonts, Brushes & Stock Photographs files, makes for less hassle that way.

Message edited on: 03/14/2005 14:23

You can identify some of your unknowns yourself. Using Paint Shop Pro, open the tubed image, then use the Eraser set at 100% opacity, 100% density, 100% hardness, size about 80 (You want to cover a large area). Then hold down the right mouse button and move your cursor around the background of the tube and the background magically appears. Look for the artists signature and magnify it a little if necessary to read it.

Thanks for the tip, must do that when I get the time. Got a great big ol' Quarantine folder that needs sorting. Meanwhile it's safely locked away so it doesn't get out on the Net or anywhere else it shouldn't.