I don't think you CAN copyright a material setting, as in a shader. It's the same as with lights and poses, and it HAS been ruled that you can't copyright dial settings.

That means in theory, that you can't copyright a character made with only the built-in morphs either. Anyone COULD do the same character "by mistake".

Of course, the actual possibility for it is rather slim, but not thoretically impossible.

And in the case of a shader... say it's a mirror. Well there's only so many (as in ONE, really) ways you can make a functioning mirror in Poser. So should the first one who figured it out have copyrighted it? That's insane.

I do agree that there's a lot of selfishness among Poser users. Of course, once we're talking about stuff for sale, the whole "but I need the money for my living" issue also comes into play, but to limit the use of free stuff? Personally... I think if you don't want anyone to use it commercially, then don't give it away. And if that's a problem, the solution is equally simple: Sell it instead.

The only things I've made where I've limited commercial use is the Star Trek things, and that's because oif Paramount's copyright, not mine.

I use shaders all the time. Most modified to some extent, but not all.

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You just can't put the words "Poserites" and "happy" in the same sentence - didn't you know that? LaurieA
  Using Poser since 2002. Currently at Version 11.1 - Win 10.