Attached Link: http://www.mclink.it/personal/MC7872/graphics/index.html

I've recently posted a picture on the Poser Gallery; the picture is entitled "Body Studio 16", just one of the many images I've made for a personal portfolio, you can take a look at my web page to download the pictures. A couple of days ago, I received an email from MiCo Games where they accuse me to use a texture without giving the proper credits. I can't believe it, THE TEXTURE IS COMPLETELY MINE!!! I'de painted it from the scratch with Adobe Photoshop and the demo version of Zbrush. I don't know what to say; how can I save my picture? I really have nothing to deal with MiCo Games, but they're sending me emails every day, with the same accuse: YOU ARE A THIEF! What do have I to do? :-((((((

I just had a look at your site (which incidentally I found a little difficult to navigate because of the size of the home page) and the Body Studio 16 looks pretty good. If it's all yours then I say fight the bastards! If it's not, then you should be hanged. OK, let's assume you're on the side of sweetness and light. What you need to do is locate any files you saved on the way to making the finished article. You should then mail a couple of them to Micogames (keep a few up your sleeve) and copy them to somebody you can trust (your solicitor, your bank manager, Renderosity, the web?) showing that you went through various stages to get to the finished product. Challenge Micogames to show that your texture is exactly the same as theirs, and I mean exactly. If they are professionals then they should have built a watermark of some sort into the texture to prevent them being ripped off. If your image contains the same watermark then you are done for. If it doesn't then I guess you are home and dry. You can take on the big guys and win. I just beat British Telecom and they are about a billion times bigger than me. Then sue the bastards, or at the very least make them give you an abject apology on their website. Good luck, Maz

I don't know what the Emails really said but It is not legal to refer to someone as a thief, much less in writing, If you have have some way of proving the texture is yours then you should prove it to them and seek legal action. You should try to contact Mico Games personaly to solve this matter. Hope you guys come to an understanding soon. Your work is very nice as well as mico Games. Good Luck.

Of course they keep sending emails! You never bother to reply to them. The FIRST thing you should have done was to deny it, and send them a copy of your texture (with a water mark or something that only YOU know about). That way, if they are wrong, they should apologise publicly. If they are RIGHT, however, you should be shot. BUT only if they are right. :) I have a serious dislike for theft of someone else's work, however, with comunication, the stuation can be resolved. But only if you TALK to them, for heaven sake! Greywolf

I've replied to their emails!!! Just with a little delay, because I'm a medic, and didn't have the time to reply quickly. But I've replied, and with great detail!!! About the picture, I've just sent a full explanation in the thread named "Are we coming to this, MiCo Games?". I would like not to distribute my texture, but if it's the only way to demonstrate my honesty, well I'll send the picture: ask me and I'll send it via email attachment. BUT don't expect me to be quick! I cannot connect to the Internet every day!!! Pardon me for this problem...

JonVon, why not just post the FACE part of the texture? Just crop out the rest of the image, and maybe stamp the word "sample" in tiny letters on the cheek. That way you can still have your own original texture, without distributing it. It'd only take you a few minutes to do. If someone wants to try and match it up against Mico's, they can just paste the face onto a standard Poser 4 texture, and render it for comparison. The problem would be solved, Mico would have to apologize, and your original texture would still be exclusively yours. If that's not good enough, you can mail me the texture, and I'll PERSONALLY create two renders, one using your texture, and another using Mico's, then delete your texture from my hard drive. I don't personally care a rat's ass about EITHER of you, so I'm GUARANTEED to be an impartial judge. Sound fair? Damn, I could give King Solomon a run for his money, huh? ;)

Thank you... one less trouble to solve... NEXT!! hehehe Jack

heyas; there is a simpler way to compare the two textures. first, size them the same (the ratio should be the same, since they use the same template). copy and paste one to the other using, say photoshop. turn the new layer to 'difference.' everything that is black is not different (zero difference). you will see weird colours where things don't match. this is straightforward, mathematical, and unbiased. just for your info.

Sheezz--whatever happened to the good old days of Stayle Loseth and his attitude towards posting his original designs. The whole "Here's my contribution, feel free to modify it and give it back to the Poser community." If someone is going to get bunged up about how their creations are used, then maybe they shouldn't make them available to the general public. I read the "READ ME" enclosed in the archive, and if I feel that the uploader isn't quite ready to make their creation available without a load of strings attached, I usually pitch the item so I don't accidentally get snagged in a pissing match. I can understand the author of a particular work asking to retain certain rights if they make their creations available. Personally, in exchange for an item I've made available to the forum, I'd rather get an email letting me know that the item I've uploaded works, doesn't work, or is the greatest thing since Poser 3. I'd rather see a leaner FreeStuff page with items that don't have an encyclopedia of restrictions attached to them. I'd rather see someone thank me (via email) for an item, do something original with it, and make it their own. Seeing one of my props in a beautifully rendered scene is flattering enough. Being part of a contributor's list that reads like the end credits for The Phantom Menace seems to be rather penultimate. Maybe the final rendering is the result of other members of the Poser community, but it's kind of a pet peeve when the artist has to share the limelight for a vision that is purely his.

Well, if some one comes down on you for using their stuff without crediting them, you can always do it the American way. Deny Everything Admit Nothing Demand Proof Make Counter-accusations JonVon could have avoided all of this by just demanding MICOgames prove their side. JonVon REALLY didn't have to prove ANYTHING to them, and he didn't have to reply to their emails. If you're going to accuse someone of theft, YOU have to prove they stole it. JonVon's biggest mistake, whether he was guilty or not, was replying to the accusation in the first place. And MICOgames biggest mistake was accusing someone of theft in a PUBLIC FORUM without proof. And rest assured, just because a render looks like it MAY have been done with their texture doesn't mean it WAS.

hey Legume... I won't go into the discussion if JonVon is guilty or not... BUT USA isn't the whole world you know, the rest of the world have their ways too.... And as far as I'm conserned, maybe mico games were doing wrong when going public.. but as you can read in their posts they didn't accuse him of theft, they just wanted proper credit. And since they didn't accuse him of theft, they don't have to prove anything... And if Jonvon is innocent.. why didn't he reply immedietly (we now know why)? Then mico wouldn't have gone public... simple as that for me anyway! just my opinion.... could we just forget this now.. and do something more fun? like render? milaja

Milaja, I wasn't suggesting the USA was the whole world...I just said using those particular tactics was the American way. Japan isn't the whole world either, but sometimes I cook my meals the Japanese way :)

I think a way to make everyone feel secure is if the contributor posts how large their "READ ME" file is in the fun pages. That way, if I see a texture map that weighs in at a meg and a half, and the "READ ME" file is 300k, I can be informed that it is probably something I don't want to waste my time downloading. Seriously, think twice about whether you really want to make a prop or texture available online. If you feel you're going to freak out if you see your creation somewhere you didn't expect to see it (i.e. the Adult gallery, someone's portfolio, etc.) then maybe you're doing yourself, and everyone else a favor by not uploading it. I can understand retaining some rights, and wanting credit for something you created, but if you're going to give it away in a general forum, don't bog it down with a bunch of restrictions that you can't possibly enforce--let it go. There have been some things that I've posted on the Fun stuff and Free stuff pages (someone actually asked for permission to use one of my items--I was so stunned that I actually recreated the prop, made it better, and added a whole bunch of morph targets to it before I sent it to her--I also made it a point to send her future props before they made it on the Free Stuff pages), other items I send via email, and items like characters (which I seem to get attached to in the process of creating them) are kept securely on my hard drive.

Like it or not, MiCo games has made this a public issue. I'm glad to see the two interested parties are talking and it's up to them to settle this issue...no one here can. If it comes to be that MiCo Games was in error, it's HERE they should give their reply where THEY made the choice to discuss it....If it's JonVon's error, I'm sure he'll recieve the wrath of the Forum....in any case, the decision to stir this fire is MiCo Games and I feel they owe it to this forum to settle it HERE. Foxhollow

Yeah! Trial by Forum! That's better than Trial By Fire.