4 replies to this topic

[Scottie]

In case you aren't following the smiley/avatar discussion happening in 3 or 4 different threads at the moment, you can catch up here.

We have new smileys including limited-time halloween smileys:

The "View all Smileys" window has been expanded to 2 columns to reduce scrolling through the limitless smileys we now have. If you need to express something with a smiley and we don't have it, I'm sure Jill will find it for you.

[Jill]

Cuz I got nuthin better to do...



Gotta go put those other ones I found but haven't put up yet...hope we still have room on the server!

[Ron Carnell]

I hate to damper anyone's enthusiasm, but isn't "finding" graphics/smilies a little too much like that guy who recently "found" some SEO articles for his web site?

Whether it's a tiny smilie, an intricate page design, or a 2,000 word article, someone invested time and talent in creating it. If it "appears" to be in the public domain, that usually just means the last person to steal it didn't put their own name on it. Does anyone really want to be responsible for perpetuating the complete lack of disregard for intellectual property rights that has characterized the Internet for the past decade?

[Jill]

I thought about that too, Ron, but it does appear that these smilies are available for public use. I've not seen any place that has said anything about not using them. Most sites tell you to feel free to use them, as long as you don't run them on their server.

Now, you're certainly right that these could have been passed down through the ages, and someone somewhere did not want their smilies stolen. I guess there's no way for us to know that for sure.

Jill

[dragonlady7]

There are sites devoted to royalty-free smilies and the like.
That said, sometimes there are copyright issues. There was a problem a while back in a blog-type-site I used where someone claimed that a "mood icon set" (a bunch of smilies) was breaking their copyright. But the person who'd assembled the set had done so on her own time from a vast number of different sources, and was very upset when it was removed because of this person's complaint.
That kind of art is very difficult to police. So you're right, it's a real problem, but I don't know how many people who create smilies make their living off selling them. *shrug* Something I'm sure Jill has been respectful of!!! We all know how she feels about content-stealing!