[theme-reviewers] GPL Screenshots

Wed Nov 13 13:56:27 UTC 2013

I have had an instance when the copyright owner (Steve McCurry) of a very
famous image (the Afghan Girl) contacted me because I had used a photo
taken by him in the screenshot of my theme, that too without attribution. I
was able to explain that the image came from a very laudatory article I had
written, and that the article I had written had all the credits along with
the story behind the picture. That settled the matter, but I did change the
screenshot and ever since, I have been very cautious about the images that
I have used.

On Wed, Nov 13, 2013 at 7:32 AM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net> wrote:

> That would be an acceptable route, though ideally, any "example" featured
> images would be fairly generic, and not "markety".
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 13, 2013 at 8:22 AM, Rohit Tripathi <rohitink at live.com> wrote:
>
>> No actually, the thumbnails are not available in the default installation
>> state. I only bundle a header image with my theme, nothing else. But, using
>> some demostation images for features posts in the screenshot, give the user
>> an idea what the theme would look like when used with featured images.
>> Providing licenses for them is not a big deal for me, so is it fine If i
>> use a proper screenshot, with licenses for thumbnails stated?
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 08:19:48 -0500
>>
>> From: chip at chipbennett.net
>> To: theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> Subject: Re: [theme-reviewers] GPL Screenshots
>>
>> Unless those thumbnails are visible in the default installation state, I
>> would recommend changing the screenshot.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 13, 2013 at 8:17 AM, Rohit Tripathi <rohitink at live.com>wrote:
>>
>> So, should I state licenses for each of the visible thumbnails in the
>> theme?
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 07:58:15 -0500
>> From: chip at chipbennett.net
>>
>> To: theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> Subject: Re: [theme-reviewers] GPL Screenshots
>>
>> As for "fairness": no Theme developers are "picked out". All-human,
>> all-volunteer team. We're going to miss some things sometimes. When we find
>> them, or they are brought to our attention, we address them.
>>
>> As for images used in screenshots: that is part of the reason for the
>> "reasonable facsimile" requirement for screenshots. If the default
>> installation is too far afield of the screenshot, then the screenshot is
>> already inappropriate, regardless of the copyright/trademark status of
>> images used to generate the screenshot.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 13, 2013 at 7:54 AM, Thomas from ThemeZee <
>> contact at themezee.com> wrote:
>>
>> I guess there are a lot of themes which have images in their screenshots
>> which are not GPL licensed or GPL compatible (some just look like stock
>> photos). I have actually thought about updating some of my theme
>> screenshots with better images, too. Since a lot of themes do that I
>> thought it would be okay.
>>
>> I don't mind personally if such images in screenshots are allowed or not
>> in the future, but I find it is a little bit unfair when some theme authors
>> are picked out to remove their screenshot images, while others are still
>> allowed to use them. As far as I can see no reviewer has ever taken any
>> look on the theme screenshot and therefore every image in screenshots was
>> approved without checking for GPL compatibility.
>>
>> Maybe a good rule would be that any images on the screenshot have also to
>> be bundled with the theme (would be also very fair for users because they
>> can get the theme as displayed on the screenshot). And bundled theme
>> resources are checked against GPL anyway.
>>
>>
>> 2013/11/13 yulian yordanov <yul.yordanov at gmail.com>
>>
>> Fair use of a picture is when you wrote a post about the movie and
>> include a picture form it as an illustration.
>> But what is the purpose of such a picture in the theme's screenshot? The
>> author simply wants by using a catchy image his theme to be easily spotted
>> and distinguished among all others, don't he. So it is just a sort of
>> advertisement not a fair use of a picture. Moreover, using such is a 'mind
>> trick' - the user is made to associate that nice looking picture with the
>> theme itself ;)
>>
>> Fingli
>>
>>
>> 2013/11/13 Rohit Tripathi <rohitink at live.com>
>>
>> What about Screenshots of Yutube Videos?
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 00:12:52 -0600
>> From: emil at uzelac.me
>> To: theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> Subject: Re: [theme-reviewers] GPL Screenshots
>>
>>
>> Thanks :-)
>> On Nov 13, 2013 12:11 AM, "Justin Tadlock" <justin at justintadlock.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  The last version I downloaded had Spider-Man, Batman, Fight Club, and
>> other images.  It also had a YouTube music video.  I might not have the
>> latest version though.  I'll check as soon as I get a chance.
>>
>> On 11/13/2013 12:05 AM, Emil Uzelac wrote:
>>
>> You are absolutely correct. All non-GPL images were removed while back,
>> did we miss any? if so would you be kind and point them to us and I will
>> personally remove them.
>> On Nov 13, 2013 12:01 AM, "Justin Tadlock" <justin at justintadlock.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  I'm inclined to believe that this falls under fair use based on the few
>> court rulings I've read about similar issues.  I don't care what we decide
>> though.  If we're putting a stop screenshots like this, then the theme unit
>> test data must be revised to include images and other media that are
>> licensed under the GPL.  I know many people, myself included, have
>> screenshots that include theme unit test data.
>>
>> On 11/12/2013 11:07 PM, Rohit Tripathi wrote:
>>
>> I was asked to update my screenshots for a theme because, a part of the
>> screenshot contained an image(post with featured image) from a movie.
>> Obviously, the movie is copyrighted to someone else, but I am not
>> distributing the poster with the theme. Secondly, I am not violating any
>> copyrights too. Screenshots are just demonstrations of a site using my
>> theme. What can be a better screenshot than the screenshot of a real site
>> actually using the theme?
>>
>>  Secondly, if the images shown in the screenshots itself have to be
>> under GPL then there can be many problems with a large amount of themes.
>> None of the themes, declare licenses for the images/site used to create the
>> screenshot. I bet most of them are not GPL. But, it doesn't matter we are
>> not distributing the images. It only makes the theme looks good. Moreover,
>> we are not using paid or pirated images. Also, the images used to build the
>> screenshot are not even Default images in the theme, that they would show
>> up in theme preview.
>>
>>  Thirdly, even the components of the Theme Unit test might cause a
>> conflict with the screenshot being GPL. For e.g. the *Post Format Test:
>> Video*(in theme unit test)*, *if the screenshot contains that particular
>> post, then the video would appear in it. The image of the Video/or the
>> Thumbnail of the video is not under GPL. So, isn't that a problem?
>>
>>  All I want to say is that, we are all using fully GPL compatible
>> resources in our themes. I think, there shouldn't be such strictness on the
>> themes. Also, I would completely respect the decision taken by theme admins
>> on this. But, I atleast request you to understand the genuinity of the
>> cause I bring to you.
>>
>>  Regards,
>> Rohit Tripathi
>>
>>
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>> --
>> Yulian Yordanov
>> post-scriptum.info
>>
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-- 
Sayontan Sinha
http://mynethome.net | http://mynethome.net/blog
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