Hi All,
I created a Layout for my Servers a couple of years ago. It took a few days to put together but then months of adjusting and getting it right to a point we were happy with it.

Can anyone tell me if I have a copyright to it as its been taken without permission and used on 2 servers that I know of up to now.

I'm afraid there's not much you can do about people downloading your layouts and then using them on other servers. As for whether or not you have the copyright to them I'll leave for someone else to answer but like I said, not much (ie. nothing) you can do about it. I suppose you could try and ask the server owners nicely to stop using your layouts but somehow I don't think they'll oblige.

dont allow shift+ u on the server... i think there's a way.

Quote from Bmxtwins :

dont allow shift+ u on the server... i think there's a way.

Layouts can be taken from replays as well.

Andy King, I would say you are SOL. It might be "yours" in the sense that you created it but once its out there pretty much anyone can use it. It's pretty much the same deal with skins. There is nothing you can do to keep people from "stealing" either.

Can't you just GIFT them and be happy that they're popular? It's always an option to give things away for the greater good of the community.

Quote from Andy King :

Can anyone tell me if I have a copyright to it as its been taken without permission and used on 2 servers that I know of up to now.

If you owned rights to the layout in question, what action would you pursue?
Would you pay a lawyer to draft you up a cease and desist?
Would you press charges against the infringing party?

What is the real benefit of controlling the distribution and use of an arrangement of virtual objects in a niche software application?

I'd like to know, because other people in this community seem to think that their work should only benefit them.

This is pathetic. Nobody is making any money. Nobody cares who makes layouts so getting credit for creating the layout is pointless.

People take things way too seriously.

Quote from sil3ntwar :

This is pathetic. Nobody is making any money. Nobody cares who makes layouts so getting credit for creating the layout is pointless.

People take things way too seriously.

Nobody is making money, but some of us server operators like to see people coming back to their server and one of the ways we can do this is by giving drivers a good layout.

Some layouts are very time consuming to make (I know; I've made a few), and it is nice to the ego to get the acknowlegement. And if I'm putting in up to 12 - 16 hrs doing and honing a great layout, that is a serious amount of my time, especially as my time doing this is seriously limited due to work and family, I can't spend time racing online [no loss to the community there!), hotlapping, or admining the server, updating my LFSLapper config, etc.

Anyway, enough of the rant.

The only way you could maybe limit the "theft" of your layouts is by only loading them for special league's, etc., with password protected or private events.

I've started putting my server name on the layout - not at all hard to remove, but at least it's something.

Money may not be changing hands , but he is a server owner and that means people on his server is payment for his time , i can kinda understand if something he spent many hours on has been taken and used by another server owner to fill their own servers ..

however ....

You gotta expect people to save their own time by taking a finished product
when said product is not protected by anything other than good will .

That might well suck ... but then we are humans ..our track record is poor at best for this kind of thing.

Check your local law. Here in the Netherlands you can claim all rights if you made it, put a copyright logo on it and if you did not spread it without the note that you have rights, or something in similar lines.

With stuff like this copyright, local law (lmao) means nothing.

You can quote whatever you like but it if you make a layout/skin/whatever that people like someone will use it.

Basically, there is nothing you can do, stop being so precious

Sorry, harsh but true.

There is a lot you can do, but it's usually not worth the effort.

Quote :

and it is nice to the ego to get the acknowlegement

If you care most for your ego then having it used on another server is surely the biggest stroking it can get.

If somebody took your work and claimed it was there work then I can understand you being a little annoyed, but if you are putting it onto your server for the general public to use it - don't then be suprised if the general public then use it - and one of the things that LFS supports within it's framework with no external tools is the downloading of layouts...

Your layouts are not stolen at all, they are given away.

If you want people to come to your server then the trick is to run a good server. I myself made lots of layouts for the CTRA Bump and Jump server, and anybody could have taken those layouts, but they kept coming back to play them on the CTRA server because the server offered lots of extra features: like race position tracking even though they where on skidpan/carpark layouts etc.

Features and good adminning is what will make your server stand out from the crowd, the combo is pretty meaningless - layouts are not even shown on the server screen.

Becky

Bit torn here.

On the one hand, I understand why some people want to "own" and keep what they offer - it is a good selling point for your server; on the other hand, giving and receiving from the LFS community is great.

When I first went online with LFS (after months of solo-ing), I felt great when someone, without asking, gave me a good set for a combo I was doing very badly in (I'm now at the only doing poorly stage).

So, when people struggle, or when asked, I offer/give my sets away (they're for keyboard, so not many want them). I also dabble with LFSLapper, and I've made and given away almost everything that I've produced (although don't think many people have taken me up on the smutty marshalls - you have to leave the pits on my (Sin'rs) server to know what I mean!).

I've also loaded most of my layouts on the layout forum (think I still have a few on reverse configuration that I haven't put on yet).

Good admining - due to other committments (mainly family and job), I now struggle to get onto my server once a week now for about an hour, so, unfortunately, very basic admining (kick/ban) is almost left to people who actually join server, with semi-automatic ban for swearing due to the way I've set up LFSLapper.

But I have 2 servers up and running that I pay for. They're there as a sort of thank you to everyone, especially people who let me play on their servers. (Some servers I couldn't get on as they don't allow keyboarders; CTRA may well have been one? But their server; their rules).

Features - apart from some basic features via LFLapper (the older one, where you basically made buttons and labels; not the newer one, which seems to rely on programming skills (I wouldn't have a clue what to do with an array; and I gave up helping my sons with their maths and physics homework when they reached year 2 of high school).

But all a bit moot just now anyway.

It's so easy to copy and download someone's layout from their server - I've even helped a few do it from my server, for people who wanted to practise when off-line, and nothing to stop you using pen and paper to draw rough layout and work from that - just a bit more effort.

When ever I have spotted anyone using any of the Windstyle Cruise layouts I have joined their server and asked kindly to do so, and usually they do, failing that they ban me from their server because they wont it or get banned before I get the chance to ask because I was wearing my WS.C tag or known my username.

Failing of them doing so, I report to Head of Windstyle and is for them to decide if they wont to ban them from our server/reset account/other

Quote from SamH :

Can't you just GIFT them and be happy that they're popular? It's always an option to give things away for the greater good of the community.

I agree with this man,

So what if 1 server uses a layout you made? its the "server" and not the layout that people come for. I do like layout when im drifting... and a server that changes layouts often and offers a great variety is what i like, also one key thing for me is that the server is nicely moderated and not to populair...

cause populair servers=fail, look at the 42d servers, specially the driftwars server, its a very friendly and nice team that operates the server, and they have a master on making good layouts...

....but.... full of idiots, just 10 year old´s with the rb4 that crashes everyone! try to do a nice twin and you have some idiot destroying it... also if you are alittle bit slower people cant just wait to pass, no they ram you of the track!

so a nice password protected server offered only to a decent gang of members who actually can behave is what i want... and it doesnt exist!