Minecraft Forums

Any content in a texture pack posted to Minecraftforum.net must be either:

1) Your own original work-- both the idea and the artwork were created by you.
2) Textures from another artist used with written permission.

If you wish to use someone else's textures in a remix pack, or as bases, place-holders, or filler, you must first consult the artist's copyright policy. Unless the policy states that their textures can be used without notice (aka, without needing permission), you must contact the artist and obtain permission to use their work BEFORE posting your pack.

Any packs that contain unoriginal textures without demonstrating proof of permission will be removed, and the poster will be warned.

Giving credit is not the same as getting permission! Permission is a must.

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Texture packs that use Painterly textures must follow the same rules above listed for remixes- permission must first be obtained before the painterly textures can be used. Painterly remixes are not, however, against the rules:

If you wish to use Painterly graphics for modding purposes or for creating new texture packs, please ask first, and if given permission, you must add a credit in the mod or pack, and a link back to this page. Users may not sell, profit from, or solicit donations through use of any part of this pack.

This means, that if you give proper credit to the creator of Painterly, obtain their permission, and you don't make any profit off of it, then you can post it.

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If you see a pack that is using textures without permission, report it! Reports can be made by clicking on the 'report' text at the bottom of a post.

When reporting a texture pack, remember to include the following:

• The reason why you're reporting the post.
• A link to the original pack/author the textures were stolen from. We are only human- we can't possibily recognize every pack on the site. And packs with common names, such as Simple pack, are very hard to search for, so be sure to include a link!
• If possible, a list of the textures that were stolen.

You will not be punished if you report a pack but it does not contain stolen content, we understand that through thousands of texture packs some might look similar, but if you suspect something is stolen and have a link to the pack you think they stole from, please submit a report for a moderator to inspect.

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Any images found on the internet that you wish to use for your pack must either:

1) Come from a free-use site. This means that the site states that you are allowed to use/edit the images however you wish.
2) Be changed and/or recreated to such a degree that it becomes essentially your own work.
3) Be a recognized public domain image, such as the Mona Lisa.

This section is meant to prevent private photographers and graphic artists from having their copyrights violated, and to prevent lawsuits against minecraftforum.net for hosting stolen content.

Public domain images are ones that are prevasive in society, and can be found on many different websites. In essence, they don't 'belong' to anyone. Examples of public domain images include famous paintings, famous photographs, etc. A good rule of thumb to go by is the number of hits on Google-- if there are several thousand copies of the same image, hosted on many different sites, then odds are it's a public domain image, and can be freely used.

Any packs that are found to contain copyrighted images will be taken down, and the user will be warned.

When reporting a pack for use of google images, you must include proof of copyright infringement! Any reports that do not include proof will be ignored, as it is virtually impossible for us to hunt down a copyright across the entire internet

Updated to include rules for use of google images. Please read!

Quote from Stronghold257

This part confused me a bit. Also, great post! Read all of it.

Added some clarification. Hope that helps!

Quote from seanbreen97

Oh, my bad. I didn't know there was a specific format for reporting. Hope I didn't cause too much confusion. =/

And is there anything I can do if someone repeatedly steals my textures, even after having their threads deleted?

Mention that in your report, or PM an admin about it. Repeat offenders get harsher punishments.

Quote from riptide98

What if you havenever used the original, but people say, lets say iron in my pack, looks just like it. I am unsure wether or not to post it. May i pm you the original link and my terrain.png? By the way, i havent posted my pack yet.

If you are the original creator of the texture (i.e., it's not an edit of someone else's texture) then go ahead and post it. But if you're worried of being accused of stealing, perhaps consider changing the texture.

If it bothers you in the slightest, then maybe there's a reason. If you created the work, then it should never bother you. Otherwise, everything Steel has said is great to go by.

Quote from riptide98

Yes, but my bro and friends think they look alike, and I don't want to get into a legal argument. Is is ok if I pm you guys the terrain.png and the pack my friends think it is copying, or are you guys too busy?

That would be fine, you should feel comfortable approaching us with forum/texture-pack related issues you have.