GhostWolf - Out of the Abyss: Piracy Notice

Piracy Notice!
I wish that this notice was not necessary.
No one hates piracy more than artists.

Judith and Tom Williams, friends of mine who are musicians and composers, state:

There are many types of piracy, but I will deal mostly with the midi music, art, graphics, and poetry piracy problem I have witnessed growing on the net. There is a trend toward total disregard of the ownership and use of the work of others, even where that work is clearly identified and displayed as Copyrighted, and the site has a very clear warning not to copy them. This must stop!

Most people guilty of piracy are ignorant, rather than malicious, or dishonest. However, this page is here to enlighten both. It is my duty, as an artist, writer, and poet, to educate people in regards to something that could hurt ALL artists on the web. More and more, however, it is the pirates themselves being hurt by lack of co-operation.

I make sure that my midi files have my copyright embedded in the midi file itself, so it is not hard to prove who sequenced it. Each page I write has the copyright at the top of the page, as does each poem, each article. Each piece of art I create has the copyright at the bottom of the artwork.

It is very disheartening to an artist to find their work pirated and being used on an unauthorized page, with no credit. It is a violation, and yes, it is a crime.

It is a very unnecessary crime, too, since there are numerous midi music archives out there that offer music files for free use. It is a very unnecessary crime because I've stated clearly in my copyright statement that all one need do to use my material is ask. That's it; just simply ask.

THIS site is NOT a free-use midi, art, poetry, and graphics archive, and should any of my material - or material I know to be copyrighted be on a site such as this without permission of the author, I would be most interested in hearing about it.

A Word About Piracy and ISPs:

Be Warned: Internet Service Providers will be most unhappy to know you are storing and using copyrighted material on their servers without the permission of the copyright holder. If it is found by me, I may not even contact you, but rather, call your ISP directly and identify you as an infringer of Copyright. My experience with Internet Service Providers in this regard has been 100% positive.

Do you know why? Because it is the law. They must, if notified of copyrighted material being used by someone who is not authorized to do so, remove that material. They also remove the user's account and pages.

I suggest that you remember that the next time you are tempted to pirate a copyrighted file of any kind, or anything else that is not for free use. ISPs do not take such abuse lightly.

If you are curious as to why this is, you may wish to ask them why. They will be happy to tell you.

Rule of Thumb: If you see a notice saying, "Do not copy" or "Copyright ©", it is in your best interests to heed that notice. Besides, piracy is really a rotten thing to do. Rule of thumb for midi files, graphics, text, or anything you find, is

"IF IN DOUBT, DO WITHOUT."

Also refer to my Copyright Statement and Copyright Information pages for more information.