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Sorry if this is old news, I just found out about it today. Is SCAL next? I haven't purchased MTC yet, but I have been seriously considering it. Good luck, Andy!!
Boy, I must not understand copyright law very much. I thought this was still a free country and if you built a better product you could sell it. Hmmm ...
They also may just hope that MTC doesn't have the money to protect themselves. Many times a big company can squash a small competitor just because they have more time, money, lawyers and such. A small company can go under just for defending themselves, even if they are not doing anything illegal.
similar to what i posted on another site about this:
The alleged violations are mostly related to copyright infringement on CDS. If I were Provocraft, I'd be pissed too. Who wouldn't. If Provocraft doesn�t believe SCAL has infringed on their copyright material then they have no reason to go after them.
The issue here does not seem to be that MTC made a program to work with the Cricut, it is that Provocraft believes MTC has violated the copyright of CDS.
I�m not saying in any way that MTC has violated any copyright, but Provocraft seems to think they have.
similar to what i posted on another site about this:
The alleged violations are mostly related to copyright infringement on CDS. If I were Provocraft, I'd be pissed too. Who wouldn't. If Provocraft doesn�t believe SCAL has infringed on their copyright material then they have no reason to go after them.
The issue here does not seem to be that MTC made a program to work with the Cricut, it is that Provocraft believes MTC has violated the copyright of CDS.
I�m not saying in any way that MTC has violated any copyright, but Provocraft seems to think they have.
I agree. That's why I stay away from 3rd-party software and products in the first place. I just don't think it's ethical, whether it's legal or not.
I agree. That's why I stay away from 3rd-party software and products in the first place. I just don't think it's ethical, whether it's legal or not.
An interesting thought for anyone who comes here to CASE or be inspired by someone else's work.
__________________ If you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying you want a country based on Christian values, because you don't. ~ Jimmy Carter
Interesting. Thanks for posting this. I own MTC. I also still own 20+ cartridges as well. I use my Cricut a lot more often now that I have the software. I don't understand why they are going after MTC and not SCAL.
An interesting thought for anyone who comes here to CASE or be inspired by someone else's work.
I disagree. When I'm inspired by someone else's work, I don't use their ideas to make money for myself. MTC's new feature was going to make it possible to copy cartridges and store them as a "backup" in the MTC program. That's copyright infringement. I don't think a snippy answer was called for either.
I disagree. When I'm inspired by someone else's work, I don't use their ideas to make money for myself. MTC's new feature was going to make it possible to copy cartridges and store them as a "backup" in the MTC program. That's copyright infringement. I don't think a snippy answer was called for either.
Actually, Jeaniebean, I take that back. After thinking about this for a little while, I realized that I have used ideas I've seen here to inspire some of my workshops for which I have charged money. I still think what MTC was doing was copyright infringement, though, because PC does own the rights to all their cartridges.
I think this is from MTC making the cartridge backup feature. Theoretically, a person could back up their cart images to svg and then share them. Without a failsafe to prevent that PC could very well have a case.
I guess I see their point on that particular issue. A lot of people wouldn't think twice about doing that, you know. (Not anyone from here, but we all know people like that!)
While I admit I have not read all copyright law, I have read some of it, and I dont recall seeing anything about providing an avenue to back up or copy information specifically violating anothers copyright, but rather it provides an avenue for the consumer to violate copyright laws. So this is pretty interesting, if that is what the issue is. It would be similiar (Now bare with me I am over 40) to a record company taking the maker of the first tape recorder to court. They would not be infringing on the record companies copyrights, but providing an avenue for others to do so......
That said I absolutely do not believe in copyright infringement, although I have to say I don't know about this software I am familiar with SCAL and my feelings about copyright no way influences how I feel about third party software. SCAL does not violate any copyrights, it only provides a better experience with the Cricut. Just like software you put in your computer. (Photoshop, etc)
If you Google Provo Craft Lawsuit you will find links to the actual court filings and the complaint PC has with the software program. Seem like to me that PC has a very valid arguement and will most likely win.
Admittedly, I don't know enough about this case to weigh in one way or the other on the particulars. Was the copying ability created for the express purpose to copy PC's carts or is that a byproduct of a MTC feature? Is PC upset only for the copying feature or are there other software design components that appear to be too close to their own? As to PC not suing if they didn't have a legit case ... have you looked at Microsoft's history?! (Littered with knocking out the competition. LOL!)
I just know there's a gray area between outright copying and CASEing, whether it's using someone's card for inspiration, using the SU! stamps to create a thumbnail for the gallery (remember when SU! was upset about copyright infringement about that?), or copying a book on a printer, a movie on a DVD, etc.
SCS isn't responsible if I should copy a card and call it my own. I agree with Janny that there's an ethical problem. While each of us has our own sense of where the line gets drawn in all that gray, I don't think any of us would hold SCS culpable.
__________________ If you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying you want a country based on Christian values, because you don't. ~ Jimmy Carter
Last edited by jeaniebean55; 04-09-2010 at 02:56 AM..
Hmmm... interesting point. Does the ethics of it change?
__________________ If you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying you want a country based on Christian values, because you don't. ~ Jimmy Carter
Was the copying ability created for the express purpose to copy PC's carts or is that a byproduct of a MTC feature?
Yes, MTC posted a message on their forum that they were able to breach PC cartridge security and had developed a update to the MTC program that allowed MTC users to breach the security and copy what ever was on a cartridge. (The forum post is quoted in the actual complaint that PC filed with the court.)
They also say MTC used copyrighted images of the bug logo and the Cricut name on their packaging and their website to promote the sales of the MTC software without getting permission from PC to use them.
Yes, MTC posted a message on their forum that they were able to breach PC cartridge security and had developed a update to the MTC program that allowed MTC users to breach the security and copy what ever was on a cartridge. (The forum post is quoted in the actual complaint that PC filed with the court.)
They also say MTC used copyrighted images of the bug logo and the Cricut name on their packaging and their website to promote the sales of the MTC software without getting permission from PC to use them.
This is not quite factual. MTC added a backup feature to their software that allowed you to backup a cartridge ONLY IF you had BOTH Design Studio AND the cartridge in your cricut. You could only backup the cartridges that you had, so they did not "breach the security of the cartridge"
The way it works is you use Design Studio to create a cut file on the mat, and then with the cartridge in the machine you hit "cut". Instead of cutting the file, it send the cut instructions to another file. You can then access that file in MTC.
This is the same as creating a PDF file from a Word document or other file. You must have Word and the document, and then use Adobe to "print" the document to a PDF format.
Last edited by SAH; 04-17-2010 at 03:54 PM..
Reason: grammar
This is not quite factual. MTC added a backup feature to their software that allowed you to backup a cartridge ONLY IF you had BOTH Design Studio AND the cartridge in your cricut. You could only backup the cartridges that you had, so they did not "breach the security of the cartridge"
The way it works is you use Design Studio to create a cut file on the mat, and then with the cartridge in the machine you hit "cut". Instead of cutting the file, it send the cut instructions to another file. You can then access that file in MTC.
This is the same as creating a PDF file from a Word document or other file. You must have Word and the document, and then use Adobe to "print" the document to a PDF format.
To clarify, here's the portion of the complaint that PC filed that pertains to this:
21. Defendants had publicly claimed to have copied several of the designs from the CRICUT� cartridges. Defendant Heinlein has said things in his �Make the Cut! Forum� such as:
I am adding �Cartridge Backup� where you can create a copy of the
[Provo Craft] cartridges, but you can�t distribute those. It would
be like ripping a music CD then sharing all the MP3s� and �But,
none-the-less, I have it [the �cartridge backup� software] working �
I have all my cartridges as SVG files, it�s just not user friendly
yet.� (Clarification added in brackets).
22. An SVG (�scalable vector graphic�) file is a non-proprietary electronic file format that contains cutting path instructions that can be used to drive the CRICUT� e-cutter to cut a pattern.
23. Defendants� statement in paragraph 21 above is an admission 1) that Defendants had made unauthorized and illegal copies of Provo Craft�s patterns, and 2) that Defendants had circumvented the security features in Provo Craft�s CRICUT DESIGNSTUDIO� software.
24. Defendants� statement in paragraph 21 indicated that they had a circumvention capability, but that they were not yet ready to traffic in it.
25. But then in mid-March 2010, Defendants released a new version of their software including a new feature that allows users to circumvent the copying protections in the CRICUT� products and make higher quality copies of the patterns in which Provo Craft owns copyrights.
These copies are higher in quality than the crude copies that the earlier versions of the software enabled.
You have to own the cartridges before you can even back them up. You have to have both CDS and MTC in order to do it.
And so if PC wants to sue MTC for squares and fonts and all those images on their carts, they got them from somewhere, now didn't they? So whoever drew the first square can sue for copyright infringement. Yep, sure they could. I know that sounds ridiculous, but PC is being ridiculous AFAIC.
I don't believe, for one instant, that PC has a solid case in this regard. And if they are doing this to MTC, I'm sure they'll do it to any 3rd party software at some point.
__________________ It always feels like somebody's watching me. Hey, is it YOU?
