Editorial preface: This page is hosted here since its original home at Fyrespiryt's site is no more, and I feel that the sentiments expressed therein should definitely be perpetuated on the Interwebz for the benefit and education of all. This is not a disclaimer: I agree wholeheartedly with all of it, it's just that being British I'm too reserved to have written it myself. :)

Fyrespiryt's freebies are mirrored here.

"Freebie Bitch and Moan Club? Who would bitch about freebies?"

Oh, believe me, there's people out there who do. And I'm don't mean complaining about a particular falsely-advertised/stolen/non-existent/thinly-veiled excuse to drag people to a pay site pseudo-freebie. That is not part of this site, not here and not further in the good ranting section. I mean the lazy spoiled-rotten brats complaining that 75% of freebie makers don't read their minds, set up everything exactly to their level of perfection, display it on a silver platter and serve it with a cherry on top.

So, this isn't a page for the Poser Freebie Bitch and Moan Club. It's a page attacking the Poser Freebie Bitch and Moan Club. I have to pull punches on forums; here I don't. It's my page and I can say whatever I want, bwa ha ha ha!

Now, you're probably here for one of two reasons:

1. You want to join me in mocking/being horrified by/ripping a new one for these lazy spoiled rotten brats.
2. You're all red, fluffed up, and huffy about being called a spoiled rotten brat.

May I suggest you figure out which group you belong to before you proceed.

First of all, basic premise of this page: people who complain about freebies are jerks. You heard me. Flat out: they're jerks.

These people probably aren't jerks all the time. Maybe they're a saint at work, do charity work, and are an all around perfect human being otherwise, but as soon as they hit that "post reply" button bitching about how awful it is that freebies won't go out and wash their car, balance their checkbook, and do their taxes for them, they're a jerk.

Major Bitch 1: Flat-out rude

What the hell is wrong with people like this? Did their parents not raise them right? If Aunt Clara gives them a hand-knit fushia sweater with uneven sleeves that she worked 9 months on, don't they smile and say "thank you, Aunt Clara" like the rest of us? (And if they don't, why aren't their mamma's slapping them upside the head and making them put on that sweater right then and there?) So why do they think they can be rude to someone they don't even know who gives them a marketplace-quality item, FOR FREE! Go to Wal-Mart, ask them if you can have a candy bar for free; they will laugh you right out of the store. And yet someone who doesn't even know them gives them an item that could easily be sold for $20, $30, $50, FOR FREE, and they're bitching that a level 5 telepath didn't read their mind and give them every minor desire. If they want that, they can go pay for a commissioned item from a level 5 telepath, the lazy-ass bastards.

Major Bitch 2: Can't use it commercially

Right now I'm willing to bet that a lot of people who thought they were in the "mocking" group are now in the "red and huffy" group. You know what? Tough. It is not a freebie maker's responsibility to finance their business ventures. Many CHOSE to, but they are not obligated to. It's an extra perk. No one's entitled to it. In fact, no one's entitled to any of this. Freebie makers are lending people toys so they can play with them; they are not giving up their rights. "But it's my picture, so it's my copyright." It's their freebie, thus it's their copyright, and thus they get to decide who they let use it, how they let it be used, where they let it be used, and when they let it be used. A jerk doesn't like it, USE SOMETHING ELSE. Oh, that little readme EULA thing; that is just as legally binding as the EULA on any commercial piece of software. In fact, it may be more binding, since it is the ONLY price we pay for using a freebie. And let's not pretend we don't know it's there. Anyone who is advanced enough in Poser to be reading rants like this is advanced enough to know that just about every freebie that's out there has a readme with Terms of Use in it.

"But free is supposed to mean no strings attached." OK, if someone wants to get into a dictionary war with me, they're on. Mine also has at least one of the 17 definitions of free that is simply "without a charge." And frankly, even if strings attached mean it isn't free, this stuff is damn cheap. Anyone who wants can have this worth-$50 item to play with, and all they have to is follow a few simple instructions. Damn, that is a great deal! And if someone can't follow those simple instructions, then they can't use it. Flat out. It doesn't matter how much they hate those terms. If they use it anyway, it is stealing. STEALING. Just as surely as if they downloaded a DAZ product from Kazaa.

"But that's not enforceable." That doesn't make it RIGHT. Maybe a jerk will never get caught. Maybe no one will be able to do anything about it if they are caught. But believe me, it will come back to them. And, if it makes a provider abandon freebies, it comes back to all of us.

And now for something not all that different:

Top Myths About Freebie Providers

1. Freebie makers want to give back to the community. First, I don't give a rat's hinder about the community. The community is just a place to raid freebies, snag tips, and go moron hunting after a bad day. I give away freebies cause dangit, I made this cool thing and I want to show it off. And hey, I think some of the people who happen to be part of the community are wonderful nice people who might enjoy and appreciate my toy. Second, to all the freebie makers who do so in order to "give back to the community", that's great, but I think you're selling yourself short. This community would not exist if it weren't for freebie providers. If anything, the community should be giving back to YOU. You don't owe the community diddly squat.
2. If they don't like it, they should just sell their stuff in the marketplace. OK, let's think what things would be like if this ACTUALLY happened. Do we really want to have to shell out for the smallest, most minor item? Every single little detail? What kind of psychopath actually wants that to happen? Case it point: BatLabs. I am going to bitch-slap the next person to state this freebie myth, and then mourn the loss of BatLabs freebies. Bat is a prime example of this myth in action. He got fed up with people saying "thank you" by spitting in his face, pulled down his freebies, and put stuff up for sale instead. Check out his store! If you're into those genres, he has EXCELLENT items, and the prices are an absolute steal. A lot of his items are under $10, and it is all excellent quality. He even puts in the joint-controlled morphs for Victoria 3 items, something most people forget. I absolutely do NOT begrudge him this small profit; heck, I've bought from him and was hyper-pleased with my purchase. But a year or two ago, these items would have been free, and I miss that.
3. Ah, freebie makers are just gearing up to be vendors anyway, so they should learn to take it. Look at who gives freebies. Look at who's in the stores. There is not a one-to-one correlation here. Not every freebie provider also sells. For instance, at Renderosity, 12 of the top 20 freebie providers do not sell in the marketplace. That's 60%.
4. The "non-commercial" freebie providers are just doing that because they're greedy. Sure, people are giving away stuff for free because they're greedy. -_^ Does it hurt much? Not everyone comes from the same culture and the same upbringing. The Poser community stretches across the world. That means it includes people who have religious reasons for use restrictions, people who have societal reasons for restrictions, and some people who just flat out don't want to. That doesn't make any of them wrong or greedy. It's just a different way of seeing the world.
5. I shouldn't have to worry about it. Freebie providers should have to make their terms clear to the densest blockhead or they're SOL. There's no reason I should have to contact them for permission if I want to do something that isn't in their Terms of Use. Again, not everyone speaks English perfectly, and not everyone has the same base assumptions. That doesn't mean they have to give up their copyright if they have the gall to try to give something away.
6. Copyright gives me the ability to do whatever I want with a picture I make, no matter what freebie I use to make it.
Not necessarily. 1) Copyright also covers public display, and it could be argued that an image is displaying the freebie. 2) Contract law may also come in to play. By using an item, the user has agreed to obey the provider's terms. That's assuming that EULAs are legally enforceable, which is still going through the courts last I heard. 3) Anyone who claims this doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. Neither do I. Neither do the lawyers and judges. Copyright law... frankly, it's messed up beyond all recognition. Is fair use a right or a defense? What constitutes a derivative work versus a transformative work? Where do 3D meshes even fit into this? Do they even fit into this? NO ONE knows. Not the politicians, not the judges, not the lawyers, and certainly not some Poser Dork who spouts copyright as an excuse for everything from PSP tubes to Posette clones. The ONLY way to really determine if something is covered by copyright is to take it through the courts -- ALL the way through the courts. And that hasn't happened yet, so it's all just theoreticals.
7. Those whiney freebie providers should be grateful to me for using their stuff! I'm giving them free publicity. You know, I've heard this argument before, only last time it went "Those whiney artists should be grateful to me for taking their stuff and putting in up on my webpage, even if I don't have permission. I'm giving them free publicity." The difference is that the people who deliver the first one inevitably hit the ceiling when receiving the second.

   You're giving me free publicity? To whom? Am I really to believe that the client who commissioned you to make a finished image is in the market for a character texture? Who the hell are you, anyway? How do you know I WANT your publicity? I'm not sure I want to be associated with you. You might be a Nazi selling "White Supremacy" paraphernalia for all I know. It doesn't matter. I hold the copyright; I get to decide who, where, when, and how I get publicity. (The exception being reviews of my item, instruction about my item, etc, that come under fair use.)

Copyright Kati d'Esprit 2003