Blender *sold* under a different name!

#1

I don’t know if this is old news, but I’ve just found a site “selling” a 3d package, “Illusion Mage” for $47 - which is really just Blender!

 The phrasing of the site  is actually very clever and very careful - they do admit that the software they're supplying you with is called "Blender", but there's no mention that it's available elsewhere for free.

The site is one of those endless single pages which keeps going on about the wonders of their miracle product (well fair enough - it is Blender after all…) and telling you how you’d expect to pay $5000 or $7000. At any moment I expected to be offered a set of free steak knives as part of the package… It’s definitely aimed at exploiting the enthusiastic but naive layperson who wants to get into 3d.

 I'm pretty angry to see this sort of nasty cynical exploitation of both the customers and of the good people who've made Blender. My only consolation is that every time I google for "Illusionmage" and click on the sponsored link that comes up at top of the page, it costs the scammer a few cents. In fact, I think I'll go and do it now...
#2

These crop up every-now-and-then and unfortunately it’s generally ‘legal’ (although considered ‘unethical’) under the terms of the license (without looking into the specifics of what they’re doing). Read this for more details - http://www.blender.org/blenderorg/blender-foundation/press/re-branding-blender/

[EDIT] it actually looks like it could be the very same guy behind the ‘version’ referenced in that official posting linked to above as there are some files being pulled up from the server that list the same name.

#3

Mrkat says:

> unfortunately it’s generally ‘legal’

Yeah - his website’s a thing of beauty in a way. I think there’s no spot where he says anything which is actually untrue (*) - he doesn’t claim he wrote Blender, he doesn’t say you can’t get it free elsewhere, he doesn’t say he has any connection with Blender in any way at all - but oh what he implies!!! I’m assuming that when he arrives in hell he’ll get a warm handshake and a friendly slap on the back.

    • ok, he does mention something about producing Pixar quality animation in minutes.
#4

I think part of the GNU/GPL requirements are to state copyright and ownership, so in his not doing that he’s already got a couple of strikes against him… not to mention the fact that he’s using other peoples artwork to sell this junk… makes you wonder what’s in the pack; has he just cobbled together tutorials and videos pulled from the Internet and repacked those without telling the original authors and so on… pretty odious stuff IMHO. Whilst he’s not telling out and out lies, he’s certainly obscuring the truth enough to be deliberately misleading. In addition, the fact that he’s used several aliases to post this stuff to article feeds and video sites means he’s also ‘using’ Blender and this ‘package’ to earn affiliate income from PPC advertising and affiliate links.

#5

I had seen his website months ago and I thought he was supposed to take it down.

The problem is, what about people who don’t realize it is available free? I noticed a few of the images has a Blender.org copyright disclaimer on it.

Though he is offering video and written tutorials in the package, it would be nice if he was honest about the software.

What was the old saying…buyer beware.

~John

#6

I’ve not been able to find a source but what he’s saying is the package “includes”, he doesn’t say he wrote it, so the chances are he hasn’t and has stolen other peoples work - likely the freely available PDF version of the old Blender 2.4 manual amongst others. The copyright thing left in the images is likely due to his being lazy. I’ve been doing a bit of research on this (you can read it here) and he’s been very clever this time, even if the site is pulled he’ll still earn from PPC Adverts and affiliate links. Still doesn’t get around the fact that deliberately misleading people like that is fraud.

#7

I used Tineye and found one of the pictures right here: click me
It says modeling Wings3D and rendering done in Maya. And I guess even if it is “technically” okay to sell Blender, it shouldn´t be okay to use pictures of other persons.

And one picture seems to be a Photoshop Matte painting, here is the accoding tutorial . I like tineye mre and more :wink:

#8

You know there is only one way to really prevent this.

We as a community need to keep pushing the uses of blender and get its name better known. That way when people try to pull this most of the people out there would have already known its blender.

but thats just my 2cents.

#9

Well what can i say!! A day after i personally purchased the program i came across the CG Society forum comments about Illusionmage being a copy of Blender :bounce: :cry:
Guess I was a new 3D enthusiast and fell for it. Thought I got a bargain too. Something should be done about this problem… many other new starters will get sucked in and pay for something that is free and developed by others.

#10

You should still be able to get a refund (assuming you have’t left it too long)… try the the steps mentioned here.

#11

Thanks for the advise, Mrkat

#12

What you should say about something like this? May these are idiots! And this video! It´s the same like on the blender page!! I can only say: These are idiots and don´t buy this bullshit!

Oh of course thanks for these information :wink:

#13

Don’t link to their website redflag, that only helps sell the scam.

#14

Woops your right. Sorry, it´s erased :wink:

#15

and that is what I call a scum bag company

#16

That’s terrible. I don’t know how people live with themselves ripping off others like this. I hope they enjoy their money. They will see how much satisfaction and achievement that will bring them.

#17

I’m no expert in law but I have some serious doubts that what he is doing is legal. While he isn’t claiming that it is his work, he isn’t denying it either, and he probably has no consent. With no credit being given out, he is basically stealing it since this is for commercial use. It is like why store can’t print shirt with an image on it that doesn’t actually belong to them. They don’t have to claim that they made the image itself, they can even give credit, but as long as they did not received informed consent, it is illegal.

#18

Sadly it is in compliance with GPL. Under the rather broad terms of that particular (archaic) licensing system they just have to attribute. And because there are no requirements on how that is done, you could put white text on a white background in 2pt font at the bottom of the page and still be OK. So what they’re doing is taking advantage of that fact (it never started out that way mind you, they’ve changed the page as the community has pointed out problems, so ironically we’ve helped them. Doesn’t that leave a sour taste in ones mouth!).

#19

I don’t really see how it can matter too much though, since anyone looking for a 3D modeling program will probably find the Blender website, or modo/Cinema/others well before they find a website like that.

#20

From what’s been said here and elsewhere, the people actually getting caught out by this don’t actually know any better, that’s what these scams rely on, Blender is still a relatively unknown application (despite what users/fans think).