By now you’ve probably heard that Provocraft, makers of the Cricut, recently filed a court action against the creator of a software program called Make The Cut! (MTC). MTC makes it possible to cut virtually any shape with the Cricut, effectively removing the Cricut’s dependency on cartridges. (There is also a second program that does the same thing called Sure Cuts A Lot – or SCAL – which is not currently being pursued by Provocraft.)
Provocraft has an extensive list of complaints against MTC, but I believe it all boils down to two main points:
- Whether or not Make The Cut! breached copyright laws by introducing a “cartridge backup” feature.
- Whether or not Make The Cut! facilitated and encouraged the sharing of copyrighted Cricut cartridge designs.
Cartridge Backup Feature
MTC users have attested to the fact that the backup feature within MTC only works with a fully licensed version of Provocraft’s own Cricut DesignStudio (CDS) software and an original Cricut cartridge. Since CDS already has a cartridge backup feature, it’s unclear why you would need a second program such as MTC to do this.
The other important factor is whether backup files created by MTC are decrypted and result in unprotected backup files. I’m sure you’ll agree, if users began sharing unprotected files, this certainly would constitute piracy and breach of copyright.
Use Of Cricut Copyrighted Cartridge Designs
MTC allows you to import and trace images, so does SCAL. Any vector drawing program worth it’s salt will allow you to do the same. So why is MTC being singled out by Provocraft? Why not SCAL, Adobe Illustrator or any other vector drawing program?
The reason is most people are smart enough to use such powerful technology for personal use only. If you traced a Disney image (how about the famous Mickey ears?) with Adobe Illustrator and created a SVG file and sold or shared it on the internet, I’m quite sure Disney representatives would be on your doorstep with a scary lawsuit quicker than you could say “copyright breach”. By the same token, if you used the Mickey ears in your own personal scrapbook and didn’t share the file with anyone else, who would know? Not even Disney.
Provocraft sights evidence in their complaint of MTC users sharing copyrighted images from their cartridges. Provocraft claims these images have been uploaded and shared in the MTC gallery. If this is correct, the creator of MTC has sadly erred by not ensuring his site remained clear of copyrighted materials.
I wouldn’t have believed people to be silly enough to openly share copyrighted images, much less openly discuss and encourage their use. Unfortunately, I have seen the evidence of all of this with my own eyes. One example I witnessed involved MTC users openly discussing where to obtain Cricut Cartridge Handbooks in pdf format. Originally, the handbooks included vector images of all Cricut cartridge designs. (It was strangely naive of Provocraft to make publicly available documents containing vector images of all their cartridge designs, even prior to the advent of MTC and SCAL!) Once Provocraft learned that users were misusing these pdf files they were removed and replaced. MTC users who had already downloaded the original files openly shared them on free file sharing sites. Provocraft moved to have these taken down also, only to have people upload them elsewhere.
Some users went even further and documented the exact step-by-step process of extracting the copyrighted images and importing them into MTC through written and video tutorials, so that anyone and everyone could do it. They openly shared links to their handiwork and congratulated themselves on how clever they were. Most shockingly of all, they even did this on the MTC user forums. Not smart. Inexplicably, the creator of the software again apparently made little or no effort to subdue this behaviour on his own site.
As a result, it is no surprise to me that Provocraft has taken legal action to protect their copyright. Duh.
Provocraft Lover? Not.
Now before anyone calls me out as a “Provocraft lover”. Let me state clearly – I am not. What I am is anti-piracy.
If I can digress into my own situation for a moment – I own three die cutting machines – a Craft Robo and two Cricut machines. I also own a copy of Make The Cut!
In the beginning, I bought the Craft Robo because it was impediment free (unlike the software shackled Wishblade at that time). When the Cricut came along, I was not interested because it was limited to cartridges. In the end I caved to the hype and bought one out of pure curiosity. I had zero intention of shelling out endless dollars for (what were in my opinion) overpriced cartridges, so after my inital inspection the Cricut sat there gathering dust.
Time passed and along came SCAL and MTC. When I discovered them I believed the Cricut had been “redeemed”. I bought a second Cricut (the Expression) partly to cut 12″ x 12″ size, but mainly because of the existence of both SCAL and MTC. I just happened to choose MTC over SCAL at the time.
Conclusion
When I set out to write this article, I shared the sentiments of the anti Provocraft campaigners. How dare Provocraft move to block software that actually makes the Cricut more useful! I was angry. I began researching for this article and I was startled, disappointed and dismayed by what I found.
In my opinion (which probably counts for nought since I’m not legal person), Provocraft indeed has grounds to sue Make The Cut! much as it pains me to say that. Unfortunately, the creator of MTC may have stepped over the line with a new backup feature that was not needed. In addition, a few MTC users have chosen to openly flout copyright laws (and for those that think they’ve deleted the evidence of their misconduct, it’s still in Google’s cache people!) It appears MTC is wearing the brunt of this user misconduct, since the software creator apparently did not check the behaviour on his own site.
I sincerely hope this is not the end for MTC, a truly useful program, and that a few bad eggs have not spoiled things for the rest of us. 
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
CDS does NOT contain a cartridge backup feature. If your cartridge goes bad, you’re screwed if you don’t want to shell out $$$ for another. If you are talking about the gypsy, please tell your readers that gypsy has many glitches that can cause you to lose ALL stored content.
I find it very interesting that you haven’t mentioned that people on PC’s own message board share copyrighted images and handbook PDFs and have been for ages. They also encourage the sharing of cartridges through swarms, which is the same darn thing as sharing the cut files. No legal distinction. I think the court will find it very interesting that PC permits on their own forum the actions they are suing MTC for.
I see a huge hypocrisy problem with PC allowing and encouraging the very actions they are complaining about.
For further information please see http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/HallOfShame/CraftSites/Cricut/Cricut.shtml
Hi Lisa, thanks for your input. You are correct of course, CDS does not already have a cartridge feature and I was thinking of the Gypsy. Good pickup..I’ll correct my article.
I agree about the hyprocrisy of Provocraft promoting the sharing cartridges at “swarms” and not stamping out similar sharing behaviour on their own forums. I think maybe the distinction they’re attempting to make is that a few customers sharing physical cartridges locally is not quite on the same scale as people sharing electronic files on the internet globally. I think the potential of their copyrights to be exploited on the internet in a viral manner has pushed them into action before it gets out of control. You have to be able to see it from their point of view also.
I have been reading extensively on Tabbeone’s site yesterday. Was directed there whilst monitoring events on the MTC, Cricut, Cake Central and Wilton forums. Thanks for the link anyway. I’m sure readers will find it as fascinating as I did.