I saw this post on my dash, and what can I say? I'm quite disgusted by what happened, to say the least.
I... don't really consider myself a theme maker, but I guess by society's popular definition (and having two custom themes and two custom pages under my belt) I'm supposedly one. So, really, I don't know how much weight my words would hold in this situation.
Regardless, stealing themes is one of the worst things a person could do to a theme maker on Tumblr. I mean, that should be obvious, right? I'm pretty sure that we were at least taught by our parents (if not school) that stealing is bad. We don't exactly make money from these things, and the most in the way of compensation that we get are the notes and the asks we get from the people who are happy with the themes we have made (personally, I'm still overwhelmed by the feedback the said two themes got, but I'm happy when people are happy with the said things). To deny us that is, pardon the lack of a better word, cruel. Or if we do make money from them and someone steals them, then that person is effectively denying us a source of income and who knows, the said theme maker might've gone hungry a certain day due to the income lost from the said repost.
Theme-making is not a process that happens overnight. Or if it does, expect tons of blood, tears, and numerous instances of Ctrl + A, Save, switch tab and F5 to go into it. Seriously though, it's not. To be crass, we don't pull these themes out of our asses and slap them on Tumblr for general use of the public. We spend time thinking about designs. We spend time coding that thing. We spend time checking and rechecking the code to make sure that all systems are ready to go. We spend time answering questions regarding the said themes as well.
I already experienced that, having a theme stolen. And no, let's not get into the numerous times my graphics have been reposted. It was one of the most harrying experiences I've had on Tumblr to date. Fortunately (or not), the person on the other end did not seem to know any better regarding the situation and took down the theme shortly after I contacted him about his actions, in addition to apologizing profusely about it.
I'm quite amazed it still happens, considering how theme makers usually make it a point to make their terms of use as clear as day, some even including the said terms in the theme code. Still, not everyone is as lucky as I am, I believe. But back on the subject, what I really want to say is, please respect the wishes of your theme makers. If they said not to use their code as a base, then don't. If they said that you're not allowed to change the credits portion of the theme in any manner, then don't. Sure, you could try to ask the said theme maker if you're unsure about one of their rules, but whatever they reply, please, please listen to it.