Well, these boards have been open for a bit now and since a few posts have been made that violate copyrights, it seems like a good time to expand on item 14 in our TOS.
I know a lot of folks don't care to get into the legalities of a lot of issues, but it really is in your best interest to at least have a basic understanding of why certain things aren't allowed. When someone writes something, they have put a lot of time, effort, and thought into it. If they choose to post it on the internet, that doesn't mean they are posting so that anyone can steal it and add it to other websites. Yes, I know, "steal" is a harsh word, but that is exactly what you are doing if you post copyrighted material without the authors permission. I know we have a few authors here, and I'm pretty sure they'll be nodding in agreement when reading this.
And just because there isn't a copyright notice or a symbol noted doesn't mean the article, drawing, story, etc isn't copyrighted. The way the legal system looks at it is that the item is assumed to be copyrighted unless permission to reprint is expressly stated. In those cases, if there are conditions to be met (like a link-back with credit) then those conditions must also be met when posting such material. As an example, Mike Nichols has this statement noted on pages where he is OK with folks reposting his work:
Permission is given to re-publish this document only as long as no information is lost or changed, credit is given to the author, and it is provided or used without cost to others.
This notice represents an exception to the copyright notice found in the Acorn Guild Press edition of The Witches' Sabbats and applies only to the text as given above.
Other uses of this document must be approved in writing by Mike Nichols.
For those who may think "What do I care? It's not my problem." Well, it could be your problem. I know of folks who've posted copyrighted material and forum owners have had to provide the injured party (the authors attorney) with the IP address and the real name and address of the person who posted the material. Yes, you can be sued or fined and your service provider may fine you as well. They can also go after the website and it's owner(s) where the material was posted ... ie, us. We don't want this board shut down, nor do any of us want to have to deal with a lawsuit. So yes, we are going to be hard-nosed about copyright issues.
The bottom line? If you don't see a statement allowing you to repost an article, story, blog entry, picture, etc,
don't post it here. If you obtain permission from the author to post it, fine ... but send one of the admins a copy of that prior to posting it.
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