Credits

1. Credits

   #1

   I believe one should give credit where credit is due. In the case of content ripped off the net, I believe even more strongly in this principle.
   
   Recently a nice fellow posted something in my bestiary which I know came from several DnD sites on the web. Just google for "Scroll Golem" and I am sure you will be rewarded with quite a number of matches. http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=35331#35331
   
   What is site policy for this?
   
   Warning the poster?
   Removing the post?
   Editing in a comment about credits?
   Something else?

2. Credits

   #2

   I sent him a private message
   

   Hello Cm
   
   Just a friendly reminder that you ought to give credit where credit is due. If people rip stuff without giving credit, this site could be held responsible in one way or the other. I therefore urge you to give credits for the Scroll Golem :)
   
   Gotta maintain the good name of the Citadel, y'know ;)
   
   ~AG
   

   
   
   Hope that will suffice

3. Credits

   #3

   Hope your pm will suffice as well. There is quite a bit of reposted material here with reference to the original page. Not a big deal as long as it is a small minority of posts.
   
   Me, I remove the material but that might not be the right thing to do either. Depends on the severity of the infraction so to speak. If I am told by another webmaster about it then that is pretty severe in my eyes which is why I removed this thread.
   
   http://www.rpgcitadel.com/guild/index.php?topic=2141.0
   
   He hasn't pm'd me so I am not going to worry about it beyond that and expect and trust it won't happen again. If it does, yeah, maybe that would drive me to a ban or something but until it happens and the circumstances reveal themselves I wouldn't rush to give blanket policy on it.

4. Credits

   #4

   "Ahem." *looks at the scuffs on his shoes* "Being one of the primary reposters of other people's information on the site. I feel obliged to chime in. Any posts copied onto the site should have the origin site listed in the post and the original author. These people did the work, they deserve the credit. You should never take credit for someone else's work, besides being possible illegal, it is just tacky to do it. (JMS's attempt to pass others work off as his own... both tacky and wrong).
   
   If payment is required to get access to the content, then you should never repost it and any such posts should be immediately removed. That become direct copyright infringement and is not covered under fair use. (now quoting a small segment of a pay/ owned content is allowed for a variety of purposes, so it is not totally black and white. Certain sites check the web with happy search engines and bots looking for their content in other places. They will find you.
   
   Now, any post inspired by or modified from another site requires at least 20% or more modification (In US's legal system, and since the servers are on US soil.....) These posts do not have to be annoited with credit or back link. (The recipies we post in the Dash thread are modified by our fantasy associations (and all that were taken from a site was offering them up for free), so do not require noting the origin.) If you modify it enough, as that is can be seen as similiar but not identical, you can get post it. (Unless there is copyright issues and you are earning money or "creating an environment to lessen their content's value", then it becomes a court case if someone wants to press the issue.)
   
   I always backlink any post that has been originally posted here (or any site I posted it on. In addition to being proper deference for you all hosting my ideas, it generates traffic to the site.
   
   So I guess the basic rule is
   a) be polite and give credit where it is due and b) unless someone gets upset, it is okay.

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