Hi, all! I will keep this post brief, as I am on vacation, but please read it. It is very important.
In recent weeks, I have cited a few people for use of copied work without permission. (This is an ongoing issue, truthfully, even though our copyright rules are posted all over the place.) If I have to cite anyone three times for the same issue, I generally suspend that person's site membership privileges, which is not a fun thing to do - but necessary so that I don't spend all of my free time monitoring this site.
In my absence over the last two days, I've noticed at least one other use of copyrighted art (character cookies are a prime example, but not the only one). Others who were cited for copyright violations have noticed these new violations too and have complained to me that I haven't been applying the copyright rules fairly. I assure you I will, but I am on vacation, and I had every intention of NOT working on this site while away . . .
In the meantime, I just want to say this: It would help me A LOT going forward if everyone would start by complying with our "no copying without permissions" rule in the first place. That way, I would not have the time-consuming and difficult job of "policing" this site, or dealing with complaints that invariably arise when people think I am policing the site unfairly. Trust me, I don't like the policing, but ensuring that we honor others' copyrights is important to me and this site, and also simply a matter of upholidng US copyright law.
As a reminder, our site posting rules are listed in at least three places. Please reacquaint yourselves with them by reading them again (or for the first time if you haven't already):
1. In a link that says "Important: Please Read Before Posting" at the top of the "Clips" page; here's that direct link (https://cookieconnection.julia...READ-BEFORE-YOU-POST). Item #8 specifically addresses the copyright rule; Item #9 addresses my stance on "policing" the site and basically requests that you too do your part by honoring the rules. These rules can be translated into any language by clicking on the Google Translate button at the very bottom of this site.
2. On the About page, under the "Please Play by the Rules" section.
3. And in EVERY email you get EVERY time you post to the site.
Thank you. I would really appreciate greater, more universal compliance with this rule.
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