[MOD] Important tips on re-posting
This may seem out of the blue to some of you, but I felt a need to address this issue considering it has come up several times this past week or two alone; the rules have also been edited slightly to reflect this.
The purpose of this post is to help promote awareness and cut down on unintended rule-breaking-- not rules stated on the community, but by people who scan or share their files. If you are thinking of re-posting something from a blog or forum, please read the following before you do.
Sharing is wonderful in itself, and that's what keeps most communities thriving. I'm not saying re-posting of any sort should be banned, but some things should always be taken account before you share, and one of the big questions is always this:
Does the source provider allow re-posting of their files and images?
More often than not, it's hard to tell-- especially if the provider is from a different country, or speaks in a different language. Most people are very good about crediting when they post things from other sources, but crediting doesn't matter much if the source explicitly states that they don't want re-posting to happen in the first place, right?
Key words and phrases
One of the easiest ways to tell if the provider has any rules about their files is to keep an eye out for key phrases. In the case of Chinese blogs and forums, most fans state them at the top or bottom of their posts, sometimes bolded or in different coloured font; occasionally, some forums may have encompassing rules for all files posted to them. You will tend to see the following cropping up most often:
自掃禁轉/自扫禁转 (self-scanned, re-posting forbidden)
請勿轉載/请勿转载 (please do not re-post)
From my personal experiences, most Chinese fans are pretty strict with sharing or re-posting of their files, so it's definitely a good idea to keep a lookout for those - or rules in general - when you're browsing.
Also, if anyone can provide me with equivalent phrases or tips in different languages (eg. Korean, Thai, etc.), it would be great if you could let me know so I can add them to this post. Thanks!
Logos
Now admittedly, I know next to zero Korean so I can't give you key words and phrases to help identify rules, but I do know of a couple of clubboxes/pdboxes that are (or used to be) quite strict with their files, both of which uses logos for easy recognition:
Koibito - Very limited access, very strict rules. From what I gather, the sharing of files with this logo is prohibited under any and all circumstances.(note: she's also had a different logo in the past.)
ammi-pdbox - A source provider who has already closed her pdbox/clubbox once before in the past because people were re-posting her files. She has begun to share files again, but since I rarely use pdbox I'm not sure if the same rules still apply.
And again, if you know of any other file sharer not listed above, please let me know in a comment or PM (preferably with a cap of their logo), and I'll add them to the post as well. Thank you!
It may seem like I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but this is what prompts many providers to call it quits; some of you may recognise the name Anibo, a fairly well known pdbox sharer who had stopped sharing because of people re-posting her files. arashi_yuuki is another, more familiar example for many of us here on LJ as someone who will also cease to share if her rules are broken.
Again, this does not mean everyone should just stop sharing files altogether. But a simple unintentional mistake can cause a prominent source to disappear from our fandom for good, and no one wants that, right? If you're already conscientious about crediting - which is great - keeping an eye out for key words and phrases (and in the case of files, logos) shouldn't be too hard either. A little effort sometimes really does go a long way!
x-posted to arashi_on.
The purpose of this post is to help promote awareness and cut down on unintended rule-breaking-- not rules stated on the community, but by people who scan or share their files. If you are thinking of re-posting something from a blog or forum, please read the following before you do.
Sharing is wonderful in itself, and that's what keeps most communities thriving. I'm not saying re-posting of any sort should be banned, but some things should always be taken account before you share, and one of the big questions is always this:
Does the source provider allow re-posting of their files and images?
More often than not, it's hard to tell-- especially if the provider is from a different country, or speaks in a different language. Most people are very good about crediting when they post things from other sources, but crediting doesn't matter much if the source explicitly states that they don't want re-posting to happen in the first place, right?
Key words and phrases
One of the easiest ways to tell if the provider has any rules about their files is to keep an eye out for key phrases. In the case of Chinese blogs and forums, most fans state them at the top or bottom of their posts, sometimes bolded or in different coloured font; occasionally, some forums may have encompassing rules for all files posted to them. You will tend to see the following cropping up most often:
自掃禁轉/自扫禁转 (self-scanned, re-posting forbidden)
請勿轉載/请勿转载 (please do not re-post)
From my personal experiences, most Chinese fans are pretty strict with sharing or re-posting of their files, so it's definitely a good idea to keep a lookout for those - or rules in general - when you're browsing.
Also, if anyone can provide me with equivalent phrases or tips in different languages (eg. Korean, Thai, etc.), it would be great if you could let me know so I can add them to this post. Thanks!
Logos
Now admittedly, I know next to zero Korean so I can't give you key words and phrases to help identify rules, but I do know of a couple of clubboxes/pdboxes that are (or used to be) quite strict with their files, both of which uses logos for easy recognition:
Koibito - Very limited access, very strict rules. From what I gather, the sharing of files with this logo is prohibited under any and all circumstances.(note: she's also had a different logo in the past.)
ammi-pdbox - A source provider who has already closed her pdbox/clubbox once before in the past because people were re-posting her files. She has begun to share files again, but since I rarely use pdbox I'm not sure if the same rules still apply.
And again, if you know of any other file sharer not listed above, please let me know in a comment or PM (preferably with a cap of their logo), and I'll add them to the post as well. Thank you!
It may seem like I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but this is what prompts many providers to call it quits; some of you may recognise the name Anibo, a fairly well known pdbox sharer who had stopped sharing because of people re-posting her files. arashi_yuuki is another, more familiar example for many of us here on LJ as someone who will also cease to share if her rules are broken.
Again, this does not mean everyone should just stop sharing files altogether. But a simple unintentional mistake can cause a prominent source to disappear from our fandom for good, and no one wants that, right? If you're already conscientious about crediting - which is great - keeping an eye out for key words and phrases (and in the case of files, logos) shouldn't be too hard either. A little effort sometimes really does go a long way!
x-posted to arashi_on.