This has become enough of an issue recently for a rule update to be required in an effort to tackle it. We are still seeing some members copying and pasting articles from other web sites without including a source link to say where it is from. Doing this is plagiarism, by not including any indication of the source you are saying that the text is your own words, when it isn't. Always include a source link.

Another problem we've been seeing is members copying and pasting huge quantities of text from other web sites in to their posts. I've seen some people copying so much text that it takes ages to scroll down it all. Please only quote as much text from an off-site source as is necessary to let everyone know what it's about. Copying and pasting vast amounts of text or entire articles is unnecessary and raises concerns over copyright. You don't need to copy and paste an entire 20 page Wikipedia article to put your point across, quoting the relevant parts with a link underneath will do fine.

The forum rules have been updated and i've pinned guidelines above several of our news boards to help get this message across.

Please remember the above when quoting news stories or articles in your posts, thanks.

thanks for the update i know it important. i post long opinions that ok? lol
i luv u man keep it going you the boss

bow the SaRuMaN


Abecrombie' loyal member

Hi, i have a question about plagerism but didnt want to start a whole topic about it. i know this is a highly territorial/materialistic and unevolved thing of me to worry/wonder about. If you put your personal poems and pictures on here/in blogs, are they at risk of being robbed by someone else. Can they get away with it? Or should we take personal steps to secure their copyright i.e. posting a copy to ourselves for post mark date, if they are that important to us?

Regards
nn23

Anything posted on the internet is in danger of being copied, feel free to take any steps you feel necessary to avoid that from happening. For pictures, adding a copyright watermark can be beneficial, and always include a copyright notice underneath textual content.

CHEERS for the advice SaRuMaN, MUCHLY APPRECIATED

Regards
nn23

I think this is a fair notice by the administrator. A real administrator dosen't take sides with buddy posters but simply enforces logical rules. Plagiarism and copyright infringement brings about legal issues and possible litigation. I am glad that youtube links are allowed since even CNN is using it for presidential debate questions. Unexplained Mysteries is about giving posters the forum to articulate ideas and provide information to a vast audience. It's not about these cliques that certain boards have where moderators and administrators trade openly with members and then look the other way when they violate rules. I have seen boards where moderators bully members who happened to disagree with their buddies. Being fair but not over regulation is the key for a board to maintain and increase membership. This is why Sitcom Online and Todd the dictator can't hold a candle to this board and administrator.

I gotchya SaRu!

the us copyright office http://www.copyright.gov/ has alot of information on copyright and what constitutes a violation, basicly, after the millenium copyright act, anything is considered copyrighted by the author as soon as it is put into readable form, even if unregistered. however according to the website, it can be very hard to take legal action without having your work actually registered.

according to the site, the work must have "copyright" and the copyright symbol(to be covered by international copyright) and the name of the individual who wrote it. the name must be such that the identity of the copyright holder is evident.

I have noticed on some forums they have added "all posts are copyright of the author and may not be used without permission" to the bottom of the pages.

hope this info helps

From our site disclaimer:

Anything posted on the site is copyrighted to the poster unless otherwise specified.

If its a body of words, mail a copy to yourself. Its called a poor-man's copyright and will stand up in almost any court of law.

I used to write songs and mail them to myself. I wouls then rocord the song and mail the tapes and cd's to myself.

Right, but don't open it. Keep it sealed.

according to the us copyright office, the "poor mans copyright" is not sufficient to protect your works. check out the site. a lot of things i thought were correct, actually are not.

Read it bossman

YEah, that sucks. I did that a whole bunch of times in the past. Seems it doesn't really hold up at all.

Truths about Copyright:

1. You don't have to copyright your work for it to be legally yours...when you create something it is 'copyrighted' at the point of creation....filing for a Copyright just tells the world that it is yours and makes plagiarism (which is something I'll never quite understand) more difficult to get away with.

2. It is extremely inexpensive to file a Copyright with the Library of Congress...I don't know what the current fee is but the last I checked it was $30.


3. If anyone is interested in filing a Copyright...you can download forms from the Library of Congress...


...what...you expect me to link you there...??

just don't do it, you could wind up in a bunch of trouble that you more than likely dont want to deal with unless ur lame =P