I would like to suggest that members be granted admission to the Copyright Issues forum in the Discussion Board only after approval by a Moderator.

As it stands now anyone may become a member and gain access - including those who are being discussed, which is counter-productive.
If a member has contributed nothing to the site and has not previously participated then the right to view the Copyright discusssion is a priviledge they have not earned, and can be used to the disadvantage of genuine members.

:)

Oooh, so sorry Lyn ... can't accept this discussion thread, as there is a grammatical error (spelling) in it's header.


Please re-submit your suggestion in the proper format, checking for any and all errors ... you can then be assured that it will receive it's due course and/or processing.

:oP

ssss . . . .

Do you have an online form I can avail myself of?
I am unable to provide my full name address and phone number because my brain has become scrambled.

We already limit access to that forum to "artist" members and above. Did you know about that, or are you suggesting further restriction?

*caedes, does that mean someone must have a gallery, if only 1 image in it, in order to access the copyright forum? Or simply be a registered member?

I know it states 'artist member' but unsure of that defintion :-)

Thanks much!

Caedes, Yes I did know that and apologies for my mistake in saying any member can gain access - I understand that just one image has to be uploaded before becoming an 'artist'. Nevertheless this is very easy to do if someone wanted to gain access to the copyright forum. Perhaps a short time of membership restriction would safeguard this and prove to some degree that they are genuine participants on the site and not just here to see what is going on in the copyright area. If a genuine new member had a valid post for the discussion a mod could be contacted for an exception.

I am just thinking of the situation from my own viewpoint and if I were the subject of a copyright infringement claim I think I would be joining caedes to perhaps learn what I could expect next :)
It would maybe save discussions on copyright matters going underground i.e. pm's and emails, as I think all interested parties should be kept informed as to progress - except of course the subject person(s)

:)

I would be inclined to make the suggested change only if we were having a specific example of a person uploading one image just so they could get access to the forum. Otherwise, I don't like to fix problems that are hypothetical. Do we have a case that this would solve?

My thoughts are just that prevention is better than cure.

This thread is an example of what can happen

http://www.caedes.net/Zephir.cgi?lib=Board::Topic&id=1940773

'lawmaker' and 'littlebigman' were there for one reason only but they were obvious.
There is no way of knowing who is observing what is being said in the forum if they do not make any posts. Three or four weeks restriction at the start of any new membership would allow time for any current copyright matter to be resolved and allow members to post in the forum without giving prying outsiders the opportunity to gain advance notice of proposed or suggested actions.

I believe any new member with just one upload is unlikely to be genuinely concerned about copyright issues.

The current discussion I have been involved in re myftc.com and its Administrator is quite possibly being viewed by him and others from that site, and forewarned is forearmed.
I would be doing the same in his situation!

:)

The example that you point to was actually before the current restriction was put in place.

"The example that you point to was actually before the current restriction was put in place"


Thanks Caedes, I was not aware of that.
Still, they could easily have uploaded an image :)

Just as "Administrator" of myftc.com could well be snooping around our discussion - just as I daily log in to his site to check on my stolen images which 'Administrator' is is shown as the Owner of HERE , and claiming copyright to. (It is not necessary to login to do a search, and typing in any caedes username at random is likely to give a result!)

Was just a suggestion anyway, thanks for taking the time to consider it :)

I appreciate the suggestion certainly. I just don't think that we really have a problem to fix. Thanks for the input.