Change to SWG Site Etiquette/New FAQ: Images

[dawn_felagund]

My comoderators and I have lately been discussing the use of images on the SWG archive and "satellite groups." While we have always allowed and encouraged our authors to use images with their work, we have lately realized that our current image policy is outdated and fails to address key issues related to legal use of copyrighted images. This realization came in the wake of aggressive pursuit of improper use of images by certain online image libraries; websites were getting sued for up to hundreds of dollars per image in some cases for illegal use. While reviewing our own policies, we discovered that our rules surrounding legal use of images was very poorly spelled out and the FAQ offered no guidance in this regard.

As a result, we have done the following:

• Revised Item 5 under the site's Author Etiquette to address the use of images more specifically and remove unsound information concerning "fair use."


• Revised the Image Use FAQ to include more information about what constitutes legal use of images online.

As always, we try to put any policy additions or modifications in front of the group for discussion and comment. We will accept comments on the proposed changes until 15 October 2013. Any and all comments, concerns, critiques, and questions are welcome. You do not need to be an SWG member to participate. Anonymous comments are welcome but are screened by default, so a moderator will need to unscreen the comment before it is visible.

If you'd rather contact us privately, we can always be reached at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org.

( Image Policy: Author Etiquette Revision )

( Imagae Policy: FAQ Revision )

Change to SWG Site Etiquette/New FAQ: Multiple Accounts

[dawn_felagund]

The issue has arisen lately concerning multiple accounts on the archive. There are obviously good reasons why people use pseuds, and we want to allow that kind of participation on the group, but we simultaneously need to prevent abuse of multiple accounts for sockpuppet purposes.

As a result, we have done the following:

• Added Item 8 under the general Site Etiquette to address registration for multiple accounts.


• Added a new FAQ about the appropriate use of multiple accounts.

As always, we try to put any policy additions or modifications in front of the group for discussion and comment. We will accept comments on the proposed changes until 15 October 2013. Any and all comments, concerns, critiques, and questions are welcome. You do not need to be an SWG member to participate. Anonymous comments are welcome but are screened by default, so a moderator will need to unscreen the comment before it is visible.

If you'd rather contact us privately, we can always be reached at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org.

( Multiple Account Policy: Site Etiquette Addition )

( Multiple Account Policy: New FAQ )