A copyright mark by itself is not a problem, but users should check the terms of use before uploading. 

Moderators should assume copyrighted images have been checked by the uploading member and they shouldn �t report copyrighted pictures unless they check the terms of use first. If the copyright marks are really small, it �s not really worth the trouble of checking. 

Crikey, I only asked a simple question - feel like a monster.

Come back cauffeepot, that �s what I say. Give you something to squawk about. 

But, what if it �s a person who is sick and tired of his work being used without permission and who is outraged by the inscription with the author �s name which can be found under any worksheet 

and decides he/she has had enough and doesn �t appeal to anyone here about the removal of his work and reports the site directly to google?

This ALL, as serious as it might be, seems petty to me right now...

@Linda: hello:)

@Lynne: ditto

Why can �t we have an �eslprintables free use �, so we can all nick each other �s stuff to re-use etc, with impunity? 

As Linda points out, I have been quite absent here as well, and on the moderators page, because I got fed up with the petty arguments and reporting. Let �s stop the madness 👹.

Lynne, you shouldn �t be feeling bad because you didn �t start this whole mess. You wanted clarification and now you clearly see there are two camps: the liberals and the zealots 😙/👿.

Sophia, I would strongly argue for everyone to upload materials under the CC licence Non Commercial Share Alike so our work can be used by others, often not so skilled ws makers or speakers, as the basis of their own work. Why do so many of us hold on to the very restrictive Copyright licence? This CC NCSA is the licence Lynne yearns for.

Btw, all my worksheets are licensed under the above mentioned CC licence on �the other big ESL site � 😎. Unfortunately, when someone takes my worksheets and adapts them, they cannot legally be uploaded on this site because that licence requires that the adapted version is uploaded under the same licence, which is logical IMO (you can �t adapt a CC licenced ws and then claim copyright after). Not that a give a hoot of course 🐽.

Cracking open a beer now to celebrate the return of Mariethe on this forum 🍺.

(Edit: Another thing I don�t like on the reporting page are the Google links that are a mile long, and often don�t give clear information that the ws was copied, except for a few sentences or exercises - style, sentence 5 and 7 on page 2).

 

Member�s shouldn�t report if they are not sure

Moderators shouldn�t vote if they are not sure

Members need not go to extremes in their endeavours "to keep the site clean" as they say

 

Another thing to remember is that this site is Victor�s creation. This debate has been going on ever since I joined five years ago and the site is still here.  If Victor was concerned, he�d let us know.

 

Furthermore, there are literally oodles and oodles of worksheets that break copyright, in terms of watermarked images, that are pre the new rules that he instigated in early 2010. These put the site far more at risk than the current issues, imho.

 

So let�s rest easy, lighten up and enjoy the positives of the site rather than focusing on the negatives.  When it becomes a problem Victor will advise. 

 

Cheers

 

Jayho

 

 

 

Why "liberals and zealots"? Which could easily be the �goodies and the baddies �, zealots being the baddies of course. Unfortunately many liberals are know longer moderating, which is a great shame as there continues to be a high percentage of copies uploaded here every day and your help and input is needed.

Where is Victor in all of these discussion? Perhaps the problem is not as great as we imagine. What would happen if all of us stopped moderating? Maybe the site would go on indefinitely, but would slowly be taken over by �thieves and vagabonds �, people who illegal take other people �s property and claim it to be their own.

No doubt good moderating is a skillful task and we all make mistakes in voting for bad copies to stay and good copies to go as well as misreporting worksheets. The site has changed and grown exponentially in membership though contributions are down and most members never ever upload anything.

Members who download every day could help by at least considering that a worksheet could be a copy. A number of members leave very encouraging comments on every worksheet they download including blatant copies, this is encouraging for all. I also always leave comments on worksheets I download for personal use, but I kick myself when I find that I have downloaded a copy.

Very few moderators enjoy bickering but I guess that, just as in family, we all handle it differently. One thing we do seem to have in common is a great affection for this site and many of it �s members. This place continues to challenge myself and others to be creative and  generous. I �ll stay, but like some of you, I need to get away from here sometimes.

Sometimes moderating does change people. I know of one moderator with over 100,000 points, who uploads great worksheets regularly, who had her account fairly deleted a couple of years ago; I have great respect for her. We of course know of others with multiple accounts who seem to enjoy a cat and mouse game with the moderators; some will never change.

I really have been enjoying everyone �s input to this discussion.

Edit in response to Philip�s edit.
Some members are sitting at their desk with a bunch of grammar books taking a few sentences out of each book and putting them all together and claiming it to be their own work. In such cases they have broken the copyright law several times with just one worksheet. They don�t get my respect. Let them go elsewhere.

Google creates links and I have no idea why some are very short and others are long.

If you looked at my use of emoticons it should have been clear I was partly speaking in jest. Then again, if the shoe (or cap) fits... 👹 Btw, these are the kind of tiresome discussions that drive people away from this site. I�ll close the door on my way out 😎.