Updates on two important issues that members have been asking about...
 

Thank you for your patience as we work hard to address questions and issues that readers bring to our attention.

First, we have been asked about who "owns" content on AudiWorld and what are the policies around the use, reproduction and deletion of that content. I have been asked to refer everybody to the following which outlines Terms of Use for AudiWorld:

http://www.internetbrands.com/ib/ter...=AudiWorld.com

Second, we have been asked about requests from members who want to delete their accounts. The policy on this is bifurcated depending on the situation. For spammers or other people causing problems in the forums their accounts may be deleted at any time. For members who have had long standing and active accounts, but are requesting account deletion for whatever reason we will ask for a 14 day "cooling off period" during which the account will remain open and active. At the end of this period we do have the ability to delete an account, but this is irreversible hence the reason for the interim period. Note that while the account will be deleted, the posts created with it will not (they will appear as posted by Guest from that point on).

As I have said in other feedback threads I am not the one creating these policies, however I understand and agree with them. If you have follow-up questions please raise them here and we'll work through them. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for this JET, since it's at least partly in reply to my comments in another thread. I think it should be added as separate category under the "User Profile Features" of the forum FAQ.

That's not cutting it, JET.
 

That link was updated with the switch and that TOU governs all content going forward. Older content posted before the TOU change is a different story. Go look at the old TOU (if you can't find it, look around. I posted it a few days ago). The old TOU makes no license claim on material that is posted. By the old TOU, license to AW is not automagically granted to AW.

The IB response skirts the issue. It does not address it.

...and just when I thought they were coming around. Disappointing.

I believe that is the same TOU that have been around for quite some time. They look the same as these: https://www.audiworld.com/copyright/

Here is MY interpretation (and my personal interpreations only.)

1. I may post my own content anywhere else for what ever needs I see fit.
2. I may download any other material here for my own non-commercial, personal use only.
3. I may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, publicly display, prepare derivative works based on, or distribute in any way any material from the Site, including but not limited to text, audio, video, code and software that I do not have IP to.

Seems pretty straight forward.

As long as it's my original material I can post it anywhere else. But I (or anyone else,) may not redistribute the material I dont have IP to for any reason.

Any person or entity (expecially for a competing commercial venture,) wholesale copying and using scripts to strip any reference to AW is pretty clearly not allowed even if the reference to AW was left.

So if someone else put up a site you can add your material there of your own accord.

If you or I want to add our personal FAQ post / article somewhere else...go for it. No harm done...we own it.

No person or entity can take the entire contents of the FAQ or tech articles and repost them to another site, the other site can wait for or solicit every author (independant of this site,) to post their own indivdual material just like AW did over the years while collecting the "historical content," here.

It's protection on both sides of the fence for everyone including the original authors, AW, IP and anyone that may be thinking of putting up a FAQ site.

An example is my own FAQ articles. I dont want to post them anywhere else right now. The terms protect my material as I have not given ANYONE the right to repost it ANYWHERE.

So if you are a person who copied and pasted or wrote the scripts to copy my material, or the persons that are hosting my copied material to help produce a FAQ somewhere else that someone may possibly making money on, please remove my material and any other material that you have not been given rights to out of respect for the original authors.

You make my point by omission.
 

While all that may be true, at no point anywhere in the old agreement does it say that posting content automatically grants license to AW.

In other words, under the old TOU, you retain full IP rights to the content. Under the new TOU, you retain ownership, but grant IB license to the IP.

It appears that all posts that were authored and posted prior to the TOU update are fully owned by the original posters. Clearly IB recognizes this because they have not rebutted it. Instead, they sent JET to post a link to a policy that has only been in effect a few days.

From the new TOU...
 

"By displaying or posting content on the Site, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive global license to publish the content submitted by you to the Site. You also grant us global nonexclusive adaptation and resale rights over any content and material submitted to the Site. These nonexclusive publishing license and resale/adaptation rights extend to any materials submitted "for publication" within the Site, including both message board postings and content submitted for uploading and subsequent publishing within non-message board portions of the Site. Neither we nor our staff will be responsible for any misleading, false or otherwise injurious information and advice communicated on the Site or for any results obtained from the use of such information or advice. We will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by a user through the user's reliance on information and advice gained on the Site."

By posting these words, I grant IB license to them.

See if you can find anything like that in the old TOU.

I agree with you 100%

Any 3rd party would have to gain access to and have permission granted to repost the each indivdual authors' material indepentantly from this site by contacting each author. Whether the Author post if of their own free will, or the 3rd party solicits the author.

Only if the OP's object.
 

By posting, the OP's clearly expected the material to be displayed on this site, just as it is now. But they also expected, per the old TOU, that since they retained all IP rights, they could removed the content at any time.

So even those whose accounts are locked and have been banned are still within their rights if they demand that their content be removed.

This is based on my reading of the old TOU, which makes no IP claims on content posted.

I guess we have our answer from IB, in the form of a dodge. I think it would have been nicer to come clean about it. This forum needs some tranparency of management and some openness on the part of IB. I thought we were getting there over the weekend, but maybe not.

Hey, since I have your attention....
 

Do you think you could send my cluster off to Jim? It's been about 6 weeks.

I don't think they're dodging, I think they're a big company, and the answer is taking a while. I'll ask them again, even though JET and I have already asked them several times.

I think the sticking point at this moment is, who owns the content that was posted prior to the new TOU?