• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

ReptileRefuge-stealing photos and Care Sheets

C

CheriS

No furry helpless bunny
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We have found many caresheet and photo's on this site that were ours, ones I wrote for others or other people's we recognize that are not authorized to be reproduced or copyright acknowledged

If you have caresheets, articles or photo's online, you might want to check out this site and make sure they have not stolen any of yours.

Some have been requested to be removed or acknowledged by the site owner, and he has changed or removed some, but appears he is just taking them again from someone else site.

http://www.reptilerefuge.com/forum/index.php
then scroll down to the caresheets.

The site owner is
Registrant:
Justin Rutledge
14501 White Tail Ave.
Amarillo, Texas 79124
United States
 
I talked with the kid running the site yesterday after Cheri brought to my attention the issue. He quickly added a link to the caresheets that I brought to his attention.

There is even a thread on his forum about copyrights and there seems to be some confusion on his end concerning what makes a work copyrighted and what is considered public works. Hopefully with the discussion on his site he'll be able to identify who owns what (he said the photos he got off a google search and he was unsure of their orgins) and post credit.

If you see something that's on there of yours let him and I'm sure he'll fix it. I don't think he's the next kin of Satan just uninformed. :D
 
He still does not seem to get it, when someone request him to remove them and explain why, he is removing them, but then taking one from another's site to replace it without acknowledgment... and that is AFTER many people have told him he is violating copyright laws using unauthorized photos and articles.
 
Also, mere acknowledgement is not a valid substitution for permission in the eyes of the legal system.

Even if you credit the original author, if you do not have their permission, that is illegal. He has been informed of this, yet when he removes articles that are requested, he replaces them with other articles that have been stolen from elsewhere.

He's certainly NOT uninformed, and NOBODY has the right to grant permission EXCEPT the copyright owner.
 
Those that requested their work removed, has been, but I think everything on that site is someone elses work and he does not know at this point were he took them from.

At first he may not have known what he was doing was wrong, although it is hard for me to imagine that somewho who has as much experience online and with the reptiles community does not know taking and using others photo, articles and signing them as regards <nick> did not know better
 
Im curious about this subject. Lets say I put together a web site and use photos or care sheets I found on the web, which did not have any type of copyright or trademark indenification on them. I use these photos and/or care sheets for informational purposes only. I don't claim I wrote the care sheets. I don't claim I own the animals pictures in the photos.Is that Illegal?
 
Technically it is.

More to the point, common courtesy would say that you

1. request to use someonelse's work

2. provide a link or at the very least provide credit where it's due.
 
I agree with you on 1 and 2 but I disagree that the scenario I layed out would be illegal.
 
Ophis said:
did not have any type of copyright or trademark indenification on them.
Click to expand...
Whether the identification was there or not, as soon as a document or a photograph is created it is automatically copyrighted to the creator.

As I said, giving credit or links is not a legally valid substitution for permission.
 
Ugh, I've dealt with him. He was banned from SsnakesS.com for spamming other members with links to his forum. Any polite requests to stop and to abide the signature rule (4 lines max) were met with outright rudeness.
 
more info

www.copyright.gov

As soon as a work is created, it is copyrighted. As per 1989, a copyright notice isn't even required. REGISTERING a copywork just adds additional damages to be areas to collected upon when in court.
 
I hear you on copyright being established upon creation. I was refering to the "Fair Use" and/or "Public Domain" clauses. Upon further review, I don't think "Fair Use" would apply. Unless he got the documents from a site where everything posted became public domain etc...that wouldn't apply either.

While what he is doing is not a criminal offense, he leaves himself open to a civil suit. Not very probable someone would bring suit against him though. Also not probable that any significant damage sum would be awarded if it wound up in court.

It only takes a few minutes of investigation for this guy to realize that he is putting himself at financial risk if someone gets a real hard on for him.
 
"Fair Use" is alot more broad than that, but wouldn't apply to what he is doing.
 
Joe,

I'm not really sure if what he does would not fall under "fair use". Teaching, research, scholarship activity, etc. fall under its definition. If he is making short quotations for purposes of teaching, research, etc. that's not considered copyright infringement, if the quotations are identified with the source and name of the author(s). So if the purpose of what he is doing is to teach the public about herp husbandry, etc. it might fall under the "fair use" definition. Anyways, it's matter that's better left for lawyers, as there are many "gray" areas.

Best regards.
 
Ophis said:
While what he is doing is not a criminal offense
Click to expand...
Actually, not only is it a criminal offense, it's a FEDERAL offense.

Ophis said:
he leaves himself open to a civil suit. Not very probable someone would bring suit against him though.
Click to expand...
Civil suit if the articles/photographs are not registered with the copyright office. Federal charges if they are.
 
Hoperfully, it never comes to any of that, he has been removing them when people identify they are theirs and request it.

For some others... what is the problem about asking permission of someone who has done the work for something? .... I don't understand what is the problem about that or why someone would want to claim something that is not theirs. NOt very considerate or respectful of others

Many allow their work to be used on other's site when they are asked first..... just seems to start people/sites off on the wrong foot copying their entire articles.
 
Joe,

If the material is used for teaching purposes and not for monetary gains (or losses to the other party) it seems it might be considered "fair use". One way or the other I'm no lawyer, and we both know how things can be twisted around. This is an example from the link you posted (the bold is mine):

Too Small For Fair Use: The De Minimis Defense

In some cases, the amount of material copied is so small (or "de minimis") that the court permits it without even conducting a fair use analysis. For example, in the motion picture Seven, several copyrighted photographs appeared in the film, prompting the copyright owner of the photographs to sue the producer of the movie. The court held that the photos "appear fleetingly and are obscured, severely out of focus, and virtually unidentifiable." The court excused the use of the photographs as "de minimis" and a fair use analysis was not required. ( Sandoval v. New Line Cinema Corp., 147 F.3d 215 (2d Cir. 1998).)
Click to expand...

Lots of "gray" areas...But if someone is going to use material from another person, he better ask permission first or at least cite the reference.

Regards, :)
 
It may be a grey area but not very. His use would most probably NOT fall under fair use. As for criminal offense, my senario suggested no copyright notification was evident, therefore NOT a criminal offense.
 
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