OPEN LETTER: Forbidden Sharing

Exactly, which is why this topic is getting old and annoying for those of us who actually pay attention to the posts from admin etc explaining this stuff.

There’s no logical reason as far as I’m concerned as to why episode don’t have the right to say people can’t share things that uses their material

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yeah kinda lol. Its hard to understand what people are saying these days. :sweat_smile:

No I was saying you were wrong in stating that most character edits and backgrounds are commissioned. That isn’t the case.

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You have a great point.

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The issue we have is that they decided to reserve this right after waving it for years before. Editors and the community for the most part have grown accustomed to have the option of seeking backgrounds and overlays outside of Episode’s official inventory. This change might not seem relevant to everyone, but it is to us. A discussion is always worth having.

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Throwing my hat in the ring I guess.

Well, first of all, the rules aren’t brand new.

Why this has blown up now, I’m not sure. But @Liz pointed out that it has always been this way.

You also can use the edited assets you made yourself, or something someone gave to you. What is an issue though, is profiting off it from a massive group of people. At that point, it’s copyright infringement.

Another issue is that some people are putting large watermarks on the content they’re creating:

These are just a couple of the reasons why people are getting caught.

But overall, you are allowed to share backgrounds and other assets. Privately. I’m pretty sure it has always been this way. But guys, I cannot stress enough how important it is to read the Terms of Services of the things you sign up for. I know it’s long and boring, but it’s very important, because this is #2 on the TOS:

“2. Changes to the Terms of Service and the Service

Episode Interactive reserves the right, at its discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions of these Terms of Service and its Privacy Policy at any time by posting the amended terms on the Site. You will be deemed to have accepted such changes by continuing to use the Service. Except as otherwise expressly stated, all amended terms shall automatically be effective immediately when posted.

These Terms of Service may not be otherwise amended except in a writing signed by you and Episode Interactive. For purposes of this provision, “writing” does not include an e-mail message and a signature does not include an electronic signature. If at any point you do not agree to any portion of the then-current version of the Terms of Service, the Privacy Policy, or any other Episode Interactive policy or rules relating to your use of the Service, your license to use the Service shall immediately terminate, and you must immediately stop using the Service. To the extent the Terms of Service or Privacy Policy conflict with any other terms, policy or rules of Episode Interactive, the terms contained in these Terms of Service and in the Privacy Policy shall govern.

Except as may be expressly specified otherwise by Episode Interactive with respect to paid portions of the Service, Episode Interactive reserves the right to add, change, suspend or discontinue the Service, or any aspect or feature of the Service, without notice or liability."

TL;DR: Episode is within its rights to change its policies, with or without notice.

Yeah, sometimes the Episode staff isn’t completely transparent, but even if they changed the rules out of nowhere, they reserve that right. And we all agreed to it when we signed up. Remember that. Let this be a lesson: never agree to something you didn’t read.

Finally, don’t abuse the flag system because someone disagrees with you. Not everyone who has a dissenting opinion is arguing in bad faith. Unless they’re violating a forum rule at the same time, leave their comments alone.

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Yeah but that’s their right to do, sure it’s not ideal and hasn’t been dealt with in the best way. However that doesn’t mean that it should be allowed just because people have “grown accustomed” to being allowed to do it. Honestly, that doesn’t matter.
Sure it’s worth having a discussion, but to an extent and this matter has been addressed and discussed by admin members, they answered questions and made statements about this. So why not accept that and move on. It’s not a sudden new rule. Just being reinforced. Now this is just re-igniting an already addressed issue.

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Well, change, any kind of change comes from speaking out. Compliancey is fine for certain things, but to just accept shifts like this is to accept other the will inevitably follow. Even if we don’t win this one, we gather together to prove that maybe we’ll win the next. And that is also a right.

ohh okay.

:point_down:t2::point_down:t2:

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You won’t win it though, why should you? It should be accepted as it’s the right thing to do, they created it, it’s for them to own it.
Why should something that is right be fought against?
The only logical thing to fight would be to inforce the rule better and make it stronger so that things don’t slip through the net.
I don’t think that is what people are trying to fight though.

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Episode’s official account has followed several popular editors with massive google drives and a massive audience. Reinforcement is sudden.

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Episode assets are used in these edits for Episode related projects. The art work belongs to them but we are not trying to take it.

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So what? Maybe they were bothered with other things. Why this is what bothers you?

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Nobody said it was being taken, but it’s not your right to distribute it publicly. Especially when it breaks their rules. That is the point. So why fight something that has been there all along

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I just commented this in response to Liz saying that they’ve always had this policy.

:wink:

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Again,

These rules have always existed, and they have always been enforced. But remember that Episode employees that are probably reviewing multiple backgrounds at a time, and they are also doing more than just that. Sometimes things fall through the cracks. Episode staffers are only human, remember that. And action isn’t always going to be swift, because of the sheer amount of stuff they have to go through.

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yeah, I agree.

Because there was a time when it wasn’t like this, even if it was written down. Something has changed. We want to know what. Because to say that it’s just an obvious rule that was bound to be reinforced doesn’t work when you take in other factors.

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