Copyright
These are sample admin messages you could use to send to your community.
ADMIN: COPYRIGHT
Software and other media are subject to copyright. This message sets out our stance on giving away computer software, CDs, DVDs and recorded music through the community.
Software being gifted should be:
- ideally the original, not a copy
- no longer used by the previous owner.
Music, videos, books and other copyrighted works should be:
- original
- no longer used by the previous owner.
These aren't $groupname policies but rules arising from copyright law. If you have software you no longer use, it's uninstalled, and it meets the licence terms for transfer, feel free to post an Offer or a Wanted, noting the system requirements (operating system, memory, etc.) needed to run it.
It's up to individuals whether they follow this advice, but please take copyright seriously - it's a legal matter, not just a community guideline.
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ADMIN: COPYRIGHT
Please be aware that one of our basic rules is that items offered or requested must be legal. This includes copyright considerations for things like computer software, music and films or TV programmes.
Don't pass on original copyrighted material if you keep a copy yourself, whether on CD (or similar) or digitally. Nor should you pass on copies of copyrighted material. For computer software, check the terms of your licence agreement - but apart from freeware, shareware or open-source material, you should almost certainly remove all traces from your own system before passing it on. If you hold a valid licence for something but have lost or damaged the original media, contact the manufacturer.
It's fine to pass on used media as long as you offer it as such - e.g. CD-ROMs, CDs, video and audio tapes - but offers shouldn't be based on the content of the media.
Please respect this rule: it would be a serious threat to the future of reuse communities everywhere if they became a channel for copyright theft. We know a small number of items that contravene this rule have slipped through in the past, but we do our best to make sure nothing is passed on illegally.
If you receive an item you believed was original and legally offered, but it turns out to be illegal in some way, please tell the moderators.
Thanks, everyone, for your understanding and co-operation on this.
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