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Freaking News GUIDELINES
Here are the general guidelines we follow at Freaking News. Please note that just
because a "rule" isn't listed here doesn't mean that it is within the
limits of what is acceptable. Use your good judgment and common sense if you are
uncertain about something.
ACCEPTABLE IMAGE UPLOADS
- This site is suitable for ALL ages. This site is completely
safe for work. If you have an image which you wouldn't show to your
3-year-old sister that you would like to post, then we don't want it.
- Any copyrighted photos are off-limits. If someone has used
your coyrighted image, simply flag it, indicate that it's your copyright,
give proof and contact information and a moderator will remove it and take
appropriate action against the offender.
There are some exceptions where copyrighted images can be used legally, such as for parody purposes
and even then, only in such a way that the image will not compete with the present or future commercial
interests of the original image or derivative works of the image. If you change an image substantially
enough that it will not in any way be confused with, nor financially compete with the original (and
it's derivatives) it may fall into the category of fair use. Please consult a lawyer
before making your own legal decisions about what constitutes fair use and what doesn't.
To make your life easier, ask yourself these questions to see if your image
is off-limits. If the answer to any of these is "yes," then you
cannot use the image. Also, note that just because your answer is "No,"
doesn't automatically mean that you can use the image. These are examples of copyrighted material, not the complete range.
- Did my image come from Reuters, AP or any other news site?
- Does my image have any watermarks or author information on it?
- Does the site where I found the image have a reputation for taking
other people's images?
- Does the webpage where this image came from have any copyright
information on it that indicates that the image is off-limits? Does it have any indication on it that it isn't copyrighted? (If not, you must still assume that it is).
- Was the image scanned in from a magazine?
- Recycling images from a past contest at Freaking News is
NOT allowed.
- Original quality images are expected to be uploaded here. As such
the following is off-limits and will be deleted, unless otherwise specified
in the contest rules:
- Anything which looks as if it was done in MSPaint. That is, a
"cut-and-paste" job. If you're edges are rough and not seamless,
it is guaranteed to be deleted.
- Any image which includes a thumbnail of the original image in it,
unless called for in the contest rules. Feel free to link the original
image in your author comments or in the user comments thread below your
image. It just ruins your picture to have the original there though and
yells out: "YOU CAN'T SEE MY TALENT UNLESS YOU SEE A SIDE BY SIDE
COMPARISON OF WHAT I HAVE CHANGED"
- Any image with a cartoon caption or thought bubble in it, unless
called for in the contest rules. Please.
- Using someone else's photoshopped image for your own source pic.
This site is not a photoshop-tennis site. It is a theme site. We expect
you to find your own source material, not to simply edit the themepost
(unless specified in the rules).
- Any off-theme image. READ THE CONTEST'S DESCRIPTION AND RULES CAREFULLY. A small
misunderstanding will result in a deleted image. If you are uncertain of
what is expected, then ask us. We
nearly always respond.
VOTING & COMMENTING
- If you don't rate someone else's images, sooner or later other users are not going to rate yours. Sure, their entry may suck, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't just give them a 1. Not voting will seriously hurt you in the long run on the site, however much it may insignificantly "harm" your standings in the current contest to vote for them, no matter how good your entries. We may even permanently penalize you on the site if you make a habit out of it.
- If you enter the contests, you are expected to vote for other entries in that contest. We don't enforce this, but trust me, the other users on this site do.
- If you have a friend or coworker playing on the site who
has uploaded a photo for which you would like to rate, please take the time
to rate a majority of the other voters as well.
- Though this site is competitive by nature, competition solely takes place within
Photoshop. Leaving negative feedback for someone is discouraged.
If you don't have something nice or encouraging to say, don't say anything at all. If you dislike an entry, why not make some suggestions that the user could do to make the image better? Discouraging users from participating here will get YOU banned from the
site.
- If you are banned, all of your credits will be "donated" to us. No refunds.
- If you tell your friends to come to the site and flood you with votes to help you win, you're going to get some flack from the users here. While it's not illegal per se, it's STRONGLY frowned upon.
It's VERY easy for users to see if a bunch of users with close user numbers
are mysteriously voting on a bad image. Odds are users here may not vote for you anymore in future contests. It's certain that the jury will simply not vote for you at
all and that your entry may be given a second glance during the deletion
runs. There is nothing wrong with encouraging your friends to come to the site (we like that). But by encouraging many friends to hit-and-run-vote-boost your entry, you are turning the contest into a popularity contest. We don't care about how many friends you have. We care about the quality of your image. Remember that.
- Voting is expected to be honest. Give someone the rating you think they deserve. Just because they gave you a 5 doesn't mean you "owe" them a 5 in return, though you do owe them the courtesy of at least rating their image. Just because you are friends,
coworkers or relatives with someone on the site doesn't mean you automatically have to vote high for them.
If users notice that you repeatedly vote for someone's poor images they
will start to put two-and-two together and stop voting for both of you
altogether.
GENERAL FORUM ETIQUETTE
- If a moderator, jury member
or any user who has a longer history at the site than you politely offers
some advice on how your entries here can be more well received (i.e. a
notice that your entry isn't on topic), take his or her advice to heart, as
I guarantee you they mean well.
- Self promotion is very annoying. This can be done in one of
two ways:
- Trying to exchange, annoy another member into voting for you
or looking at your image via messaging, chat room or forum. This site is not a popularity contest. Votes are earned at the cost of your hard work only.
- Using your image as a way to promote your website (i.e. including URLs in
big letters). Feel free to link to your website in your bio, but don't
bombard us with it please. If you want to copyright your work
make up a creative logo for yourself and watermark it into the image.
- Comment bumping is not agood idea and it's not going to work. Simply put, comment bumping is the act of pointlessly commenting on your own image so that you bump it up into first place on the "most recent comment" view. This doesn't mean you can't respond to your feedback....but we're not dumb and know the difference when you do it repeatedly.
- Instead of uploading 5 images of just decent quality, take the time it would have taken to make 5 to make 1 or 2
really good ones instead. We will all appreciate that.
- Your uploading an image to our site is permanent. Removal of the image is at our complete disgretion.
- It would do you more good to comment on someone's image than to vote on them (not that you shouldn't do both). But think about it logically: A person is more likely to remember a kind word or two than one of many ...voting... boxes when it comes time for them to decide to rate your image or skip over it entirely.
Commenting is especially easy via the mass commenting feature on the LARGE
VOTING VIEW.
The User Agreement changes fairly often so it is your responsibility to check it every few days, as your participation on this site indicates your agreement and acceptance of the terms. In general, play fair, play hard and play nice. The people at this site, are just that: people, and some of the most talented artists on the web. Remember that.
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