Disclaimer Violation

[Guest LouisaB]

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum - it probably is but I was unsure where to put it. Please move this topic if required.

I have two stories posted on this site in the Harry Potter section.

Some time ago, maybe a month or more, I received a "review" from DemonGoddess061 on one of my stories stating that my disclaimer was inadequate because it did not say that I made no money from writing the fanfiction. I immediately added the additional portion to the disclaimer of both of my stories in order to comply with the rules of the site.

At the time I also checked various other stories on the front page of that section to see if they had been similarly warned. One had, most had not.

I didn't think anything of it and today received the following review from DemonGoddess061 on my other story.

Please correct your disclaimer

It does not contain one of the two required elements. Namely, the part in which you disclaim the fandom. It can be worded however you, the author, likes, provided that it is clear you are disclaiming the specific fandom and state in some fashion clearly that you make no money/profit.

The portion of the Terms of Service which this deals with is listed below:

At the beginning of my Fan Fictions, I will respectfully credit all Original Creators, and plainly cite all Disclaimers necessary. In this way, I will pay homage to my Fandom's Original Creator, and illustrate my Community's belief that Fan Fiction is "fair use".

Below is a link to the Terms of Service in its entirety

http://www.adult-fanfiction.org/tos.php

In addition, the next link listed is to the FAQ regarding disclaimers.

http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/inde...p?showtopic=356

Please remove this review once your disclaimer is corrected.

First of all my disclaimer (below) states clear that I don't own anything and that JK Rowling retains all copyright and that I make no money from the story.

I don't own anything. JK Rowling retains all copyright and, because it apparently isn't blindingly obvious anyway, no, I don't make any money from writing this fanfiction.

What is missing?

Secondly, the link to the FAQ is broken.

Thirdly, I again decided to see if others had been given similar warnings. On the front page of the Remus/Sirius section of the Harry Potter section there are SEVEN other stories which are very clearly in violation of this rule and do not contain the two elements that are referred to. Not one of those has received a similar review.

I would like to know why I seem to be being singled out, especially now, when the two elements are very clearly stated in my disclaimer. What more do you require?

If my disclaimer is really that inadequate perhaps your staff could spell out to us what they would like it to say word for word because I am at a complete loss as to what else I could possibly include in the limited space that would apparently satisfy your requirements.

[DemonGoddess]

The link to the FAQ is not broken. The archive does not allow dynamic linking, so the user must copy/paste any links to their browser address bar.

What's being looked for, is that the disclaimer specifically disclaim the fandom (HP) itself. Not just the author. Granted, J.K. Rowling has only published Harry Potter, so far as I know, but, that is how we're doing it. Particularly as most authors publish more than one world, over time.

Actually, if you look, I did indeed warn them. However, the users themselves can delete reviews at will. So, whether or not a warning is still in the review board or not, is ultimately in the hands of the users themselves. We DO keep record of where and when we warn people.

[Guest LouisaB]

The link to the FAQ is not broken. The archive does not allow dynamic linking, so the user must copy/paste any links to their browser address bar.

What's being looked for, is that the disclaimer specifically disclaim the fandom (HP) itself. Not just the author. Granted, J.K. Rowling has only published Harry Potter, so far as I know, but, that is how we're doing it. Particularly as most authors publish more than one world, over time.

Actually, if you look, I did indeed warn them. However, the users themselves can delete reviews at will. So, whether or not a warning is still in the review board or not, is ultimately in the hands of the users themselves. We DO keep record of where and when we warn people.

I will add Harry Potter into the disclaimers for my stories. Though if J K Rowling decided to take action against fanfiction writers I can assure you that that adding "Harry Potter" to disclaimers would make no difference whatever - and this is ten years in the legal profession talking here. But I will comply with your rules nonetheless.

Regarding the broken link. This is a screenshot of the page I get when I copy and paste the link - which incidentally is what I had done before.

http://img517.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image2up9.jpg

The irony of it is that the imageshack site is too busy if you read this straight away and won't be able to see the print screen.

No comment on the other warnings.

Edited September 23, 2008 by LouisaB

[DemonGoddess]

All we are asking (any mod, that is) is that you, the users, comply with the Terms of Service. Considering how many rules there aren't, that shouldn't be difficult.

[Guest LouisaB]

All we are asking (any mod, that is) is that you, the users, comply with the Terms of Service. Considering how many rules there aren't, that shouldn't be difficult.

As I said in my previous post, I have added what you have asked for to my disclaimers.

I was merely trying to point out that the link you posted does not work. Try copying and pasting the address yourself and you will see that it doesn't.

I am not trying to be rude or upset you, I am simply stating the fact that the link you provided does not work. I thought you might like to know that...clearly I was wrong.

I apologise for not understanding what was wrong with my disclaimer. I genuinely thought it was adequate, especially since the only complaint you had the first time I was warned was about the non-profit bit being missing.

I apologise for pointing out to you that your link is broken. I was only trying to help and make it clear that if the answer to my query was there, I could not access it.

I apologise for not being able to tell that all the other posters who had been warned had ignored your warnings and immediately deleted them. From my point of view it seemed very much like I was being singled out.

I apologise for wasting so much of your time this evening. I am sure you are as heartily sick of this thread as I am.

[DemonGoddess]

Sorry I misunderstood part of what you said. To be honest, I only quickly read (up to my eyeballs in work at the moment) but did check the link, and corrected it in my document. Thanks for the heads up on that.