This Forum and the Idiots Who Run It.

[railfan365]

Quirky Railyard copy.jpg

This post marks the end of my participation in this forum, because i refuse to submit to punitive pecksniffs who are intent on playing thought police. I recently posted that embedded branding in posted photgraphs is too easily edited out and suggested that there must be a better way to protect the original photographer's proprietary interest in their image. I illustrated the point with an image with the branding removed, and the original image which announced whose work it was. The post was removed and I was issued a warning that we do not remove original branding. However, the moderator who issued the warning mindlessly overlooked that I did not actually post an image with the original identifcation removed - the edited image was side by side with the branded version.

I posted that same basic message again, also illustrated with an image both bearing and not bearing the photographer's logo. This time, there were two replies that fairly established a conversation on the point, However, the sense of the conversation was impaired by my post being removed while the replies were left on. It was stated that removing branding is frwned upon - but, again, the easy removal of branding is exactly what I was commenting on, and I was not posting someone else's image without proper credit since the edited and original versions of the image were side by side. And the moderator who did this was so trigger happy that the imbecile banned me from posting for a week and then messaged me another warning that I would be unable to read because I was banned already.

In conclusion, I say to the moderators of this forum: Enjoy your power. I'm finished with you if you get so much pleasure from exerting control over people without even knowing what you're doing.

[kilroy]

I posted one of the replies on the earlier thread and I should have posted something when the images were removed.

To the Mod, what he did was the whole point of a very important and valid thread. Without the before and after, there is not much point to the conversation. I know photographers who have stopped posting images on the internet due to having their photos hijacked and claimed by others as their own. Ralifan365 was trying to bring the problem to light and start a conversation to find a way to prevent this or at least make others aware how easy it is to do and that their effort to prevent it may be in vain.

Rules without any context to them are easy to enforce but enforcement may not be in the best interest of all.

[Jeff Smith]

Temporary lock while we review the circumstances. Other MODS: Do NOT delete this topic.

Jeff, Site Admin

[Jeff Smith]

I appreciate everyone's input. I reached out to the parties involved, and received feedback from the moderators but not the member.

We are pretty strict on the copyright issue here, and require that "watermarks" and such NOT be removed, and attribution and links provided where available, known, and appropriate. I understand the point was to illustrate, but the point could have been made without actually doing it. That was previously made known. Putting the image on without the watermarks allows others to copy it and use it elsewhere.

I have to protect the site, and its owners.

Out of fairness, the topic will remain, but remain locked.

If there's an issue with the moderation, please reach out to either the moderators involved, or myself, or both. A simple Private Message (PM) amongst the parties before the flaming starts and distracts from a topic is really the way to go.

Thanks.