Introduction
Amusedom is an expansive, worldwide community of artists of every age, and every nationality who create works spanning every medium, every subject and every level of talent and skill.
As the guiding force of this large and vibrant community we have two primary and often conflicting goals in the service we provide for you, the members of the community; the first being to ensure that members are free to express themselves, within reason, with as few restrictions as possible while nurturing an environment of creativity, learning, and talent. The second is to protect the members of the community, to the best of our abilities, from infringement of copyright, discrimination, harassment, and prejudice.
All members of the Amusedom community are expected to be familiar with these rules of etiquette and they will be enforced evenly and without bias in every situation which is brought to the attention of the administration regardless of the membership status of the user in question.
Guidelines
Quality and Placement
It is our policy to welcome artists of all levels from amateur to professional and to that end we do not attach any minimum standards of quality to works submitted by our membership; all manner of artworks are welcome providing they meet with our etiquette and copyright policies. While we do not impose quality standards, we do ask that you practice self-moderation in what you choose to submit and that you submit your works into the most appropriate gallery. While we encourage the submission of only your very best works, every new work submitted is initially published in the general entry area of the site. Every content category has its own general entry area. Works featured in the general entry areas are subject to user evaluation and vote. Works deemed professional by popular vote (by reaching a certain preset points score) are displayed in the professional sections of the site.
By the “Hand of God” or by popular vote, some of your works may be upgraded from the general entry category into a more appropriate category or rank. Artists whose works are deemed professional are automatically offered a Merchant Account option. The Artist then can sell their content though the various commercial options offered by the Amusedom site. Merchant Account holders must agree to the terms and conditions as specified in the Merchant Account submission form before such content is offered for sale and Artist’s are eligible to receive payment.
Prohibited Commentary
Prohibited commentary is typically considered to be inherently disrespectful, aggressive, or otherwise abusive.
We must insist that you refrain from comments that are racist, bigoted, sexist or which otherwise offensively target a philosophy or religion. In addition we ask that our members avoid making offensive remarks based on gender or sexual preference and that you do not make any remark, comment or critique which is intended to be a direct insult to an individual, group, or genre of artwork. Hate propaganda is met with zero tolerance. Comments which are overly aggressive, personally insulting or needlessly abusive are also prohibited.
If you feel that you have been the target of harassment, personal insults or other severe behavior please notify the staff by using the official
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. Please be aware that the staff will only directly intervene in cases which are considered severe; minor situations may be dealt with using tools made available to group creators and all registered members.
Discouraged Commentary
Discouraged commentary is typically considered to have the potential to escalate into an aggressive or abusive situation.
While not strictly prohibited we must insist that all personal arguments, disagreements, and other volatile “personal” issues be confined to private communications such as notes, emails, or Instant Messaging programs. Likewise we discourage public accusations and other similar situations; please bring all issues of this nature to the attention of the staff by notifying the official Amusedom helpdesk.
Exploitive Commentary
Exploitive commentary is typically considered to be disruptive due to unusual or unique factors.
Members are allowed the privilege to promote and market their works. In no event shall the site be used to market non-related products and services. Please do it in the appropriate sections, just use common sense and do not spam the other members with content unrelated to the Site’s purpose. Spamming is obnoxious and is typically used for unwanted advertising.
Do not ‘flood’ (place large numbers of comments rapidly on a single page or craft a single comment which consumes a large amount of page space) the forums, notes system, user pages or other areas of the site. Flooding usually disrupts page loading times and serves no useful purpose.
Respect Your Fellow Artists
As a vibrant and growing art community, Amusedom welcomes all kinds of original artworks; but we MUST insist that the artwork that you submit be your own original works.
Your work submissions must be your own original creations and you may only use resources which are considered legitimate and legal. Submissions that make use of works without proper permission or licensing by the original author will be removed as they come to the attention of the staff. This policy applies to all Amusedom submissions, general entries, and the preview images used for written submissions.
If you have reason to believe that an Amusedom submission violates this policy you should use the official Report Violation link which is available on every submission page.
Mature Content
When we discuss mature content, we are specifically referring to works that contain images, subject matter, or other themes which some viewers may find offensive, distasteful, or otherwise undesirable to view or to read. The most common ‘undesired’ viewing material may include, but is not limited to, images containing exploitive nudity (see details below), large amounts of simulated blood and gore, or generally violent themes.
Amusedom strictly prohibits the submission of materials classified as pornographic or obscene. There is no exception to this prohibition.
Certain content may be deemed obscene by the administration and as such the staff reserves the right to remove such content immediately upon discovery. The administration reserves the sole right to review and classify questionable material as obscene or not obscene.
Model release forms
Amusedom reserves the right to demand a Model Release form for any photograph (nude or otherwise) located within either your Gallery or Scrapbook areas. In the event that you receive a request to provide a Model Release, an appropriate link will be included in the notification you received. Failure to provide a Model Release form within seven (7) days of such request will result in the automatic removal of the associated photograph.
For your own protection it is highly recommended that you have any model who poses for you sign a release form giving you the explicit permission to publish, share, distribute, and otherwise display the associated images. It is highly recommended that you provide this form immediately after submitting your photograph, especially if your subject is depicted nude. Details of this process may be found in the official Amusedom FAQ. USERS SHOULD BE TOLD THIS IS REQUIRED, AND REFERRED TO THE RELEVANT WARRANTIES SECTION UNDER THE TERMS OF USE.
Underage models
We cannot allow any nude works featuring individuals under the age of 18, nor may any works depict individuals under the age of 18 in a ‘sexually driven’ manner such as posing in lingerie or displaying a sexually suggestive or provocative pose Photographs which are suspected of depicting a minor in a sexually provocative manner will be suspended from public view until proper legal documentation is provided.
All other submissions of a non photographic nature which clearly depict a minor, fictional character will be removed without notice.
Forum Posting
In addition to the outlines in the above section entitled Prohibited Commentary and Exploitive Commentary, we have a few additional policies regarding comments and posts within the Forum areas of Amusedom;
a.All threads started within a specific forum and all comments within those threads should be relevant to the forums Title. This means that, for example, all threads within the Movies forum must relate to motion pictures and the comments within those threads should also remain on the appropriate topic.
b.We encourage interactivity and we allow comments to be either positive or negative in nature providing that they remain constructive and promote a worthwhile dialogue.
c.We insist that forum threads adhere to the same standard set forth for artwork, scrapbook, and writing submissions in terms of what is considered acceptable subject matter (i.e. no racist threads, no sexual discussions, etc).
Threads which are misplaced, which contain inappropriate subject matter (such as sexual discussions), or which contain an undesirable number of insults or other violations of this etiquette policy will be locked and closed to further commentary. Repeat violators may be suspended from the Site at our sole discretion.
Avatars
Avatars submitted into an Amusedom Gallery or to your Scrapbook must conform to all official policies without exception,
Exploits, Vulnerabilities, and Site Abuse
The Amusedom staff will not tolerate attempts to exploit or disrupt the layout, navigability, or general use of the site. Such actions disrupt the ability of the community to access and review artwork and are considered Site Abuse. Violators will be banned without warning upon the discovery of disruption or abuse of the Site.
Groups
All of the rules and guidelines of this Etiquette Policy apply to activities within a Group or in the management and administration of a Group. All of the policies with respect to content and commentary apply within Groups, and any member or watcher of a Group should feel comfortable reporting any activity to which they object on the basis of this Etiquette Policy or otherwise. We are not responsible for the conduct of Group participants or administrators. However, the Group applications permit us to take appropriate action should intervention become necessary as a result of a violation of the Terms of Service in general or of any other of our policies.
Keep in mind that Group administrators may determine their own rules and privileges for artists who participate in the Group and as a general rule we will not become involved in any disputes between Group members, between Group administrators or between one or another Group unless there is a clear violation of our own policies, rules and terms of service. We suggest you use good judgment and decency in all of your Group interactions as well as exercising the same cautions you would use in any Internet exchanges with individuals who you may not know. Further helpful information about Groups can be found in this FAQ and elsewhere on Amusedom.
Changes in Etiquette Policy
As new situations come to our attention we reserve the right to alter or expand upon the policies stated here with or without notification and any such changes may be enforced in full against previously existing submissions or behavior.
Alterations of policy may be announced through either the Amusedom Status Forum or through other Announcements and News Topics.
Appeals and Inquiries
Appeals, inquiries, or questions concerning work removals, violation notices, account suspensions, or other administrative actions should be addressed to the official Amusedom Helpdesk where they will be forwarded to the appropriate department for review.
Please refrain from using the Amusedom Forums, the Amusedom Note system or personal email to staff members for these concerns. You are unlikely to receive a proper response and will be redirected to use the official Helpdesk.
Petitions and other forms of public outcry are discouraged and will have no affect on Administrative Reviews of staff actions, and may in fact be detrimental to the case in question.
