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Sunday, October 15, 2017

How to Have a Comment that You Believe Infringes on Your Intellectual Property Rights, Copyright and the Like Removed From The Tavern

Lets cut to the chase, shall we? I do NOT read every comment posted here, at The Tavern nor every comment in The Tavern's Facebook Community. If I did, I'd never have the time to post. There are thousands of Tavern Readers (many of them commenters) and the Facebook Community is closing in on 1900 very active members.

So, it is certainly possible somebody commenting here or in the The Tavern's Facebook Community may link to or copy-paste material that "you" feel infringes on your intellectual property rights.

Know what you do? Messege me the moment you notice it.

How? This very page has an email feature on the right hand side. Or Facebook PM. Or Google Hangouts PM (not a Google Plus mention, as I miss that shit constantly)

What should you say? Identify the comment that you feels infringes on your intellectual property rights (or misstates information that you feel is actionable - yes, I mean you Gail) and tell me how it does so. I can pretty much guarentee I'll take down the offending material in as timely a manner as I am able to do so.

What should you not say? Legal threats, direct or implied, do not help. Seriously, all you are doing is burning bridges where none need to be burned. This is, of course, totally up to you. The offending comment gets deleted in either case. Relationships suffer with the second option.


33 comments:

  1. I have a sneaking suspicion this is related to a certain backer-only update from Kickstarter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ....but stupid comments in the realm of "Poo Poo Head" are still AOK, right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes, personal insults are actually ok. not preferred, of course ;)

      Delete
  3. Man, this is a real fucking joke.

    Totally unrelated, but did you know that the Empyrea reboot is delayed? There's going to be an update from Frank tomorrow. I know that because I read a comment available only to backers (yay me for promising a buck that won't get charged!) Nothing says "professionnal" like posting a single KS update, making it backers-only so everyone else can only read the title announcing "Empyrea Kickstarter rebooting on Monday October 16th", then not reboot it on October 16th. Oh yeah, that backers-only update also included a preview link to the rebooted KS (which is now dead, by the way, at least for now). And man, if there is one thing you DO NOT want potential backers to know, it's that. I mean, they then could star it and be alerted when it's lauched, right? Let's hope me saying that does not infringe on anyone's IP.

    What was I saying? Ah, yeah : man, this is a real fucking joke.

    ReplyDelete
  4. At first i thought this could not be real. There was nothing in that update that was “proprietary”. Not a bit. Whats the reason that post got yanked?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So my suspicion was correct. There's a certain backer-only update comment removed from a certain other tavern post... And it sounds like legal action was threatened lol

      Delete
    2. "And it sounds like legal action was threatened lol"

      Just like in that PM that the "hacker" wrote.

      Delete
    3. Apparently posting 'backer only' comments is tantamount to trade secrets now. That makes Zero sense. I wonder what Frank and company threatened Tenkar with to take down my post. God forbid there was something in there that was PROPRIETARY.

      Delete
    4. I think this hacker has come back for round two of legal threats! First innocent victim EOTB, next, Tenkar!

      Delete
  5. Sounds like a certain conman needs to learn the difference between a privacy policy and how intellectual property works and is infringed upon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds like we're dealing with amateurs pretending to be professionals (again).

    ReplyDelete
  7. If Mentzer's having his much trouble before his KS has even funded... what's to come? Nah, probably nothing to worry about. I'm sure development and delivery will be smooth, uneventful and on time, with all backer inquiries along the handled politely and professionally.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow, crazy. Especially considering how you've been handling this project with kid gloves so far.

    Everything about the initial launch was shaky, and it seemed like the only reason you weren't panning it was out of respect for Frank. Because it was a seriously crap kickstarter pitch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't forget, Frank wants to have EVERY pledge have a box set, 5000 box sets as the baseline. You've got to be shitting me.

      Delete
  9. I really appreciate the community support. In trying times like this it really does mean the world

    And no, I won't comment on the exact situation that brought this post into being. Simply sound advice for all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the missing comment basically explains the situation for you. Lol

      Delete
    2. Erik, you publish an entertaining blog and in my experience you are civil and reasonable. What's not to like?

      Lot of folks understand that if we don't support the good things, we lose them.

      Delete
  10. Will you be deleting all posts that get reported to you, or only if it actually violates someone's rights/law? Because technically most backer-only updates are not protected speech and contain no information that infringe on copyright/property/etc.

    If yes, that's what we call a chilling effect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll take each request as they come and make my judgement based on the totality of the circumstances.

      I've posted such backer-only updates in the past - Myth & Magic comes to mind - but I've always removed all links prior to doing so.

      Delete
    2. Sounds good. Much better than scare tactics legal threats forcing unoffending posts to be removed.

      Delete
    3. Did the one posted on the other thread have links or other IP info? Because I saw that comment (and update as a backer) and didn't see anything that warranted removal.

      Delete
  11. Nothing says the old guard is back in action than legal threats! Remember: T$R has always stood for "They Sue Regularly". :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Two words: train wreck. Ride the Mentzer KS rail at your own peril.

      Delete
    2. After seeing Mr. Mentzer bragging and bullying on Dragonsfoot, and not even taking responsibility for the nasty PM which got him banned, I confess to a certain sense of amusement at seeing the Empyrea KS go up in a total clusterfuck garbage fire. I hope everyone is taking notes - this is how "pro ops" are done.

      Delete
  12. The Piazza posted the same backer only update. Either they ignored the legal threats or Frank just likes them more than you lol.

    http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=18696&p=203492#p203492

    ReplyDelete
  13. Don't worry about it Erik > tell FM to kiss your ass and go back to figuring out how he's gonna screw those who were dumb enough to support his KS. I've being visiting the Tavern for years and alway enjoyed the quality of posts and the way you managed the site. We got yer back, man!

    ReplyDelete
  14. If someone were provided with a "backer only" preview of the upcoming Kickstarter reboot, I'm kind of curious why someone would post it?

    The most I had said about it was that the goal was lowered, the stretch goals made more attainable and that some of the pledges had been made a bit better. But nothing approaching a cut and paste, or disclosing actual numbers.

    Frank has said that he is new to this process, so there is likely going to be a few missteps along the way.

    I'm actually a survivor of the Pathfinder Online Kickstarter and the actual launch of that game was probably one of the worse MMO launches of all time!! Possibly even the WORST!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Speaking of Frank and threats. This was an interesting read. I see a pattern of behavior reference threats..... It's not just Hollywood.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/778ykn/its_not_just_hollywood/

    ReplyDelete
  16. All because Frank wanted a link to a nothing removed. Good job their chief, ya got what ya wanted.

    ReplyDelete
  17. It appears the KS reboot has been cancelled, as many of Mr. Mentzer's collaborators jumped ship after somebody (no doubt "the hacker") framed Mr. Mentzer as a dirty old man.

    http://tedfauster.com/2017/10/18/fallen-hero-the-end-of-my-business-relationship-with-frank-mentzer/

    https://twitter.com/Delafina777/status/920489843821486080

    That is one busy "hacker"!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Better watch out, Erik, apparently the term "burning bridges" is synonymous with "blackmail." This is something I never knew until recent events.

    ReplyDelete

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