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Site Update
Recently we've been seeing a lot of concerns raised by users when staff take official actions with users, and of course with some recent bans the worries have resurfaced and have reached us. First and foremost I would like to stress that we only ever take steps such as these when there is ample onsite evidence that actions that breech our Terms of Service have occurred.
In this instance it has regarded the "USD Sales of Designs By Artists" section of the ToS, which reads as follows:
"This section governs the sale of derivative works (artworks incorporating official Aywas pet bases, SCC pets that have been submitted already, and HA avatar artwork). Players may only accept USD for their derivative artworks through the Commissions Platform or through the use of Artist Paintbrushes. Players are forbidden from negotiating or selling derivative artworks through any other means, or in any other location. This means that players may only receive USD direct to their PayPal account when in connection with a Commissions Platform official request, or when an administrator redeems a Paintbrush for them."
This was written into the ToS in June of last year when the feature was released, and a news post was made to make everyone aware. There is also a knowledgebase article which was linked in the news post and is linked on the Commissions Panel page, to ensure that the knowledge of this was clearly and easily accessible.
Previous to this all USD sales of derivative works were disallowed by the ToS, except through Paintbrushes when they were initialised. As such any purposeful circumvention is a permanently bannable offence.
The fee that the commissions platform takes is not to punish the artist, but a licence for them to profit from the use of our copyrighted materials. These fees also allow us to continue building and repairing the site, as well as support the many artists that work as contractors for us in the breeding and custom ticket systems.
No one on staff takes banning a user lightly, and none of us take any joy from it - it is simply a necessary part of the work we do to continue maintaining the website. As always, as long as you have read and abide by the ToS then you are not in any danger - and if you are ever in doubt about something you want to do, or something someone has asked you to do for them, then please contact a member of staff. We are here to help you and always happy to do so =)
Posted by Eve
(#2775) on Mon Apr 4, 2016 4:49pm
- Guest
(#0)
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Posted on: Tue Apr 5, 2016 7:06am
Giratina (#1379)
Browsewrap vs Clickwrap Legal terms
"When a website operator can show that the user or customer had actual or constructive notice of the terms and conditions a question of whether the agreement can be enforced is raised." - Taken from the page linked above.
Not only are we provided with a link to the ToS at the bottom of every page, we are also required to accept that we have read the Aywas Terms of Service by clicking on a checkbox beside the link to the ToS in order to register our account.
Furthermore, we are provided with newsposts like this when an issue has been raised. By doing all of this, the site is covering what is required of them and would certainly have the upper hand - if not overall dominance - in a court case.
- Toxxynne
(#27033)
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Posted on: Tue Apr 5, 2016 7:08am
Giratina (#1379)
My apologies, that guest post was also me - I had signed out to check whether we are required to confirm that we have read the ToS before signing up to the website.
- Giratina
(#1379)
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Posted on: Tue Apr 5, 2016 7:20am
Toxxynne (#27033) We're not required tore-agree when updates are posted though. Look at any mmo or other game, for gods sake look at skype. With every update there's a "I agree". We only do it once, when we sign up. So that means I haven't clicked to agree to ToS in the last five years, see the problem?
- Toxxynne
(#27033)
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Posted on: Tue Apr 5, 2016 7:23am
Giratina (#1379) I do see the problem; however, I am trying to say that regardless of how we feel about it the staff is acting within their rights - whether is is morally right or wrong.
That is why I had suggested the idea of a 'petitions' thread, because protesting and commenting on the news post will not make the staff change anything.
- Prof JaMEW
(#2712)
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Posted on: Tue Apr 5, 2016 7:28am
Toxxynne (#27033) isnt the suggestions topic sort of like a petition topic? functionalitywise?
- Toxxynne
(#27033)
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Posted on: Tue Apr 5, 2016 7:40am
Prof JaMEW (#2712) That is a fair point; perhaps we should collectively be posting on there requesting more information and stating what should be explained fully, rather than on this comments section.
- Issa
(#804)
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Posted on: Tue Apr 5, 2016 7:46am
ɔɥǝllǝ + bɐɹp (#7310) what about non item drawings of the character the ha represents? I might have been unclear :p like a from scratch doodle of an oc
- Chelle & MIA
(#7310)
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Posted on: Tue Apr 5, 2016 7:54am
Ellory (#804) Those are ok to be paid outside of the commissions panel because it's not made to be used with the HA. Anything that is going to be displayed as part of your HA and is equipped through the wardrobe, needs to be paid via commission panel for USD.
- Kiritora
(#3912)
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Posted on: Tue Apr 5, 2016 7:54am
Wow I read through this all.
I uh.
I've been here a long time. And well.
I think it's about time I packed my bags. I haven't been fond of it in recent years anyways.
Posted on: Tue Apr 5, 2016 6:55am
I would also like to request that an easy-to-understand explanation of the term 'derivative artworks' be included within the knowledge base, as that appears to be one of the main confusions causing a problem.
Although we do have a forum where we can submit articles we feel should be included in the KB, this particular entry would require input from the staff as it is up to them to determine what is specifically covered by this term.