Questions

morningpostie

mansey wrote: »

Apparently not....we think it may be because we copied and pasted from the public domains, which is not allowed in here.

Today 2000 comps were posted tomorrow there will be 2 :rotfl:

No-one's actually clarified it with the forum team then?

See I don't know about you, but if my threads kept getting pulled with what I felt was no reason, and Glad kept posting up the same message which said to politely email the forum team then that's what I'd do...at least then I'd know for definite what I could and couldn't post...

mansey wrote: »

We’ve had to remove your signature. Please check the Forum Rules if you’re unsure why it’s been removed and, if still unsure, email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com

Then again, the fact your signature's been pulled by forum team probably doesn't help you...

LeeRits

Yeah in all seriousness, I loved laughing at some of the silly comments people where sharing on here in the 'Memo' thread.. but it's not the end of the world that the post(s) got deleted.

By bringing up this 'old rule' that everyone is breaking, it's just going to make the competitions more of a chore to enter as you are going to have to click each post, click the comp link, check the prize, check the T&C's etc if we're not allowed to copy and paste the description.. so how about everyone shut up about it so we can enter the competitions a bit quicker?

I really don't fancy having to check every competition posted to see if its something I can/want to enter just because you want to be able to make fun of a bunch of people, as fun as that may be.

mansey

So some people can break the rules but others can't?

That's really fair ..... NOT!!

BlueBella

mansey wrote: »

So some people can break the rules but others can't?

That's really fair ..... NOT!!

I agree with you - it is the principle of the matter: I break rule 'x' when posting on the comps main board and my post stays - I break the same rule 'x' when posting in the CCC and my post gets removed!

Anyway, as I know about rule 'x' now, I am not going to break it anymore!

NBLondon

BlueBella wrote: »

Thank you Glad but maybe you could jolt everyones memories because I certainly had no idea about the rule until today so I must have constantly broken it since being a member.

I'd seen the rule when I started... and since so many posts on the comps thread ignored and copied the comp wholesale, I assumed it was not really enforced. On the rare occasions I find a comp that hasn't already been posted; I won't C+P the waffle but will C+P the line that describes the prize and any key conditions then link to the necessary page - for exactly the reason that BizKiTRoAcH hints at.

However - looking at it carefully - this is what I think the forum team is not saying explicitly...

They key bit is in

people copying and pasting text including email addresses and answers wholesale into threads

- we are copying answers from other sources. Inane and ridiculous ones sometimes but they are other people's answers.

Companies in the past have complained (completely within their rights) about answers being shared rather than people buying the product/ doing the puzzle/ watching the trailer etc. and some comps are actually listed as such.

Therefore my question for the Forum Team would be "Has a company running a Facebook comp actually complained?" Given that the "answers" are already published on the page itself and possibly the competition has already ended by the time we want to laugh at some of them - why would they bother?

I'm pretty sure the staff of those companies who look at what's coming in are also having a laugh at some of the entries. I temped briefly at a major newspaper and ridiculous communications were shared round the team for amusement on a daily basis.

Request_to_change_username_2

[QUOTE=NBLondon;70146937
However - looking at it carefully - this is what I think the forum team is not saying explicitly...

They key bit is in - we are copying answers from other sources. Inane and ridiculous ones sometimes but they are other people's answers.


.[/QUOTE]

I took it to mean we are not supposed to copy and paste text from the site running the competition.
All that should be posted is a link to the comp NOT vast swathes of Terms and Conditions or links to email address for entry.

LeeRits

mansey wrote: »

So some people can break the rules but others can't?

That's really fair ..... NOT!!

So? Do you really want to slow down the whole process of entering competitions just so you can make fun of a few people? Even if they start enforcing this other rule, you're still not going to be allowed to run another thread making fun of these people so why does it matter?

LeeRits

Also, that 'rule' was originally made in 2008. People have been breaking it for what I can only assume is years now and it's not been a problem, so don't make it a problem!?

mansey

Your doing an excellent job of rubbing in how long folks have been breaking the rules all by your self..

ikkle87

There was more to the whole not copying text than the one individual post that is being linked to and Kipper who along with Divadee helped create the comping board elaborated on in several posts and advised to stick to using forum etiquette:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=14077581&postcount=17

From the Forum Etiquette:

Take care over copyright. Use excerpts and links rather than copying long text. This site asserts copyright on all comments posted on the board.

The main problem from what I can remember was that people were copying entire pages from websites including all text and hotlinking images and it was the hotlinking that was the main issue and it still used the original websites bandwith and that's why there were complaints. That's why we have a list of sites who don't like their comps posted or who are happy for their comps to be posted but no answers given etc.

I don't think the memo thread had anything to do with copyright and wasn't closed for that reason. Glad has said several times that the thread was reported to the forum team for review. I'd assume it was removed more to do with the do not discuss other forum users rule and that the people who reported it were maybe some of the people quoted - just an assumption mind. Without contacting the forum team and asking why there's no real way of knowing and the argument will just go round in circles.