Collective vs Individual Rights on a Forum

Forum Moderators: rogerd

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Collective vs Individual Rights on a Forum

web_wheeler

3:57 pm on Jun 30, 2007 (gmt 0)

I've written my own forum, and I have the ability to make decisions regarding how my forum operates.

Now I have to decide how to handle an issue that concerns collective vs individual rights on my forum, and I would like some input to help me come to a good decision.

I have a procedure that allows forum members to upload and host photos in my forum Photo Gallery, but not one to delete uploaded photos. I also allow all forum members to use photos from the Photo Gallery in their message posts, which (photos) often become central to the message thread itself. Without the photo, the thread would become obsolete.

The question is: should I provide the owner/uploader of photo the ability to delete it, and make a thread that many forum members may have contributed to obsolete?

Thanks for your input!

rogerd

6:11 pm on Jul 2, 2007 (gmt 0)

In general, I would avoid giving members the right to delete content that could screw up whole threads. I've seen this happen with text posts in an environment that didn't have a limit on editing time, and some very useful threads were completely ruined by an unhappy member.

You probably need something in your TOS that gives you the nonexclusive right to use of submitted photos or other content in perpetuity. Check with a lawyer, or, if your budget is tight, review the TOS pages from sites like yours that have paid for legal advice. Don't copy their text, but use the ideas as a guide when you create your own unique TOS. I recommend using a real lawyer, though, vs. hacking one together on your own.