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BoardLams Etiquette Policy
Introduction
BoardLams 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 and 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 BoardLams 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 for BoardLams;
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 BoardLams 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 for the BoardLams concept.
Prohibited Commentary
Prohibited commentary is typically considered to be inherently disrespectful, aggressive, or otherwise abusive.
We must insist that you refrain from comments which are racist, bigoted, 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.
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 within 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 BoardLams helpdesk.
Exploitive Commentary
Exploitive commentary is typically considered to be disruptive due to unusual or unique factors.
Do not 'spam' (send large numbers of identical notes or comments). Spamming is obnoxious and is typically used for self-promotion, or other 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, userpages 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 BoardLams welcomes all kinds of original artworks; but we MUST insist that the artwork which you submit be your own original works.
Your BoardLams submissions must be your own original creations and you may only use resources which are considered legitimate and legal. Submissions which 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 Deviation submissions, Scrapbook entries, and the preview images used for written submissions.
If you have reason to believe that a BoardLams 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 submissions which 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 artistic nudity (see details below), large amounts of simulated blood and gore, or generally violent themes.
BoardLams 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
The BoardLams administrative staff reserves the right to demand a Model Release form be provided for any photography (nude or otherwise) submitted to BoardLams.com. In the event that you receive such a request an appropriate link will be included in the notification you received. Failure to properly respond to a Model Release form demand within seven (7) days 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.
Underage models
We cannot allow any nude works featuring individuals under the age of 18, nor may the works depict these individuals in a 'sexually driven' manner such as posing in lingerie or displaying a sexually suggestive or provocative pose.
This prohibition is for legal reasons; the laws in the United States are the governing laws in regards to all submissions regardless of the submittors country of origin. Photographs which are suspected of depicting a minor in this manner will be temporarily suspended from public view and proper legal documentation (as outlined above) will be demanded while photographs which clearly depict a minor (including toddlers, preteens, and teenagers) in this manner will be removed without notice.
Submissions of a non- photographic nature which clearly depict a minor, fictional character or otherwise, either nude or in a sexually driven manner will be removed and deleted without notice as they come to the attention of the staff.
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 BoardLams;
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 Surfing forum must relate to a surfing and the comments within those threads should also remain on the appropriate topic.
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.
We insist that forum threads adhere to the same standard set forth for artwork submissions in terms of what is considered acceptable subject matter (i.e. no racist threads, no sexual discussions, etc).
It is important to remember to be as clear in your intent as possible while communicating on the internet. Text communications do not afford a clear representation of sarcasm. Please use common sense when posting to avoid confusion. 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.
Exploits, Vulnerabilities, and Site Abuse
The BoardLams 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.
We will issue no warnings for violations of this nature. Violators will be banned immediately upon the discovery of the disruption or abuse.
Changes in Etiquette Policy
As new situations come to our attention we may find it necessary to alter or expand upon the policies stated here with little or no 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 BoardLams Status Forum or through other Announcements and News Topics.
Appeals and Inquiries
Appeals, inquiries, or questions concerning deviation removals, violation notices, account suspensions, or other administrative actions should be addressed to the official BoardLams Helpdesk, info@BoardLams.com where they will be forwarded to the appropriate department for review.
Please refrain from using the BoardLams Forums, the BoardLams comment 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 Managerial Reviews of staff actions and may in fact be detrimental to the case in question.
