News & Views: Discussion and Announcements for the Survivorphile

[cloudy]

Yes, but what can we do, Cloudy?

Not a lot, I guess.

Continually amazes me....do people not read what they post before they hit the submit button?

Sounds like a bunch of twelve-year-olds on the playground to me.

So there, nyah.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Can't everybody just agree tlo be reasonable? Obviously, we can't post copyrighted photos or drawings any more than we can post copyrighted stories and pass them off as our own. At the same time, I believe photos should be eligible as long as they were taken for the writer to post with a story. Sometimes I write a story about one of my readers and I might ask her to provide me with pics to use with it. As I said earlier, obviously I was not the photographer of the pic taken of me and my grandson and included in an illustrated poem last year.

I'd have no problem with it. Like I said before, all this discussion was about consciously lying about the authorship, not about the images themselves.

The Survivor rule for illustrated submissions was changed because of the wording of Literotica's Guidelines, which the Survivor rules cannot contradict.

If everyone agrees, though, I can talk to Laurel to see if there is a possibility of bending the Guidelines to permit the use of images with the authorization of their legitimate owner...

I wonder about something else, also. The rule about photos is that they cannot be of nudes. Why is that? If I write a pornographic illustrated story, why can the illustrations accompanying it not also be pornographic? That rule apparently does not apply to drawings.

Yeah, it is a bit odd, but there's nothing I can do there. You'll have to ask Laurel.

 

[Guest]

The rule says no nudes or graphic sexual material, but the story that was at the top of the list the other day not only had nude women in it, but it also had pictures of the couple either having sex or simulating it.

 

[Boxlicker101]

The rule says no nudes or graphic sexual material, but the story that was at the top of the list the other day not only had nude women in it, but it also had pictures of the couple either having sex or simulating it.

That rule has never made any sense to me but the exception for drawings is probably because most of them are of such poor quality, looking like something you might find on a mens' room wall. Not all the drawings but most of them.

As for the photos, possibly to avoid competition with the advertisers which, after all, provide the money that keeps the site going. Even the advertisers provide plenty of nude or even hard-core nude photos so that doesn't seem reasonable either.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

The rule says no nudes or graphic sexual material, but the story that was at the top of the list the other day not only had nude women in it, but it also had pictures of the couple either having sex or simulating it.

Yes. And if it's against Literotica's submission guidelines, you should use the report feature and let Laurel know about it. If the guideline is in effect, it's because there's a reason for it, as Boxlicker pointed out.

 

[Lovepotion69]

I don't think there should be a problem if the person used public domain images and made up an image in PS or similar. You're still the creator of the end result.

Also, if someone has taken a picture for your story (maybe you don't have a digital camera/scanner) and given you permission to use it, then I find that fine.

The main question to me is; how in the world would you know if someone has used someone elses image without consent, or not drawn the picture in the story??

/LP

 

[Guest]

You know, if the rules had said it was okay to use public domain pictures, then it would be a different story... but they specifically say you can't. Why should the contest rules be different than Literotica's submission guidelines? According to the guidelines, it's supposed to be the author's original work. If you doctor a public domain picture, it's still not originally yours. Obviously, public domain pictures slip through and get posted, because there's no way the editors can do a search for every photo just to be sure it's not.

In the hypothetical situation Lauren mentioned, there was also the point of denial that any public domain pictures were used. Lying just compounds the problem of breaking the rule in the first place.

If this were to ever happen... if the person admitted it when asked, then I think mere deduction of points would be appropriate. However, if the person lied about it, then I think it should be seriously considered to exclude the person's score.

As far as how would you know? You wouldn't unless you were reading through the illustrated submissions and saw a picture that you remembered seeing somewhere else, and of course, that would likely only apply to public domain ones.

Rules are part of a contest for a reason, and they should be followed even if there are some that don't agree with them. If there's alot of people in disagreement, then the moderators could discuss changing the rule for the following year. I understand why some of the rules were changed this year even after the contest was officially underway (new moderators).

Okay, that was a long winded reply, lol. Sorry, I tend to get carried away.

/me gets off soapbox

 

[doormouse]

If they lied and it's proven, expulsion.

IF the prize has already been paid, then full repayment of said prize.

It's almost as bad as stealing someone's story and using it as your own.

I'm an artist, and would ONLY use my own sketches.

Maybe I'm niave because I never read that category, but can't you also use photos? I hope so, because I don't have a scanner to put my sketches on the net.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

ANNOUNCEMENT

Hi, everyone-

I talked to Laurel about all your concerns and thoughts, yesterday, and this is what we decided together:

Literotica's Submission Guidelines say that "all art within the story, like the story itself, must be your original work - i.e. photographs that you yourself took, or paintings or drawings that you yourself created." That is not going to change. And yes, that excludes royalty-free and public domain materials. The only way to use those images legally, would be if you altered them beyond any recognition, making the final result undoubtedly your creation.

Even though these guidelines will not be changed, the editors will not raise a problem with approving submissions illustrated with photos in which the author was the model, and not the person who took the photo. Those submissions will also be eligible for Survivor.

The use of images in the production of which the contestant was not directly involved, either by creating or by being portrayed in them, will make submissions in the "Illustrated" and "Illustrated Poetry" categories ineligible for points in Survivor.

We will privately contact all contestants to inform them of this rule, so that there are no misunderstandings.

We do not intend to exclude anyone from the contest unless it is the last resort, so we also decided for an amnesty; that is to say, we will not to take action against anyone who may have already submitted illustrations in violation of these rules, under the condition that any submissions in violation are either edited to correct the problem or pulled from the Contest before January 4th, 2006.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Maybe I'm niave because I never read that category, but can't you also use photos? I hope so, because I don't have a scanner to put my sketches on the net.

Yes, you can use photos you took, or photos taken of you.

(You can also take photos of your sketches! )

 

[LuciousBi-Writes4U]

I'm gonna go with the same reply as C's Button did...... eliminate and notify original author of the material. not only to cover lit's ass but.......

WE ALL KNOW THAT IF IT WERE OUR STOLEN WORK....WE'D WANT TO KNOW.... AND WE'D BE PRETTY PISSED THAT SOMEONE STOLE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!

One of the biggest foundations of Literotica is the trust between the authors and the trust between the others and Lit.

i'm mean... what's next... you submit something for someone to look at for editing or disscusion and they up an d run with it and publish it before you can????

NOT A GOOD SITUATION!!
NO ONE WANTS TO EVEN THINK ABOUT HAVING THERE HARD WORK TAKEN BY SOMEONE.

web publishing is based on trust ....

 

[LuciousBi-Writes4U]

PS I can't draw either so i'm in the same boat as the majority of you!
LOL

 

[sweetnpetite]

sort of off topic...

I was thinking about the rule of no photos of nudity or sex acts, that everyone is wondering about. This is a fairly new rule and one that was enacted not so long ago that I don't remember it fairly clearly. (Therefore there probably are lots of pictures from older stories that seem to 'break' the rule.)

Anyway, created art work (drawings, paintings ect.) are excluded from that rule which leads me to think that it's most likely a legal matter. Laws very from country to country, but photo's of actually people generally come under more legeslation- requiring the models to be of a certain age and of proof to be filed of the age. Perhaps this created a difficulty- perhaps underaged photos slipped by, or seemingly underaged photos caused some trouble for Laurel or perhaps she just decided to play it safe, and i don't blame her.

Now as to the amature photo's- I would guess that they fall under a different law whereby the posters have sole responsiblity, since posts to the bulletin board are not approved the way stories are.

I have no real idea, it's just a guess, but it seems reasonable. Photos of people can create a lot of work and a lot of troubles that other art work doesn't. I would guess that the rule is for the protection of the site owners and the site, but it could very well be something as simple as Laurel's preference.

There's my two cents

 

[sweetnpetite]

PS I can't draw either so i'm in the same boat as the majority of you!
LOL

If you cant draw, I would suggest giving it at least a try. You could paint something abstract that seems to fit the mood of your story or even play around on your computer's paint program. Maybe it won't be the 'best' art work, but if you really try and stretch yourself it will be worth it, at least to yourself. All illustrations don't have to look like photos either, look at the works of poeple like piccaso and others for inspiration. What's important is to express yourself and grow and stretch.

MHO.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Hello Lauren, long time listener here, frist time caller, hey, love the show...*Sorry, just watched Grosse Point Blank*

In regaurds to the hypo-question listed eariler, if it's not to late to cast my vote: The rules say out, so out it is.

Firstly, because it's the rules. And secondly because of all the hulabaloo last contest for making allowances for "speical" people last year.

As for not being able to draw, I leave you with the words of Zig Zigler, paraphased:

Zig was at a conference of about 300 people and asked someone to come up to the board and draw a horse. Only a few people raised their hand and most of them quailfied it with the statement of "but not very well." or were art majored.

Zig told them he asked a group of gradeschoolers the same question and they were fighting over the crayons to draw him a horse.

The main difference is that adults compare themselves to each other, whiles children give you their drawing and TELL you "This is a horse!" lol.

The wife of Pacciso said "If he ever saw a woman walking down the street that looked like one of his paintings, he'd faint!"

And lastly, just because it's cute, a few lines from a book that I read about a year ago but forget the title of:

"What is this?" Father
"It's a donkey!" Little boy
"Why does it have so many legs." Father
"It is running fast." Looks at the drawing critically. "I think I will go add more legs, it's running VERY fast!"

 

[MissLusty]

Stolen Art

I think that this person should be expelled from all Survivor Contest, now and in the future. Cheating and plagiarism is a serious offence and should be treated thusly. Especially when someone was given a chance to own up to their 'crime' and denied it.

Just my two cents.

Lusty.

 

[Slickman]

Question...

Dismissal as long as there is evidence.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Earlier today, I sent out the following private message to all 42 registered contestants:

In light of the recent discussion on the subject of illustrated submissions that is still taking place at the "News & Views: Discussion and Announcements for the Survivorphile" thread, we would like you to inform you that:

The use of images in the production of which the contestant was not directly involved, either by creating or by being portrayed in them, will make submissions in the "Illustrated" and "Illustrated Poetry" categories ineligible for points in Survivor.

That means that you can use photographs that you yourself took or that were taken of you, or paintings or drawings that you yourself created.

It also means that you cannot use royalty-free or public domain images, or images pulled from somewhere off the web.

If you already submitted a story or poem to any of the illustrated categories that is in violation of these rules, you have until December 31st, 2005 to submit an edit to replace that image, or until January 4th, 2006 to pull that submission from the Contest.

I will also convey this info to any new contestants that register in the future.

For those of you who do not own a digital camera or a scanner, and for those who think they don't have artistic talent, there are plenty of alternatives before trying to cheat or giving up on the category altogether!

• Use an immunity. There are 52 weekly immunity drawings, each of them with seven numbers. That means that statistically, chances are you're going to win more than seven immunities during the year, and there are only two illustrated categories!
  
  (And if you think that you actually lose points from using immunities, that is only true if you have already posted at least 10 stories on each of all the other categories. That's a whole of a lot of stories you have to write before you need to start thinking about the possible down side of immunities... )
  
• Have the photos taken on your conventional camera burnt to a CD, when you develop them. Almost any photo lab will do that, nowadays.
  
• Snail-mail your photos or drawings to a friend you trust and have him or her scan them! There is always someone willing to help.
  
• Create your own artwork in your computer. There are plenty of image programs, either bundled with your OS or available for free download off the web. With a little bit of practice, anyone can create amazing drawings even with the simplest of tools. Look for example at Eating the Full Moon by Angeline, illustrated using MS Paint.
  
• Use an online art creation applet. One of my personal favourite sites is Mr. Picassohead. There have been a few submissions on Literotica with illustrations made with its help, like WickedEve's Green Snake or Pomegranate Lover. Another great site is TYPEDRAWING.
  
• Not so much for the Illustrated stories category, but for Illustrated Poetry, write your poem already incorporating graphic concepts, and make the way you present your words be, in itself, an illustration. Look, for example, at Impressive's balance, or my own "hear my name..."
  
• ...

 

[Lauren Hynde]

As for not being able to draw, I leave you with the words of Zig Zigler, paraphased:

Zig was at a conference of about 300 people and asked someone to come up to the board and draw a horse. Only a few people raised their hand and most of them quailfied it with the statement of "but not very well." or were art majored.

Zig told them he asked a group of gradeschoolers the same question and they were fighting over the crayons to draw him a horse.

The main difference is that adults compare themselves to each other, whiles children give you their drawing and TELL you "This is a horse!" lol.

The wife of Pacciso said "If he ever saw a woman walking down the street that looked like one of his paintings, he'd faint!"

And lastly, just because it's cute, a few lines from a book that I read about a year ago but forget the title of:

"What is this?" Father
"It's a donkey!" Little boy
"Why does it have so many legs." Father
"It is running fast." Looks at the drawing critically. "I think I will go add more legs, it's running VERY fast!"

That's a very good post.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

If you cannot find you ScoreCard, try this:

Go to the Edit Options section of your UserCP, and change the Default Thread View from "Use forum default" to "Show all threads".

After you do that, scroll down and hit "Submit Modifications".

 

[Boxlicker101]

I think I just submitted a story with audio. I may have submitted the audio portion as much as three times. I think the first time didn't work and I think the second time didn't either. The third time, I submitted it as an attachment to an email and it might have worked. When I first started submitting stories, I sent them as email, a process fraught with peril. So often, weeks after I thought I had sent something, I would get a "rejected" notice and the information that nothing had been received. I hope this one gets through. Last year I sent some audio poems and they went through okay but they are much shorter.

At least I learned something about using the recording function of my computer.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Manu is updating Literotica's servers, and there has been some unexpected strangeness, such has almost everything that was posted during a 24 hour window, yesterday, mysteriously disappearing.

As far as I can tell, we lost all the discussion we were having here yesterday about the immunity deadline change and about audio submissions, and we lost the contents of turtledove's ScoreCard.

I'll wait until tomorrow to see if those posts return, and if they don't, we'll just have to repost.

Don't panic.

 

[velvetpie]

Question ...

Is there a limit on the amount of stories that can be submitted in one day?

Thanks,
Velvet

 

[jthserra]

Survivor rules don't limit the submissions...

Velvetpie:

The survivor rules do not address the number of submissions per day, so there is nothing in the game rules to limit submissions. I am not sure if Literotica has a limit on what can be submitted. Have you had any problems submitting numerous stories?


jim : )

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Question:

Does anyone see a problem in bumping the Immunities' deadlines from Tuesdays at midnight to Wednesdays at 7:30 PM, which is, after all, the deadline for betting on the UK Lottery itself?