All posts by Lhikan634

Hey everyone. With 2014 here, and me with some actual free time this semester, I think it's time to get some things rolled out to catch up with the main Huntik Wiki.

Clear Policies

Currently, there is very little "policy" on this wiki. For some users, this may mean that some things aren't clear, such as any expectations on content. I'll be importing relevant policies from the main Huntik Wiki and modifying them as necessary. This should make some things clearer without getting too strict.

Policy Messages

As on the main Huntik Wiki, I will be manually sending out notifications about the new policies to all users, both active and inactive.

Welcome Messages

Evidently I had previously forgotten to import formatted welcome messages. Once the policy section is up and running, I will be able to include a blurb on policy

Clean-Up

Back in the nuts-and-bolts portion of the wiki are a number of default templates. Many, such as the documentation templates, are unused and do not pertain to the Huntik Fanon Wiki. I will be sorting through these sections to remove the "cobwebs" and to get more up-to-date on overviews.

Several used templates are also going to be undergoing revision or going to be made removed for streamlining.

Image License Templates

Image licensing can seem like an unnecessary or confusing step at times, but it's nonetheless very crucial. This importance is especially true for original artists whose work is displayed here.

I will be working on developing a new template and updating the uploader to deal with copyright and license. The intent is that this be easy to use and straightforward while at the same time addressing all relevant points

I will also be working on applying this template to existing images.

With the expansion of the Huntik Project, I'd like to bring up the topic of this wiki's domain name. I'm normally not a fan of hyphens (-'s) in domain names myself, but this was the domain as the wiki was originally created prior to adoption. Here are what comes to the top of my head

• huntik-fanon (current)
• fanon.huntik (to mimic the style of es.huntik.wikia, etc.)
• huntikfanon (merged with this wiki)

Any other ideas or input? Probably the most important thing is to use the most logical domain name that people would be likely to search.

Before getting into the actual question, I must refer to laws concerning copyright. Granted, many works which might be involved include Japanese anime, American series, and so forth. As a simpler and quicker basis, I must defer to Title 17 of the United States Code, section 107 (Copyright Act of 1976):

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Probably the most substantial issue is that the use of purpose, particularly as this is a Huntik-based wiki. Though use may qualify as being nonprofit, it does not fall under educational or informational as the fullness of the original copyrighted character (history, nature, etc) is rarely maintained.

Another issue is that the original portion of the work in relation to the copyrighted portion of the work becomes skewed towards the "copyrighted" side. In other words, there is less original content.

Similarly, using copyrighted characters from one company and combining it with portions of a media universe from another company gets dangerously close to copyright infringement. For this reason, many (but not all) fanon wikis prohibit "crossover" content. There are also particular companies which do not allow such "crossover fanon" (such policies DO affect Wikia).

At the moment, I am working on policy and copyright issues at the Huntik Wiki as well as some side templating at the MNW. With this in mind, it would be nice to have any input by March 10, 2013, so that I can work on this when I have time in my schedule.

However, I need some clear and specific reasons as to why many of these images should be allowed. If a legitimate rationale can be come up with for a specific image, then it may remain. Otherwise they will be permanently deleted for breaching copyright. Please note that rationales such as "because I want to use it" will NOT be upheld.

As pertains to articles, the same copyright issues are at work when it comes to non-Huntik characters, names, etc. Again, a legitimate rationale must be provided for these articles to remain. I hate for this to seem harsh or like it's cutting into the fun, but we do have to respect copyright even when it's a somewhat gray area. It's better, in such cases, to swing more to the legal side than the illegal side.