Dear all, I am posting this in all the threads concerning freestuff which are ongoing because I am concerned that people are missing information which has been given. First of all, the policy here has not changed in any way. We have always had a strict policy on copyright and trademarked items. However, up until very recently there has not been a person dedicated to freestuff. There now is (me) and I have been working through freestuff in order to clean up all the old dead links and apply the policy where necessary. This does mean that some items which have been in freestuff for a long time are now being questioned. Understandably this is a surprise to the creator in some cases. Where possible, I would like to work with the creators in order to re-release the item into freestuff in an acceptable fashion if possible. In order to achieve this I am taking advice from JenyK (Renderosity's Copyright agent) where necessary. In some cases we have been able to advice the creator to re-package or re-name the item and we have been able to rerelease it. However in other cases the item has been an exact replica of something which is trademarked, or had other problems which have made this impossible, or sometimes the creator has just not wanted to do this, and those items have been removed. Secondly, please remember that Renderosity doesnt host these files and so to say "the item was deleted" is not strictly true - we've deleted a link to the item. You might feel that's playing with words, but it's important to note that the item still exists whether we link to it or not. We are not saying that the creator should not offer the item, just that we don't wish to link to it due to our concerns. The decision to keep or remove or amend an item can only be the creator's, not ours. We are not making any moral judgements here, we are simply applying our TOS. Regarding warnings. I will say again that any member who feels that they received a warning which is unfair, is encouraged to contact Spike directly for a review. If Spike feels the warning is unfair, he will remove it. If any member is concerned or unsure if their articles may be "removed" (ie the link deleted) due to trademark/copyright issues, please contact me or any other member of staff by IM and we will review the item. We can't promise an instant response but we will take a look and let you know, and if there is a way of repackaging the item or amending it then we will work with you. And lastly, I would like to let everyone know that we have listened to the feedback you're giving us in these threads. Believe it or not, none of us want to feel like the bad guys or go around upsetting members, and we definitely don't want to discourage members from creating freestuff, as long as it is within the TOS. If any member feels that my communication with them has been rude then I apologise that you feel that way as it was certainly not the intention. If you do IM me regarding these issues then please remember I work full time and have a family so you may not get an instant reply :-) Karen

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"you are terrifying
and strange and beautiful
something not everyone knows how to love." - Warsan Shire