And yet similar TOS have been overturned in a court of law if change were made in the TOS after the member joins and no attempt is made to contact them or such attempts do not result in permission being given by the copyright owner or their legal representation.I joined in 2003 before they started this,they did not inform me when the TOS rules were changed and they activated the images I posted.Also if TOS are contradicted by existing copyright laws then the TOS is invalidated.For instance,are the TOS written in every known language that the members of their site may understand?If not,their TOS won't stand up in court if they do not inform the member that their art will be used for promotional purposes or freely distributed. A sites TOS are not legally binding,they are a guideline by which the site operates and the rules they apply for behavior.You may legally say you may use the images in regard to previous contests for which if the winners pulled their images it might do harm to the site in some fashion and thus they have a legal right to retain and use the images.However,if I were to say that you post your image on my site I have the right to sell it or use it in any fashion I decide...you would be incorrect.TOS do not invalidate the law and although there are arguments and misunderstandings about copyright law...the site TOS must still be in line with the law. But beyond this,the key reason for the post was to alert people here who might be members there not knowing that your images are being used anywhere and everywhere.If you were to find images of your children posted on a site frequented by pedophiles you'd be mad...but the fact that Deviant Arts itself made it seem like you gave permission for that could make their actions criminal.The sticking point here is making the links active as it can legally be argued that alone violates the law as its not their legal right to use the images anyway they choose just because they were posted on their site...and if they simply allowed the members to make them active there would be no question about the legality because the members actions provide the site the permission it needs.

If the end goal of learning is genius...why are most geniuses failures at learning?