Avatar FAQ
This page contains questions frequently asked by players new to Tazlure, on the topic of avatars and artwork.
Q. Why are you being so strict about copyrights?
A. Sorry for being hardhanded on this, but this is one of the points of Administrative Ethics that we hold very high. Copyrights protect the intellectual property of artists. Without such legal protection we, and many more of our community besides, would be robbed of something that we all spend many, many hours on in creating. Since we protect Tazlure, it is only fair that we uphold the copyright of others as well.
The internet should not be used to undermine international law regarding copyrights. It would only lead to no original material being made available on the internet anymore, with many of the real life authors and artists withdrawing from the virtual community. It would be a lesser place than it can be.
Q. Can I use animated gifs as an avatar?
A. If you keep the animation simple and smooth, then yes. We don't want threads to look like the streets of Las Vegas.
Q. Can I put images in my sig line?
A. Pan's Hooves, no! It clutters up our forums and detracts from the story we are writing in the game forums. Please keep your sig limited to a few lines of text :)
Q. What about a detail from a medieval painting/sculpture/tapestry?
A. Anything from the old masters (that is, anything older than 70 years which has not been protected by an estate of heirs) can be used copyright free as it is considered part of the public domain. For instance you could use part of a painting of Jeroen Bosch or the Mona Lisa.
Q. What about celebrities/movies/screen shots?
A. For the purposes of this site, they are considered copyrighted. Making a screenshot and/or altering a picture doesn't absolve you from obtaining permission either. These pictures are still copyrighted plus you have done something illegal by altering an original picture.
Q. What about online art galleries?
A. Online art galleries/communities such as Elfwood & Epilogue very specifically state that you are NOT to take the art for the use of avatars, character portraits, web graphics or anything else. However, if you find a picture that you cannot live without, I suggest you first read the artist's profile and see if they address the issue personally. If not, email the artist and ask, just as you would anyone else. Do NOT use art from these galleries without permission; do not remote link to them. Tazlure has worked very hard to maintain a professional reputation in these communities.
Q. What about avatar sites?
A. When selecting avatars, it can be hard to know just what IS and what is NOT copyrighted, especially when you come across one of those oh so handy avatar sites that says "Here, use these as you will!" Unfortunately, a lot of those avatar sites simply take pics willy nilly, from book covers, artists' websites and lots of other places, without getting permission, or even creditting the artist for their work.
Therefore, in an effort to help you out, we're going to be listing avatar sites that we DO reccommend you try. It's nothing against the 'unsuitable' site or site owners, they simply don't use a strict enough copyright policy to make us comfortable. Keep in mind though, if you can find a pic on any of these 'unsuitable' sites, can trace it to the original artist and get THEIR permission, then you may of COURSE use it!
Q. How do I get permission from the artists?
A. Search their website/gallery to see if they have a fair usage policy. If not, email them, explain to them that you wish to use their piece (it is usually nice to identify the piece) as an avatar/character portrait on a pbp RPG, but that the game admins requires you to obtain the artist's permission to do so. Feel free to link to Tazlure so they know where their work is being used. Please give them a week or so to reply - if you do not hear from them, a follow up email can be sent, but please do not harass artists who are unresponsive; simply look for another piece of art to use as an avatar.
Q. How do I credit my avatar?
A. Please include something along the lines of "Avatar is ©Somebody, used with permission". If you have a link to the artist's website, or their fair usage policy where they state their policy on allowing the use of their art on the net, please include that as well. Use either your signature or your profile.
Q. What is remote linking/spider harvesting/bandwidth theft?
A. This is when you link your avatar directly to the website you found the image at originally, or any website you do not have the author's permission to link from. Do not DO this. It increases costs to the original site owner's website and can get Tazlure in trouble as well.
Q. How do I upload the avatar to the boards?
A. You upload an avatar in the profile section of the boards. Enter the URL where you've stored the picture (Ex.: http://www.yourpicturesite.com/thefilename.jpg), and submit! Please note that Tazlure itself does not host images for users; you will need to use a personal website or a free image hosting service like photobucket.com.
Q. How do I resize an avatar I've found?
A. You need to use a photo/graphic editing software program, such as Photoshop, or Paint Shop Pro. There are some free software programs that do the same.
Q. What size of Avatar may I use?
A. Your avatar can't be any larger than 110 x 110 pixels. They must be under 20kb in file size. GIFs are usually the most compact image file types.
Q. What does Tazlure consider copyright?
A. Avatars fall under our copyrights policy. This means that you have to provide a credit to the original artist who created the picture and must have obtained the artist's permission to use it. All of this is part of our TOS, in addition to being illegal according to international law. You agreed with our Terms of Service upon registering. Not complying with our TOS means we will delete your account with the offending picture. Frankly, we aren't going to quibble words over what falls under or over the line of "fair use/public domain". We will leave that to the lawyers, and, in the mean time, we will play it on the side of caution. Get the artist's permission, please. Period.
Q. What kind of pictures can I use for an avatar?
A. You can use any sort of picture on the Tazlure boards as long as it fits within the guidelines defined below. Essentially that means it needs to be a medieval/fantasy type image of the proper size and dimensions, not remote linked or spiderharvested, used and credited with the permission of the of the original artist.
