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Letter to the public
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From Charles D. Daughtrey, co-owner, dated 05/12/02.
The purpose of this site is to inform the public of the wonderful world of variety
collecting, and we do this by using microscopic photographs to show users of the site
what we have seen and what they can find. It is not the intent of this site to be
anyone's personal library of images to use as they please, especially to make money.
This site has been around for three years and has yet to generate a single dollar in
revenue (much less profit), which goes to show that this project is truly a labor of love for the hobby and
a general public service with prejudice to nobody.
We at coppercoins.com are very careful to follow the copyright laws that govern usage
of other people's material, and we expect the same out of everyone else. Although it
is not always the intent of a person to infringe willfully on our copyright, we have no way of distinguishing those who used our images
with intent to steal and those who had no intention of doing anything wrong. With this in
mind, we must treat each case similarly by employing what we believe to be a straight-forward
policy for using our images and a similarly straight-forward policy for legally pursuing
an end to infringement when it does occur.
We have instituted a single, straight across the board policy for anyone wishing to use our
images. We will be happy to share this policy with anyone wishing to use our images for
their personal reasons, and afford everyone an equal chance to share in our technology provided
they follow our rules in using our property. This policy includes, but is not limited to:
- Using our images in their original form, without resizing or editing them.
- Linking to our images only from our server, not copying them to a different server.
- Providing a link to our site with each image or group of images used.
- Using only the coppercoins.com listing system in conjunction with our images.
- Not charging, in any form, for access to our images.
- Not printing or redistributing our images in any form.
- Providing a disclaimer freeing coppercoins.com of any liability arising from selling
items using stock photos.
There will be NO CHARGE for using our images provided the stipulations in the contract are met.
Case by case proposals for using our images in other forms will be considered based on their intent
and specific usage. Please e-mail
cd@coppercoins.com if you want to view this policy in its complete form.
If we find copyright infringement to be an ongoing problem, we will have no choice but to
terminate free public service to the site and go to a password protected method of accessing the
site where we can control site entry, thus controlling access to the images contained therein.
Doing this would likely sign our own death-warrant as a business and may put an end to our existence, but it may be the only
answer available to protect what is rightfully ours by law.
I guess from here my best suggestion to you, the supporters and friends of the site, would
be to discourage unlawful usage of copyrighted images by not purchasing items being sold with
such images, and protesting to the people committing such acts so they might think twice
about what they are doing. Secondly, I would like for all of you to be on the lookout for
people infringing on our rights and report them to us for proper action.
I would highly encourage ANYONE using our images currently, regardless of our past dealings,
to contact me directly regarding ongoing usage of our images.
Thank you,
Charles D. Daughtrey,
Owner, Developer
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