Copyright Status of Rules Of Posting

[voiceofreason]

This is a very polite and well-managed forum. There is much that other Forums could learn from GITP Rules of Posting. I know another forum that is oppressed by unabated trolling and flaming. If they had GITP rules, maybe there would be peace. What is the copyright status of these rules? Is there an Open Source rules release? Thank you.

[Brother Oni]

The GitP rules only work due to constant moderation. Applying these rules to your other forum won't magically make them better without the moderators to enforce them.

[voiceofreason]

That's for sure. But is there permission to adapt the rules as a template for other forums? The question probably sounds weird, but it is at the least a courtesy to ask.

[The Succubus]

The GitP rules only work due to constant moderation. Applying these rules to your other forum won't magically make them better without the moderators to enforce them.

The complete lack of mind controlling substances and moderating ninja death squads also help.

[KillianHawkeye]

I'm pretty sure that you can't copyright rules, in any case.

[Ursus the Grim]

I would think just copypasting the rules would be a little rude in any case, but I don't think you'll get sued for covering the same basic transgressions. As its been said, our vigilant, righteous paragons known as moderators are always on top of violations, and having such a large forum also means that locking a topic doesn't completely stop activity. You ban one member here and with a few exceptions, no tears are shed. You ban someone on a small forum and you're losing a noticable chunk of your users.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: It's a work of original authorship fixed in a tangible medium, so it's certainly copyrighted. Neither copyright notice or federal registration are required.

Now, nothing prevents you from having rules covering the same things our Forum Rules do, the idea of a rule against flaming isn't copyrighted. But you need to write them yourself. Just taking our Forum Rules wholesale as written would violate copyright.

I'd recommend reading our Forum Rules as an example of the kinds of things that ought to be regulated and then adding or subtracting things as necessary for the new forum. Then write up your own forum rules that cover that ground.

But if you'd like to use our Forum Rules, just ask.