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<blockquote data-quote="Mistwell" data-source="post: 202136" data-attributes="member: 2525">First, let me just say that I understand why the moderators of this board would want to remove the link.&nbsp; They have a relationship with Monte Cook, and want to foster it. They don't like to piss good people off.&nbsp; And they have respect for the intellectual property of others, and don't want to jeopardize any money that might be lost by posting their writing for free.&nbsp; Those are all good reasons to remove a link like that, and I apologise if my posting it caused the moderators or anyone else some stress.That said, to those of you that continually whip out the &quot;It's illegal to post that&quot; &quot;It's illegal to put that on your website&quot; and &quot;it's illegal to link to that&quot;, PLEASE STOP.&nbsp; Unless you are a lawyer, it is unlikely that you have a full enough understanding of US copyright laws (which are fairly complex) to make a claim with any confidence that something is &quot;illegal&quot;.&nbsp; My post might have fallen under the fair use doctrine as a non-commercial partial-use for discussion purposes, and would therefore have been protected under the US Copyright Laws (and I believe, for example, that the web site shown in my sig line is 100% legal).&nbsp; Then again, my post might not have fallen under that doctrine.&nbsp; I'd be happy to debate it with copyright attorneys here.&nbsp; I'm not happy to debate it with non-lawyers.I'm sorry if that sounded snippy, but I'm just sick of people thinking legal education and experience as a lawyer has no meaning for ones ability to understand and interpret the law.&nbsp; I wouldn't tell a plumber how to do their job, nor a doctor, a police officer, or any other profession.&nbsp; And I wouldn't spout off about plumbing, medical practice, arrest procedure, or the details of any other profession either.&nbsp; Why should the law be any different for people?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mistwell, post: 202136, member: 2525"] First, let me just say that I understand why the moderators of this board would want to remove the link. They have a relationship with Monte Cook, and want to foster it. They don't like to piss good people off. And they have respect for the intellectual property of others, and don't want to jeopardize any money that might be lost by posting their writing for free. Those are all good reasons to remove a link like that, and I apologise if my posting it caused the moderators or anyone else some stress. That said, to those of you that continually whip out the "It's illegal to post that" "It's illegal to put that on your website" and "it's illegal to link to that", PLEASE STOP. Unless you are a lawyer, it is unlikely that you have a full enough understanding of US copyright laws (which are fairly complex) to make a claim with any confidence that something is "illegal". My post might have fallen under the fair use doctrine as a non-commercial partial-use for discussion purposes, and would therefore have been protected under the US Copyright Laws (and I believe, for example, that the web site shown in my sig line is 100% legal). Then again, my post might not have fallen under that doctrine. I'd be happy to debate it with copyright attorneys here. I'm not happy to debate it with non-lawyers. I'm sorry if that sounded snippy, but I'm just sick of people thinking legal education and experience as a lawyer has no meaning for ones ability to understand and interpret the law. I wouldn't tell a plumber how to do their job, nor a doctor, a police officer, or any other profession. And I wouldn't spout off about plumbing, medical practice, arrest procedure, or the details of any other profession either. Why should the law be any different for people? [/QUOTE]

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