5. Dispute Resolution Procedure

[NeutronIC]

(or, Spocks Guide to Keeping your Cool)

Every culture is different, we all have a different view on how copyright is treated both payware and freeware. This Dispute Resolution Procedure is a set of thoughts (not set in stone) on how best to navigate through the swamp of resolving a breach and come out with the best possible solutions, as many parties as possible happy and everyone moved on as quickly as possible.

For those who are unfamiliar with the basic approach, the standard assumption for use of UK items should be that you cannot create a derivative work without permission. That is to say:

Reskin a locomotive without the loco and skin authors permissions.
Update/Extend a route without the route authors permission.
Modify an activity without the activity authors permission.

and so forth. Anything which is NOT a derivative work but simply USES another item is fine - with one caveat, which i'll cover next.

E.g. Activities - You don't need the permission of the route author. You don't need the permission of the stock authors.

The caveat to the above is where the activity author needs to modify stock and include the modifications in the archive for the activity - that DOES require permission from the author.

Also, if you are using scenery on a route you should get permission from the scenery author.

Some of the above may seem odd - if a scenery creator doesn't want it used in a route, why make it? There are more issues than just using the scenery - you are going to become a distributor of that work if you distribute the route which brings in the issue of appropriate credits, and the manner in which you distribute it. Some people object to their work being included on a £4.50 CD from here, some object to it being on a site which is not completely free - these are just examples but they must be kept in mind.

If a readme grants certain permissions to you then you can assume that you do not need to contact the author(s) so always read the readme file.

Finally, if in doubt, ask.

With the above in mind let's move on. We'll have two peoples names here to clarify roles - Orin because he owns the original. Ben because he borrowed something, distributed something etc.

The premise is that for whatever reason, Orin now has a problem with Ben and the question is how do we resolve that issue.

Note: When I refer to Orin and Ben it can be assumed I also refer to any other individuals speaking on their behalf too.

1. Orin and Ben should immediately step away from the forums.

Hot tempers can cause bad language and flare a bad situation in to a horrible one. Stay away from the forums until the matter is resolved. If you are able to simply stay away from the topic and/or side snipes about it in other topics then feel free to continue posting on other topics, if you do not feel you are able to do this then you are simply best off not posting.

The dispute should not be raised on the forums under any circumstances. There is no need to publicise the issue at all, it just makes everyone look bad seeing people fight on the forums - do not assume that because something is obvious to you that you will have 100% support, there will always be people that see it a different way.

2. Orin should contact Ben privately by PM or Email

Maybe Ben didn't know he did wrong - do NOT assume the worst of people because sometimes people do wrong according to our views but not according to their own. Most people in the community (with a few exceptions) are here to help everyone else so switch off the emotional response and deal with the problem logically (Captain).

The aim here is for Orin to explain that Ben has goofed and to request resolution to the matter - ALWAYS include a resolution, never just email and complain because that isn't constructive. Resolutions might include withdraw your work completely, add a credit, modify it to make it more different and add a credit, and so forth. Think about what you want out and please try to think in terms of the larger community while still preserving your own rights and feelings (i.e. personally I'd rather "withdraw completely" was kept as a last resort!).

3. Orin and Ben should contact UKTrainSim

If either party would like an external viewpoint or mediator in the dispute then we are happy to provide that service. Contrary to the belief of some members of the community we are impartial and if we feel that a major contributor to uploads on the site has wronged a smaller, we will NOT side with the major contributor. If necessary, the forum moderation team will be consulted for their thoughts thereby ensuring that an impartial conclusion is achieved.

Our involvement in assisting and resolving a dispute will generally take three phases - we try to do as little as possible to interfere and only move on to the next step if we absolutely feel it can offer some value (e.g. if negotiations have stalled) up until we feel the matter has reached a stale mate at which point we will finally intervene and deal with the situation.

Mediation - We'll talk with both sides and offer our thoughts perhaps to provoke or target discussion.

Neutral Evaluation - We assess the strengths and weaknesses of both sides and offer our advice on how we think might be the options to proceed with, but leave it to Orin and Ben to decide whether to accept it and / or how to proceed.

Expert Determination - We re-evaluate the situation and make a final decision which is then actioned. This is an absolute last resort option used to terminate a dispute when the parties involved are unable to do so. This could involve the removal of some files, banning of user(s) and so forth. Actions would be considered final and further action taken if any parties attempt to resume the argument/debate on the forums.

Thanks to rhantusch for his advice on clarifying this area


Another reason for contacting us is to allow the forum moderation team to be extra alert for any posts on the topic that might get on to the forums or to spot any unusual hostility from people that could be related to it.

Additionally we should be contacted via PM or Email immediately that the dispute arises so that the file(s) can be temporarily withdrawn until the dispute is resolved and both parties grant permission for the files to return. Please note that such requests may take a bit of time to action - we are not in front of our email accounts awaiting and processing emails all day every day - this is just a hobby to us still at least.

4. At all times maintain honesty, civility and focus

The minute you start hurling insults and accusations people switch off, barriers go up and you're in to worst case scenarios that might otherwise be completely unnecessary.

Threats of legal action are equally unhelpful, the moment Orin even suggests legal action it is the responsibility of Ben to cease all communication and await contact from Orin's solicitor (if they are sure they will receive this contact then it is worth Ben obtaining legal advice himself immediately).

Focus on resolving the problem, what does Orin want to happen for the problem to be considered cleared? It is a negotiation process just like any other. Orin wants it cleared ASAP obviously and Ben would like it off his back ASAP so stay focused and get it cleared up calmly and efficiently.

Finally on this point, honesty, if Ben 'borrowed' something then he knows it and can save a whole lot of time and stress on everyones part if we skip the "No I didnt" part of the dispute. If it is not borrowed then fine, argue your case in a calm manner - but if it is then stop wasting time, Ben just turns Orin against him and the only person that will end up worse off is Ben.

5. Orin should consider each action carefully

UKTrainSim has always had a fundamental principle that the work that authors spent their time working on, big or small, belongs to them and they have the right to remove it any time they like without waiting for us to do it. This is why there is a delete option on any file that has been uploaded (only shown to the uploader of course!).

This can easily be used for negative reasons, over the course of history of the site a number of users have had an argument and as a result deleted all their files from the site or threatened to do so. I would urge that should Orin feel the urge to do this, he reconsider - in many cases (not all) once the disagreement is resolved Orin might will want to replace the files and that could take quite a long time if there are lots of files. The bigger issue is that it hurts the whole community - there are some 60,000 members of this UK Train Simulation community now, is Orin really going to cause all of them to suffer because of the actions of a small handful? If the disagreement shows no signs of being resolved and Orin feels it has had its day then as I have said, he is well within his rights and abilities to go ahead and remove the files - that's why the option is there.

I am simply asking for temperatures to cool before decisions which affect huge numbers of people are taken.

Conclusion

With the community now this large there are going to be difficulties occasionally - all in all things work extremely well however and the number of times that a dispute comes up is only a few times a year at the most. It is time that we, as a community, learned to properly deal with these disputes to get them dealt with in as smooth, calm and clean a manner as possible.

If you have any comments, questions or requests for clarification on this please do add a comment to this thread. It is not set in stone, it is a working set of thoughts that form some guidelines and requests out to the community.

In case anyone is wondering, the above is not written with the recent dispute between Kekimura and Fodda in mind specifically though some bits of it might ring familiar from that incident I have simply mentally collated my thoughts based on a number of incidents in the past, including this recent one, so this should in no way be viewed as a direct result of either Kekimura or Fodda's actions and neither is this some form of public 'flogging'. Any comments should be restrained to the general policy and unless it is necessary to clarify a point, no particular incidents should be raised.

Thanks for your support folks.

Matt.

[ashgray]

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