It is most certainly not a paid job.
I've been playing the Sims ever since the original came out and I just wanted to contribute, in a way.

I'll try to go through his threads tonight to see if I can at the very least remove the hotlinks like @plasticbox suggested.
Trying to handle things last night whilst also attempting to study for my exam today was a bit half-arsed, for that I apologize.

We're aware you also have a life .. so do we. Which is why we (or at least I) are getting a little fed up with having to negotiate over every single byte.

You're aware that your site owner has been (or at least: trying to) sell off sites *including unpaid moderators* in the past, yes?


E: Also, @Meline can you clarify what you mean by "all downloaders are linked directly to the mod on MTS" (two posts up)? Linked to the page or to the file? The latter would also mean hotlinking .. in that case, please remove.

Can't help but it makes me sad to read all this. Have we already come that far? Okay, some people have always stolen stuff from others and uploaded it elsewhere (e.g. Exchange) - in small numbers. Now people start a whole new site and just because they want it to become big and successful as fast as possible (and because they seem to be too lazy or unable to create their own things) they steal stuff in a large number, just because they can? Wow.... that's sad.

What about if good creators stopped sharing their stuff because they got sick of seeing their stuff uploaded by others? I personally don't care whether someone makes money out of it or not, or whether the description of the download is copied/pasted or not. Even if they took their own screenshots of those items and wrote their own description, the item itself is still stolen - credit given or not.

I don't mind sites like Sims 3 Updates post pictures of my downloads and link to them (to MTS) but I'd hate to see my download files shared anywhere else, unless I had given permission for it (for whatever reason).

I also do not care if the law allows people to share other people's creations or not. It's a matter of decency not to do so if the creator doesn't want to.

Just my 2 cents - and I don't want to talk about it any further because the whole topic pisses me off.

These aren't just little thumbs, either. This is a very large image.


All you need to do is right-click on the image, and select 'properties.' And voila, it becomes clear that the image lives at MTS.

KandanceKiss44 How many more double accounts are you going to make Chris? But that's not you, it's one of your imaginary friends again, right?
A-a-and more bullshit. I've never seen people to be OK with someone monetizing content they made and hosting their files without permission. "Etiquette"! Year, right.))
One good thing for you is that you'll still get some traffic, since someone will check if you've stolen someone else's work again from time to time.

The links I have put in link to the creators profile here on MTS; through that they can find the mod ánd other content they have created.
The 'Download now via external site' buttons that Chris has put in link to the page which contains the content here on MTS.

I have just gone through all of the threads (at least, I hope I managed to get them all, I have to admit my head is spinning a bit from all the clicking and tabbing) and we should now be free of all MTS images, including all the little emotes that transferred from here to there...
Not ALL creators are fully credited at the top of the thread yet, I plan to continue with this tomorrow after work.
In the meantime I shall contact anyone whose content is hosted on S4F and ask them if they would like it to be removed or to keep it as it is.
Again, it's quite a list and I most likely won't get it all today, but it's been in set in motion.

Thanks for the update!

You are not. Please doublecheck.

sims4forum.com/custom-content/sims-4-michael-jackson-sim-by-lunararc.64/
sims4forum.com/custom-content/star-trek-original-series-male-shirts.104/

I see no links to the original creators either (so these are probably posts that you missed, or your edits have been removed). Do you have permission at all? Are the creators aware that you "reserve the right to charge" for these uploads?


(The above does not mean there are no hotlinks in other posts -- I only looked at the last few edits at the time of posting. Is not my job to clean up your site, you know.)

adding:
http://sims4forum.com/custom-conten...ack-tattoo.106/
http://sims4forum.com/custom-conten...eproduction.63/
http://sims4forum.com/custom-conten...mosaic-mod.157/

@FifthAce2007 : wanted to let you know that your wedding dresses are back up: http://sims4forum.com/custom-conten...ng-dresses.105/ can't tell whether downloadable or not, doesn't say anything about it on the site.
Not sure if you're okay with that.

They have been taken care of, they must've slipped through.
I will continue to check over the course of the next few days...
As far as payments go I have absolutely nothing to do with that and no way of influencing it, so I will refrain from commenting on that.

Also taken care of...

I'm not a creator but a user very thankful for all the hard work the creators have done. So I won't butt into the argument. I just wanted to point out, that even though the hotlinking has been removed from the entry page. Chris' upload discussion thread still has the hotlinking I'm not sure if you have permission to delete those posts.

Here is an example: http://sims4forum.com/threads/sims-...ck-tattoo.1855/

@Meline - Leefish suggested earlier that you cut your losses when it comes to Sims4Forum. Yes, that's what you should do. Now. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.00 - leave and don't look back. Chris restoring what you've tried to delete is absolute proof that he doesn't give one damn about you. Why continue being a part of a site that doesn't value you as a part of the team? You may not be the site owner or an admin, but as part of the staff your opinion should carry some weight. Is there a staff discussion forum there where you've posted your concerns? Not that it really matters- even if there is, it's clear that what you think and your efforts to make things right are just being undermined by Chris.

My advice to any creator who's content has been/still is on that site? Demand that it be removed entirely. No links to the actual download. No link to the download in a Finds thread. Nothing. Not even a tiny little thumbnail.

Shut him down. He's still got MTS content over there without permission.
After all the protests aired in this thread, he's still kept MTS content.

All he's done is to slow the momentum. He's got people thinking about giving him and his staff a little more time...even the benefit of the doubt.
Nothing has changed. Not really. It just looks like it might.
Maybe the hotlinks will eventually be removed. Maybe he'll eventually make it plainer that these appropriated uploads are not his own.

So what? Even if he does those things, eventually...

The fact still remains, permissions have been denied. An overwhelming number of MTS creators abhor paysites.
And while he's claiming he's not a paysite, he "reserve[s] the right to charge users for > access < to content hosted on and/or uploaded to [his] site."
Excuse me, but that makes him a paysite. He intends to start charging folks - he just isn't doing it, yet.



@leefish : Would it be inappropriate of me to use the Contact Us form on some of the other sites,
and link them to the original post in this thread?

I am so deeply pissed off at the idea of what this man is doing, that I want to do something to help.
I just can't seem to figure out what would be helpful, and what would be presumptuous (or worse yet, counter-productive).

The creators need to complain. Not just from MTS - but every creator he is ripping off.

all files here have been removed from our servers, hot-linked images have been removed.

taking further measures too soon! like I said last night, it was late when I posted my message, and I have been working all day today. But it's done.

Chris - thanks for the post.

O RLY?

sims4forum.com/custom-content/sims-4-no-blur-in-the-distance-mod.55/

This is by Shimrod101. Who EXPLICITELY told you (in a PM that Meline has received without doubt):



So do that. This goes for every other piece of content as well except where you have explicit permission. And don't try to bullshit people into thinking you have complied when you haven't.


(E: qft attached .. just in case anyone wondered what I'm replying to.)

Just wanted to point out a few more (plus the hotlinking in the discussion thread is still there)

The time mod by @IceM http://sims4forum.com/custom-conten...ow-time-mod.52/
The stand still mod by @Shimrod101 http://sims4forum.com/custom-conten...till-in-cas.49/

There is a notice that the file has been removed, but the download file is still there (does not say via external site) Those posts do not credit the original creator either.

oops, I missed that. Makes sense plasticbox!

It's 1am right now, I have work early in the morning, after I get home around 5-6pm gmt I will begin removing all content within the posts, replacing them with short descriptions of what they are and what they do...

I am also trying to reshuffle our custom content area, I do think it has a useful function on our site for our members to share good custom content wherever it is, providing they follow a strict, clear set of rules. One of them obviously being not to upload the files like I did, no copy and pasting, and having it all compiled in a separate area of our site not to be confused for content we host or have anything to do with.

Also looking into how I can de-monetize/remove ads and whatnot from the area where external mods are shared/linked to... probably using conditional code/tags excluding certain parts of the site... but yeah

Going to hit the hay now, I am absolutely shattered

I just went over there and in a quick look I saw these two:
http://sims4forum.com/custom-conten...eproduction.63/
http://sims4forum.com/custom-conten...by-lunararc.64/

Damn Xenforo, I'll no doubt have to go through everything again in the discussion threads and remove the hotlinked images. It appears the first post in the discussion thread doesn't update when I update the mod page itself. Will add that to the to-do list tomorrow! May disable discussion threads on the external mods... so as to avoid this if I can.

Hoping to seperate the mods not hosted by us, and have them not less visible on our site so as not to confuse people like someone suggested earlier.

The stand still mod might not ever be removed:


Because, gee- renaming the package file means Vinyl can claim to have made it! NOT. Compare Shimrod's description to Vinyl's. Almost the same word for word - there is no way that 2 different creators happened to write almost word for word the same description. So leaving out a few words and the file name change means absolutely nothing. Vinyl did NOT create that mod. Steal much?

Now I haz a question for TS4 creators who would know: If 2 different people create a mod that does the exact same thing (changes the exact same resource) would both packages be identical if opened with s4pe? Instance numbers and everything?

Edit: Btw, I took that screenshot at 7:06 PM Central time, today 9/29/3014. So as of that time the mod was still downloadable from there.

Just to clarify (once again): When creators post uploads at MTS, that doesn't mean it becomes "MTS content". That's why Lee keeps repeating that it's the creators who need to file a DMCA .. we can't do that in their name.




Not sure which "some other sites" you mean, but if you mean making other creators aware their content is being posted elsewhere and that may be without their permission or knowledge, I can't see anything inappropriate about that. I for one would be perfectly OK with it if someone would notify me in such a case.

What utter bullshit. If you have any content at all that wasn't produced/created by one of your members,
you should take it down unless you've received explicit permission to post it. See how easy that is?

Hopefully, it's too late. There's going to be a rush of formal complaints hitting your provider's email in the next day.
It's been over three days, so I'm figuring there's at least 12 folks who will be sending theirs off tonight.

ooops. I guess you shoulda spent this time removing the offending material instead of making excuses and pretending to cooperate.



I understand that it's not MTS content, per se. I guess I'm just thinking of us as a group. So when I think of us, I think of us as MTS members. Goofy, yes?

And yes, that's what I mean by 'other sites.' I will do that then. Thanks.