-
TERMS OF USE OF THIS COMMUNITY
You must fully accept and comply
to these terms or you must not use any of the Nikonians sites.
These Terms of Use are updated from time to time; your continuing
using Nikonians implies its acceptance and obligation to comply.
1. GENERAL
1.1. This site, hereafter also referred to as Nikonians,"we",
"us", "the community" and "the site", is privately
funded, owned and managed by Bo Stahlbrandt of Germany and José
Ramón Palacios of Mexico. Both of us are Nikonians, that
is, we believe in the Nikon technology and we use Nikon photography
equipment extensively. This site is not related or affiliated
in any way to Nikon Corporation nor to any of its subsidiaries
and/or affiliates.
1.2.
We want to provide an open, easily accessible and honest
community
for Nikon users on the web. All of our members are encouraged
to openly and respectfully communicate on this platform.
We
believe in good manners, that friendliness is good manners
and that all have a right to friendliness. We don't take
breaches to these Terms of Use lightly.
2. BASIC GUIDELINES
Our guidelines are based on the following principles:
2.1.
We believe everyone has something to contribute to the community,
no matter the level of expertise.
2.2.
We believe that each member is basically honest and is capable
of showing respect towards other community members and be friendly.
2.3.
Basically, we do not perform censorship of contributed material,
but we feel that sometimes it may be necessary to disable certain
contributions. This is especially true if the material includes
or refers to violence, is of a pornographic nature or if it
bashes other community members. Images containing nudity are
not allowed in the forums or at the galleries. Exception to
this is the Fine Art Nude Photography Gallery and Forum (please
see Section 2.9 below). You should also refrain from contributing
material which does not show respect for the living, e.g. pictures
of animals being killed. Images of people being murdered are
not allowed. Human respect being a keyword here.
2.4.
Promoting type of contributions are not allowed. If you want
to sell used Nikon gear and if you are a registered,
paying member at Nikonians, you
can though post a message in the I
Want to Sell forum. Other types of promotions and/or ads
will be removed without prior notice. You may though place an
advertisement in our newsletter. If you're interested, please
get in touch with us
2.5.
Do not place references in the forums to items you're selling
on another site, e.g. links to online auctions or auctions at
Nikonians are not allowed and will be removed.
2.6.
This is a photographic site for Nikon users, no debates
will
be allowed on political, ethnic, sexual or religious issues;
any message that is considered to incite a debate on such
subjects will be considered off-topic and deleted at the sole discretion
of moderators and/or administrators.
2.7.
We therefore encourage good discussions and interesting contributions,
but reserve the right to disable any contributed material in
our sole discretion and without prior notice. That is, even
if we often may give a warning in advance, this may not happen.
2.8.
Nikonians is now a resource quoted all over the WWW and indexed
in major search engines. We will appreciate your efforts to
check correct spelling for clear readability, improved search
ability and to avoid misunderstandings. If you are using MS-Windows
Internet Explorer you may download a free spell check utility
here: http://www.iespell.com
2.9.
The Nikonians Fine Art Nude Gallery and its companion, the Fine
Art Nude Photography Forum, are the only places where nudity
is allowed. These are intended for mature audiences only, therefore
they have a built-in safeguard age requirement. In addition,
they are only available to Silver Trial, Silver, Gold and Platinum
contributing members. We expect nude images to be artistic.
Use Nikonians Fine Art Gallery Curator Pascal
Baetens' work as a reference. Your work presented should
be focused on photography/vision and not on trying to show any
female attributes in a overly erotic way. If you're insecure
if a contribution fits, just say so in an email sending it to
the editorial
team including the photograph before posting. It's for sure
a fine line, but we do not want to see unnecessary censorship,
nor pictures which might be offending or abusing. Again, human
respect being a keyword here. Should you have moral or religious
objections or impediments to nudity, please do not enter the
Fine Art Nude Photography Gallery and Forum.
3. POSTING, LINKS TO IMAGES, UPLOADING AND ATTACHING IMAGES
3.1.
The uploading of images to our forums and the members galleries
are a privilege we grant, as our way to thank you to those who
currently contribute to our operations costs in amounts of or
above 25 USD (less than 7 cents a day) for Silver
Membership status and up. We must nevertheless limit quantity,
size and frequency of photo posts in the forums in the interest
of a pleasurable visit for all visitors. All registered members
may post topics and link to their photographs at other sites,
but we ask all to abide by the same rules as if posted at Nikonians
directly.
3.2.
In the forums, do not post any images not made by a Nikon
camera or a Nikon-based hybrid camera. If you want to share
images taken with other cameras/formats, these pictures can
be be posted in the Other
Camera Systems forum only.
3.3.
Do not post anywhere images not belonging to you. Do
not create combined images of pictures not belonging
to you. Do not post combined pictures of which you are
not the legal owner. If you want to post an image which was
not taken by you (i.e. you do not have the copyright), please
ask both the originator and the editorial
team for permission before doing so. Failing to abide to
international copyright laws is illegal.
3.4. Not only traffic is a major cost component, a big number
of visitors are not on broad band Internet, please help by not
posting in the forums more than 3 photos per post; no more than
10 images per day; or a reasonable number of links to images
per day.
3.5.
In the forums, we suggest you limit the image size to no more
than 900 pixels on the longest side. This is to accommodate
those who have smaller monitors, members who have monitors set
at low display resolutions and those not on broad band Internet
connections or in remote areas of the globe.
3.6.
In the forums, there is a maximum 150KByte limit to each image
posted, and you will get an error message trying to upload any
bigger image file. This makes for a better experience for dial
up users and helps keep network traffic costs down.
Example
of re-sizing process to reach under 150KB from Photoshop (similar
process in other tools):
a. Open your file.
b. Image > Image Size
Set the longer dimension to 900 Pixels (maximum) and resolution
to 72 or 96 pixels/inch.
c. File > Save for Web Option
d. Verify file size (or set to under 150KByte)
e. Save as a jpg type file
3.7.
Do not post your image, or reference/link to your image more
than once, i.e. do not repeat your postings or references/links.
3.8.
Whenever you include an image in your postings, it is expected
from you to include the technical data of the shot, camera,
lens, film, etc. so viewers can see what various combinations
can produce.
3.9.
If in your post you are linking to your own images from your
web site or from any other server (including the Nikonians galleries),
please try to link only to images complying with the size requirements
above. Please also state the size of the image in terms of pixels,
and file size. This will warn those on slow modems.
3.10.
If you add a signature to your posts please make it short and
not political, ethnic, religious or controversial. You may include
a link to your personal homepage, however we ask that you reciprocate
by becoming an Official
Nikonians Webring member and add to your homepage the links
provided. Sites in the webring will get greater exposure to
a wider audience and user feedback. As it becomes populated,
each month one site will be nominated as Nikonians
Web site of the Month. Signatures may not contain links
to sites owned by corporations or institutions. These sites
are nevertheless welcome to apply
for advertising. Signatures should be short.
4. REGISTERING AT NIKONIANS
4.1. Registering at
Nikonians is a free of charge trial
membership. We ask you though to adhere to the rules mentioned
on this page when registering. Member registrations not complying
with these rules will be removed without prior notice. See also
Section 6, Member conduct below.
4.2.
Anyone
who owns or plans to buy Nikon photography
equipment may register at Nikonians, i.e. if you do not
own and do not plan to buy Nikon equipment, you
must not register.
4.3.
You must use your real first and last name when
filling out the first and last names in the registration
form.
4.4.
Using an email account in the registration where this account
is from a site which is not considered proper, such as sites
with content of sex, violence or devil worshipping are not accepted
and will automatically terminate the account.
4.5.
Using an inaccessible email account when registering will automatically
terminate the account.
4.6.
Making multiple registrations will automatically terminate all
registered accounts.
4.7.
It is not allowed to use an offensive or controversial username.
4.8.
It is not allowed to use misleading usernames, e.g. "IAmTheModerator"
or "NikonCanada".
4.9.
Members are expected to become contributing members if and as
soon as they happen to like this community and appreciate its
unique social value and the resource it is for their enjoyment
and progress as photographers. We really need your support to
sustain the growth of the community and keep enhancing it. To
see the current benefits of upgrading your membership, besides
having the pride of contributing to supplement the founders
efforts, click
here. One of those benefits is the eligibility to participate
in our photo contest and in tours and workshops.
5. YOUR ACCOUNT, PASSWORD AND SECURITY
5.1. You will receive a password and account designation upon
completing the Nikonians registration process. You
are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password
and account, and are fully responsible for all activities that
occur under your password or account.
5.2.
You agree to immediately notify Nikonians
of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other
breach of security. Nikonians
cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising
from your failure to comply with this.
5.3.
You agree to keep your account information current, profile,
email address, etc.
If you believe that someone is misusing your account
Please get
in touch with us and inform us about it.
6. MEMBERS CONDUCT
6.1. You understand that all materials, such as data, information,
software, photographs, articles, reviews, stories, forum postings
or other materials ("content"), whether publicly posted or privately
transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the person from
which such content originated. This means that you, and not
Nikonians, are entirely
responsible for all content that you upload, post, email or
otherwise make available via the site.
6.2.
Nikonians does not control the content
posted via the site and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy,
integrity or quality of such content (see Disclaimer of
Warranty below). You understand that by using the site,
you may be exposed to content that is offensive, indecent or
objectionable to you.
6.3.
You agree not to use these sites to:
a) Upload, email, post or otherwise make available any content
that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing,
tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of
another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise
objectionable.
b)
Upload, email, post or otherwise make available any content
that you do not have a right to make available under any law
or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as information
from an employment relationships or learned under nondisclosure
agreements).
c)
Upload, email, post or otherwise make available or engage in
solicitation of illegal copies of software and/or, of any content
that infringes any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary
rights of any party.
d)
Upload, email, post or otherwise make available any unsolicited
or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk
mail", "spam" or any other form of solicitation.
e)
Upload, email, post, or otherwise make available any material
that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files
or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality
of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment.
f)
Interfere with or disrupt the site or servers communication
infrastructure connected to the site, or disobey any requirements,
procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected
to the site.
g)
Engage in any form of solicitation of any illegal act.
h)
Violate any applicable local, state, national or international
law, including, but not limited to, regulations of the US
Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any national
or other securities exchange, including, without limitation,
the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and
any regulations having the force of law.
i)
Upload, email, post or otherwise make available any content
that deliberately and repeatedly bashes any brand, product
or company. If you wish to make a complaint or other negative
comment in respect of any brand, product or company, then
make it once and be sure you have documented facts to support
your remark.
6.4
Nikonians reserve the right to terminate the account of any member
at any time for the convenience of Nikonians. Whether a termination
is made at the request of the member or for the above mentioned
reason, it shall be without refund of unused membership fees if
any.
7. LICENSES, OWNERSHIP AND COPYRIGHT ISSUES
7.1. If you contribute material (information, data, software,
photographs, articles, reviews, stories, forum postings etc.), you
also automatically grant us an irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable
and worldwide right and license to modify, publish and reproduce
that material in perpetuity, for the purpose of operating, displaying,
distributing and promoting the site without any compensation to
you. This also means that you, as the legal owner of the contributed
material, automatically and implicitly - through the submission
- declare yourself as the rightful owner of the contributed material
and that all so called moral rights which may be raised out of this
material have been waived. None of the material shall be subject
to any obligation of confidence on the part of Nikonians
and/or it's owners.
7.2.
Submitting the property of another, without the consent of that
owner, may also subject you to legal liability for infringement
of copyright, trademark, and/or other intellectual property rights.
7.3.
In the event that Nikonians
would like to use the contributed material for anything not related
to the purposes mentioned in 7.1, we will contact the owner of the
material to negotiate terms of usage beyond the rights already granted
through the submission of the material.
7.4.
Copyright stays with the legal owner, the contributor.
7.5.
By registering, member agrees that although the member retains the
copyright of his own images or other works posted on Nikonians forums,
all posts belong to and are the property of the Nikonians. Nikonians
is not responsible for loss of posts, modifications, copying, republication,
distortion, quoting or other use of the posts by other users or
third parties. Member hereby waives any right to make any claim
against Nikonians or other users for any use of a post, including
but not limited to any modifications, copying, republications, distortions,
or quoting.
8. NO COPY AND NO RESALE
8.1. You agree not to
reproduce, recompile, duplicate, copy, nor sell, resell or exploit
for any commercial purposes, any portion of the site, its content,
use of the site or access to the site.
8.2.
You must not use the site to violate anyone's copyright, trademark,
or other intellectual property rights, including those of Nikonians.
9. LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES
9.1. Nikonians contains links to third
party web sites ("third party sites"). Since we have no control
of such sites, we do not endorse, have not reviewed and are not
responsible for the content or availability of such third party
sites.
9.2.
You acknowledge that you use third party sites at your own risk
and that Nikonians is not responsible or liable,
directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss which may result
of such usage in connection with products or services available
on third party sites, nor for the content or the quality of the
service(s) provided at such third party sites.
10. RECEIVING EMAILS
10.1. As a registered user at Nikonians, you will receive emails
from us from time to time. We do not send out emails often, but
when we do we feel that the information is important and that all
registered users should be informed about that specific issue. Typically,
these emails are not sent out more than twice a month and are very
short. Our emails are only sent out to registered users.
10.2.
If you don't want to receive any emails from our community, you
may send us an email and we will remove your account. This also
means that your registration at Nikonians
is canceled completely.
If you have received unsolicited email through the site
Please get
in touch with us and inform us about it.
11. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
Nikonians assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in any provided
information, software or other data (hereafter referred to as "materials").
ANY MATERIALS LOCATED ON THIS SITE ARE
PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.
Nikonians further does not warrant
the accuracy or completeness of the information, text, graphics,
links or other items contained within these materials. Nikonians
shall not be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, or consequential
damages, including without limitation, lost revenues or lost profits,
which may result from the use of these materials. Nikonians
does not provide or support the provision of legal advice. The law
of the many jurisdictions represented by the membership vary widely
on the legal issues raised in questions and the answers you read
on the forums. Accordingly, you should seek authorized counsel for
your questions in your specific jurisdiction and not rely solely
on the general viewpoints expressed here.
The materials on these sites are subject to change without notice
and do not represent a commitment on the part of Nikonians
in the future. Nikonians does not warrant and disclaims any responsibility
or liability in regard to system performance, availability, data
protection, or reliability. By using Nikonians.org you release Nikonians
from any liability or loss of, or damage to, or errors in, data,
information, images, posts, member records, member status or any
information you post, upload or which pertains to you.
ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions
regarding these terms, or any other questions, you can get
in touch with us online.
Legal advice on links found on this site leading to external
pages according to German law:
Aufgrund des Urteils vom Landesgericht Hamburg
vom 12. Mai 1998 sind die Betreiber einer Homepage gegebenenfalls
verantwortlich für die Inhalte externer verlinkter Seiten. Aus diesem
Grund distanziert sich NIKONIANS.ORG an dieser Stelle ausdrücklich
von den Inhalten aller von uns verlinkten externen Seiten.
|
