Guidelines

General Rules and Information

 

As ever, we are open to your opinions on this set of guidelines and if you have any suggestions, comments etc, please PM a moderator or post in the Site Stuff board. New members will not get access to the member lists or Private Messaging until they post a number of times.

 

Songstuff reserves the right to change our guidelines and rules at any time, by updating this page. Where possible members will be notified that changes have occurred. Please check this page, our Privacy Policy, and the Songstuff Terms Of Service regularly.

 

Our terms and rules, as detailed within this document, together with our Community Privacy Policy and the Songstuff Terms Of Service collectively constitute your on-going agreement with Songstuff.

 

Age

To have a Songstuff account you must be over 16 years old. By creating an account on Songstuff you are confirming that you are at least 16 years of age.

 

User Names and Display Names

 

Company names are not permitted as user or display names. For example if you work for, or run, Blah Blah Productions, do not call your profile Blah Blah Productions or a derivative of it. Use your real name or an unrelated web name.

 

Language

 

All text MUST be in English. We do not have the staff to translate every language so our moderators can inspect posts to check they are appropriate. As such we require all posts and content to be in English so our staff can moderate it.

 

If you post any content that is not in English, it will be deleted. If you do this more than once a warning will be issued. Your posts may require moderator approval, or, in the case of persistent offenders, your ability to post may be suspended.

 

In general profanity is not allowed in public areas of the site.

 

Promotion and Spam

 

The Songstuff boards are intended as a community to support Songwriters, musicians and other involved in the creative industries to discuss issues, and to help artists promote themselves and gain valuable feedback. While an individual post promoting something commercial might be permitted, the post must be on a relevant topic, be intended to promote discussion within the Songstuff boards, confined to one board and not repeated while a post promoting the same service / product is still on the front page of any board.

 

This does not affect the promotion of free sites, free products and free services. Such posts should still be respectful of being on-topic, and promoting discussion/feedback.If you own, work for, or are otherwise employed by a site and wish to promote on Songstuff please contact Songstuff prior to adding any links to your site anywhere on Songstuff to seek permission and advice on how you may promote.

 

At all times, permissible links are deemed appropriate at the discretion of the site staff with no need for explanation.

 

Don't join under multiple email addresses. If you are locked out of an existing account, contact an administrator. Multiple accounts belonging to the same person may be viewed as spamming.

 

We reserve the right to decide what constitutes spam on an individual basis, without the need for explanation.

Just to make it clear:

1. Spamming the Songstuff boards with advertisements for purely commercial services is not acceptable, and is likely to result in having membership revoked, and being banned.

2. Repeated posting of mainly commercial adverts will be treated as above.

3. Posting off topic 'advertisements' of any kind is not acceptable. These posts will be removed.

4. Posting affiliate links in either posts, your profile, signature or any other feature of the board is not permitted. This will result in a warning, the signature will be changed to remove your link and your posting will need to be approved.

5. Site promotion via the PM system is strictly not allowed. Repeated spamming in any way will result in account cancellation and being banned from further membership.

6. Commercial promotion is not permitted. You are allowed to promote your friend or family member's music or video, provided they have given you permission to do so. However if our moderators believe that you are a commercial promoter you will have your content removed and you are likely to be banned. Our site crew reserve the right to auto-ban links to the product or artist you were promoting.

7. By "Purely Commercial", we mean there is no free product or service.Free sites can post links with permission of the site staff but only in the way advised by the site staff.

8. Using status messages or any other method to display advertisements as part of your account is unacceptable.

9. Unpaid or unsolicited advertising of any kind, in any way is not acceptable with the exception of permitted personal music sites or personal music pages, or blogs.

10. Personal music sites, personal music pages or blogs are subject to review and if your linked content does not meet our criteria, it may be deemed as unsolicited advertising and treated accordingly.

 

Breaching these guidelines or posting without permission can be deemed as spam by site staff and the link and member may also be treated as such completely at the discretion of the site staff. Prior to site promotions, including adding a link to your profile (in a readable form or as an active link) please seek permission and guidance from the site staff.

 

Signature Links Permitted

 

1. Links to buy your CD/track etc.

2. Links to your personal music pages.

3. Links to your personal, non-commercial blog

 

Signature Links NOT Permitted

 

1. Links to sites competing with Songstuff. (with the exception of links to your music page on an OMD or a site all about your own personal or your band's music.
2. Links to commercial websites (with the exception of links to your music page on an OMD or a site all about your own personal or your band's music.

 

General Links Not Permitted Anywhere On Songstuff

 

• Links to "adult" sites.
• Links to racist or other hate sites
• Links to commercial sites with which you are directly involved without prior approval by site admins.

If you represent a site you wish to promote it is required that you disclose your affiliation to site admins and seek their permission BEFORE POSTING.

 

Links to membership sites are not permitted unless it is directly to free content that does not require a sign up to view. Promo links to other sites are only allowed at the discretion of admins and moderators. Promotion from sites directly in competition with Songstuff (as opposed to genuine member contribution of the same link) is not allowed.

 

If you want to promote a commercial website, product or service on Songstuff, please contact site staff about the possibility of advertising on Songstuff.

 

Spirit Of Our Community Rules and Guidelines

 

Although the letter of our site rules is important, the spirit of our rules is more important.

 

Members found to be exploiting loopholes will be deemed as knowing exactly what they are doing. Songstuff reserves the right to suspend or even ban such members.

 

Any member found to be acting against the interests of the community or site may find that their account has been closed.

 

Negatively Commenting About Our Community

 

Making comments or complaints about our community is allowed, but they should be kept to the Site Stuff board. Posting them as off-topic content in a thread outside the site stuff forums is unacceptable.

 

Posting complaints about the site across topics, across boards, blogs, comments, status messages, and any other method of adding content to Songstuff, outside of the Site Stuff board... either direct comments or veiled references, will be considered as TROLLING the community itself. Deliberately antagonistic or inflammatory language will be considered FLAMING the community.

 

Any member trolling or flaming the site will earn warning points, just as they would if trolling or flaming community members. Persistence can result in posting restrictions, loss of privileges, suspension and even a ban.

 

Disruptive Members

 

If you are considered by the site staff to be disruptive, belligerent, argumentative, antagonistic, disrespectful towards members, staff, or in your comments about the site, Songstuff reserves the right to close your account with immediate effect.

 

Causing a site feature not to work, either technically, or by trolling a feature or undermining site rules, will be deemed to be sabotaging the feature and site. Songstuff reserves the right to suspend or close such accounts without explanation.

 

Commenting About Members

 

Negative personal comments, or insults, ARE NOT ALLOWED. 

 

Members must treat each each other with respect..

 

If you have an issue with a member, please speak to a moderator.

 

Unsolicited Comments About Members

 

Before you offer any personal advice, please ask if it is wanted.

 

Offering unsolicited negative comments may result in warning points, suspension or ban depending on the nature and severity of the comments.

 

Bullying

 

Bullying will not be tolerated in any form. Members who are deemed by site staff to be engaging in bullying will have their accounts deleted and they will be banned.

 

Off-Topic Posting

 

Please avoid excessive off-topic posting in reply to other's topics, and please avoid flooding boards with lots of new topics.Please post new topics in the appropriate topic board. Out of place topics are likely to be moved to the appropriate board by a moderator.

 

Warn System

 

If a board member is warned by a moderator, or directly by a Songstuff staff member, and that behaviour continues, action will be taken to revoke membership of the boards. This action is reluctantly taken by Songstuff staff due to the increase in unsolicited 'free adverts' by those solely interested in advertising, and the complaints by Songstuff users about such posts. This does not in any way affect the posting of songs/lyrics/cds for review, although if this is seen as an abuse of the above and a complaint from other Songstuff board members is received, action may be taken.

 

Please read the Infringements and Penalties Update to better understand how warnings will be applied.

 

Be respectful of other board members:

 

Use of inciteful, racist, homophobic, or sectarian language is not permitted. Sexually explicit content IS NOT permitted with the exception of sexually explicit lyrics within the "Parental Advisory" boards. Sexually explicit photographs or videos are NOT PERMITTED anywhere on the site.

 

If you write a post containing such content as specified in the previous paragraph, your post will be removed. You are also likely to receive a warning and may possibly receive a suspension or even a ban.

 

Writing about such concepts with lyrics is permitted, however comments should remain focused on the song NOT the message. For example Pink Floyd's "In The Flesh" may seem to promote racism and homophobia when taken out of context, but in the context of the album it becomes apparent that the song is not actually promoting such opinions.

Keep personal comments private. Keep insults to yourself.

 

Lyrics targeting other members or individuals are also not allowed. Such works are potentially both offensive and litigious. If you want to write directly to such individuals or groups (outside of our community) expressing such opinions in either letter form or within a creative work, that is entirely up to you, but to do so on our boards is abusive of your contract with Songstuff, and disrespectful of your fellow members.

 

Politics and Religion

 

Songstuff is not a site to discuss your political or religious beliefs. There are plenty sites to do that. Songstuff is about songs and music, not a platform for your personal maifesto. To do so you risk your membership of Songstuff. You have a right to your beliefs.

 

You DO NOT have an absolute right to post them on Songstuff. Posting on Songstuff is a privilege, not a right.

 

You can post lyrics which are about religion, or atheism, racism, or homophobia, but not works that promote such intolerance.

 

Works, posts, videos, pictures and photos are considered on an individual basis. We reserve the right to remove content, warn members and delete accounts with or without explanation or warning.

 

Copyright

 

By posting your writings, images, audio or videos here, you consent to allow Songstuff to display your posted work on Songstuff, Songstuff UK, any Songstuff operated website, Songstuff operated blog, Songstuff operated Social media portal without limitation placed upon Songstuff or financial compensation from Songstuff, now or in the future. Do not post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by this bulletin board, or unless you have permission from the copyright owner to do so.

 

By posting text, image, audio or video content to this community you are asserting that you are either the copyright owner or that you have permission from the copyright owner to do so. By making this assertion you accept sole responsibility for posting that content, and you agree to indemnify Songstuff for any costs that may arise as a result of you posting that content.

 

Songstuff reserves the right to remove any content, for any reason, without explanation.

 

If you believe that material located on or linked to by songstuff.com violates your copyright, you are encouraged to notify Songstuff. We aim to remove any material that could be infringing copyright in a timely manner.

 

Reporting Infringements

 

If you read a topic that does not conform to our guidelines, please report it to one of the moderators.

 

COPPA

 

A Special Note About the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA):

CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 16 ARE NOT ALLOWED TO REGISTER AS MEMBERS OF SONGSTUFF. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) concerns those under the age of 13. In accordance with the provisions of COPPA, we will not knowingly collect personally-identifiable information from children under the age of 13. Children of all ages are still welcome to enjoy the features of the publicly-accessible areas of the website. We recognize the importance of keeping children safe on the internet and encourage parents to monitor and participate in their children's online activities.

 

Communication From Songstuff

 

To receive news and communications in the form of email from site administrators you will need to opt in within the notifications section of your profile settings. This includes announcements regarding site functionality and maintenance.

 

You can stop receiving communication from Songstuff by changing your notifications and communication options in your account settings, at any time.

 

Account Closure

 

You can request to have your account closed at any time. We will do this as soon as we can, within a reasonable time frame.

 

IMPORTANT: All terms governing the use of this site are subject to change without notice and are immediately enforceable. You are advised to click on the TERMS OF USE/COPYRIGHT NOTICES/PRIVACY POLICY link at the bottom of the website periodically to ensure that you are in compliance. Non-enforcement or any waiver of our rights does not constitute consent or a continuing waiver. Such non-enforcement or waiver does not preclude us from pursuing legal action, at our sole discretion, at any time.