RE: Using Other People's Templates

Alright, so it's recently come to my attention (actually, it's been pretty obvious—I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed) that there seem to be a lot of incredibly similar styles of post coding/bio templates/posting tables and the like circling around the site, and one of the original creators of said styles has come to me to ask that I address the issue of people taking things like that without asking first. I understand that by no means is a posting template personal property—most of them end up unintentionally looking like some others in some ways—but the precise way in which some of them have been copied without permission is pretty obvious. I'd just like you all to think for a moment how you'd feel, if you'd spent a long time perfecting a certain code for a template or a posting table, making sure everything was laid out exactly the way you wanted it to look, and then three or four other people had copied it without asking within the next week. In a way, the template coding done on this site is art, a personal expression of the writer who's creating it to represent their character(s) as best as possible. I do understand that some of these are extremely beautiful and detailed, but before you take it, why not ask permission first? I'm sure plenty of these people would be fine with it as long as they're included in the decision.

So bottom line, don't take anything without asking, because though it's on a minor scale, it's still considered plagiarism. You're of course allowed to use other posting styles to get ideas, but over the years post coding has become a form of individual expression, and it's much more rewarding to have your own unique style than to copy someone else's. If the creator has given you permission, go ahead. But otherwise, it's not yours to copy.

Thank you!
-Lulu