It has been brought to my attention that there are a few people (members?) that have been trolling the guild, pulling maps created by guild members and posting them as free to download maps on their own Facebook pages. One individual in particular, is generally not asking g permission, not giving credit to the cartographers that created them, and not willing to post links to the artist's websites for the maps he takes.
When I read the rules before joining this site, I don't recall there being a clause that stated we automatically give anyone the rights to redistribute our maps without specific permission. I do not recall a clause that allowed anyone the right to redistribute our maps without giving proper credit to the artist that created the map.
I don't know if any of my maps have been pulled in this manner, but I felt the need to bring this out in the open, because I have some serious questions regarding this practice.
First and foremost question... By joining and posting maps (and other artwork) on the Cartographer's Guild, are we granting blanket permission for anyone to take our work and use it as they see fit, without due credit or acknowledgements? Or compensation for those who are NOT posting free use maps?
Second question... While I understand that posting in certain forums (challenges, cartographer's choice, etc) you are giving permission for the GUILD to repost them to certain specific websites(affiliated sites) as winners.... does this mean that we, as cartographers automatically give up our rights to these maps?
There are professional cartographers in this guild....mappers that take lakes commissions for their work. Some of those commissions come with a clause against redistribution...the ones commissioning the work want exclusive use rights. If someone is pulling maps without specific permission, what are the ramifications for those contracts?
Last questions... What are our responsibilities as cartographers to ensure this type of practice doesn't continue? What are the guild responsibilities?
Please understand, I am NOT trying to place blame on anyone but those who are stealing from this guild and it's members....and unless someone tells me otherwise...this IS stealing....a form of theft. Even the makers or free use maps have SOME rights and SOME say about HOW their work is redistributed, don't they?
I guess what I'm really looking for us a clarification on the rules as it pertains to this type of situation, and what we are supposed to do if rules are being broken. And possibly how to prevent this type of occurance, if it is, indeed, against the rules.