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As many of you already know, we recently passed a milestone here at RFGeneration, 45000 screenshots. We also have almost 90,000 scans of games and hardware. That's more than 130,000 images in our database, something we all should be proud of. Not only because its just a ton of images, but because every single one was taken by one our members. We're not like so many of the other sites out there that steal images from one another and use stock images.
Despite our high standards and those of most our submitters, some people don't quite understand the importance of only submitting original images. It may seem harmless to fill in an empty game page with images from another source, especially from somewhere like Wikipedia that generally doesn't mind others using its images. But stealing or "borrowing" images from other sites isn't just morally wrong, it can put the whole site in jeopardy. If the owner of a stolen image were to feel inclined to do so, they could easily sue us, and since we're only funded by donations, even a small lawsuit could easily wipe us out.
Now, to prevent something like this, our staff members are trained to spot stolen images and keep them from ever getting into the database, but every once in a while, a few do slip through the cracks. So, I'd like to take this time to ask all of our members that if they have ever submitted an image that was not their own, to please come forward. We will remove the images and you will not be punished whatsoever. We will, however, not be so friendly in the future if you're found to have submitted stolen images. As was the case recently with a fairly well known and active member, after repeatedly finding them to be submitting stolen images, they were banned. So if you have submitted images that weren't your own, whether by accident or on purpose, just let us know and there will be no consequences. And if you haven't submitted stolen images, keep up the good work!
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Its to bad that it had to come to a banning, but I really appreciate the hard work (and occasional hard decisions) from the staff here that keep the integrity of the database at a level we can all be proud to have contributed to.
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That's too bad it had to come to that. I'm sure they had enough warning though if they kept breaking the same rule multiple times, some people just don't listen.
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That really is ashame that someone got banned when trying to help out the site. Odviously they were doing it in the wrong way but maybe they did not understand the full nature of submitting photos from other sites. I have never submitted a photo that was not original from me but I did not know that something like that could happen or I never really thought about it. Hopefully that member can get another chance. I know just maintaining my own video game collection on this site could be a second job in its own. So to be banned and lose it all would be heart breaking.
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It's good to point out the legal danger of violating government-imposed copyright law, however violating copyright law is neither stealing nor immoral, instead it's copying and illegal. It's not stealing because the 1st party still has theirs. And it's not immoral because there was no injury.
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in cases like these though the copying doesn't credit the original person who created the picture. it's like if you created a work of art and wanted to sell it, then someone copied what you did and tried to sell it as their own. yes it wasn't stealing, you still have yours and can sell it too. but it's wrong in the sense that they are claiming credit for hard work and effort you put into something, when all they did is copy yours and skip the hard part of actually creating it.
obviously no one here is profitting off anything, but the point remains, someone took the time to scan or photograph the items that were submitted, and the member who was banned only took the effort of "right click - save image" on whatever site he got it from.
and by banning them (i'm making assumptions here so correct me if i'm wrong staff  ) rfgen staff aren't trying to make a statement in the copyright law debate, they're trying to protect the site for the thousands of other people that use it. it would suck to lose it from a lawsuit over the mistake/bad decision of one member.
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@techwizard:
When you submit something to our database, it becomes the property of the site (which is why we watermark our images). We cannot legally claim that an image is ours if it was "stolen" without prior consent, and in the interest of protecting the site and staff, we only accept original images from our members.
We've had incidents in the past where the owner for some images has asked us to remove them from the site, since a member had previously submitted them without consent. While this resulted in no harm coming to the site, and I doubt that someone would sue the site over a small amount of stolen images, we don't want to ruin our reputation and credibility.
This is also the first time in the site's history where someone has been repeatedly asked not to submit stolen images to the site, and has not corrected the behavior. I'm adding in a safeguard here in the next couple days where we will be able to slap a ban on submissions so that a person will not be able to submit images if we deem their submissions to be detrimental to the site.
...also, if you're submitting original images, we don't end up in GameFAQ's position, where half of our images are placeholders or stolen images that end up being fake photoshopped images.
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right i forgot about that part too, that's the bigger part of it then. i think even if you didn't claim ownership of them though it would still be a good policy to enforce either way, like i said better to punish one person than everyone losing out. glad to hear no one has been this bad about it before too
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Nicely written, NES_Rules.
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@Tadpole13: The member had been given several chances and kept trying to slip them in every few months. After finding that a staffer had inadvertently approved some from him enough was enough. As tech (basically said) some people just don't learn. I can't think of any other instance where someone had to be warned more than once about it.
I for one value the website and our credibility far too much to allow one person to ruin it. This is a warning and amnesty offer to any who may have violated submissions rules before. Please come forward so we can take care of things now without consequences. If we find them on our own there will be repercussions.
The decision was not easy for all staffers but I will admit I was definitely vocal on wanting a ban. As I stated above I highly value the website/DB/credibility. Something I was told growing up "The most important thing you have is your name. If your name means nothing you have nothing." Anyone can steal images/information on the web. I would hate to see us painted as thieves when so much time and hard work has been put into this site by hundreds(I guess technically thousands) of people it would kill me if our good name were to end up smeared by the acts of one.
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Although it is sad to lose a member, I agree with Izret. There should be no question as to the credibility of this website.
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I LOVE the fact that these images were created for this site. One of the best things..
That said, anyone have a decent scanner to recommend? I'd love to help out! I've been looking for a cheap one but haven't found anything.
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Wow!!! Banned. That would really be bad. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have this site to keep track of everything. I'm not sure who the member was, or when this actually happened. But I hate to hear of anyone getting banned. I understand the need to stop his/her actions though.
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RIP Deafens Proner 
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Can we submit images from an outside source that gives us permission to use them? If so, how would I go about referencing them as such? Do I submit the image with a note attached that says I was given permission from whomever (and list their email)?
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@SirConnery: We'd rather not have images from outside sources. It just gets too messy legally having someone who doesn't actually own the image to submit it. The only exception to this is incredibly rare items, like the Nintendo World Championship images we have. But even then, it was staff members who asked the owner for permission to use his images.
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