h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello and welcome to the wonderful community of h2g2 , also called 'hootoo '
I am your <./>ACE</.> and have come to meet you and to greet you and to help you with your first steps on this site.
First things first :
, there's always somebody near to help you with whatever your problem might be. For example you can reply to this message and/or ask me a question by simply pressing the reply button. Or you can click on the name above this message, which will bring you directly to my Personal Space ( recommended ), where you can leave a message for me.

Here is the Welcome Message from DNA, the founder of the site: A157349

Emmily has created a shiny new page : h2g2 in a nutshell here A8468742


Feisor has set up a wonderful page with hints and links, so please, go and explore them here: A719840

Things you should know before you start :
This is an open forum, so everything you post can be seen by everybody else, and you cannot delete it, nor can you correct it once it is sent. This is where the 'preview' button below your answering box comes in handy
The only thing you can edit or delete, is any guide entry you create,( go here for more info : A53209 ) which includes the introduction on your Personal Space.
If you reply to this message and tell me a bit about your interests, I can most certainly point you directly to the best places to go.
This is where I would explain a few site-specific things, but my friend said it was too long, so I'll wait until you ask

Take your time, have a look around the site, and enjoy yourself
P.S. I'm certainly prone to having forgotten something vital to you, so please don't be shy, hit the reply button below this message

Bel

Hi B'Elana - thank you for saying hello. I'll check those links and things shortly. Unfortunately, I'm about to turn back into a pumpkin - or something, so I must say goodnight for now Back soon...

Hi G8ch,

thanks for coming back to me.
Any questions about the site, just shout.

bel

Hi B'Elana

TiT has suggested I ask you about a post of mine that's been hidden due to a copyright problem.

Looking through the post, it appears this must be one of three quotes: one from BBC news, one from New Scientist and one from the Daily Telegraph.

The quote from Kofi Annan (BBC) was obviously intended for public consumption, and was reported in various media. It is two and a half sentences (29 words).

The quote from New Scientist is 3 sentences (60 words), from a three-page article.

The Daily Telegraph quote is from a report - again produced for public consumption - consisting of 3 sentences (64 words).

The length of these quotes does not seem excessive to me, but would they not be permissible under the Fair Dealing rule anyway?

'There are exceptions in the Copyright Act which allow for what is called 'fair dealing' with a work protected by copyright...
Using a work (except photographs) for the purposes of reporting current events.'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/HouseRules-Copyright

All three sources are news publications (New Scientist is a weekly journal, reporting on research, not actually publishing it).

If I simply included the name of the author of the NS piece (Amanda Gefter) would it pass?

If so, do I have to re-post it to the thread, or will the original instance become visible? Is there anything I need to do, to do this?

Also, do you have any idea how long it normally takes for the moderators to come to a decision on this type of thing?

Thanks a lot.

Hello G8ch,

copyright issues are very delicate, hence the vanishing of your post. It doesn't make any difference that they're thought for publication, because that's the case with every book whitch is published, yet you're not allowed to quote the whole book - if you see what I mean. We've had song texts and poems hidden for ths reason. If you can give a link ( to a website where you found this), then good, quote a small part and post the link. If, like in case with the magazin and paper, you can't post a link, you'll have to write in your own words, but can point out where you quoted from (as you did here). In any case, reply to the moderation email and ask what exactly it would take to re-instate your postings, I guess they should answer to that. Unfortunately, I don't know how long the moderators will take o get back to you, from what I've heard, they seem to be pretty quick at doing so, though. I've so far never had a post yikesed myslf, so I'm not sure about the procedure there, but usually, the posts are just re-instated if they are amended, or they stay hidden if not; posting a second time will not help.
Hope this helps.

Bel