CardenGuide.com

I guess, in a way, it may be seen as a sign of some success, at least I have chosen to take it that way. On New Year's day as I sat down at the computer with a coffee and the idea of doing a little research for an article on the new fishing regulations. A Google search yielded what appeared to be something of interest. As I clicked through to the website, there was my favourite Carden Guide article on another website. Not only that, several proprietary maps had also been copied and the prominent Carden Guide logo erased.
How could this be? Someone  was using Carden Guide material to support a commercial venture, without permission and without attribution.  To make matters worse  I learned, after a little research, that the perpetrator was, in a way, a neighbour.
To my horror the situation was compounded after following links on the offending website to yet another website and once again finding a Carden Guide article along with several proprietary maps. Since then, I have contacted the owners of the websites in question and promptly received the response that the material would be removed within a matter of days.  A few days have passed and some of the material has been removed from one of the sites. We are now awaiting the removal of the remaining material. For now, the names and URL's of the two websites will remain anonymous.  Nevertheless, this incident has provided considerable food for thought on the subject of Copyright infringement.

There are now a number of Carden Guide users. That is, people who contribute or maintain content on this website. In coming months we will be adding new capability to our website that will allow us to offer broad access to individuals and especially groups who wish to publish material to the web. How will we respond to copyright infringement claims in the event that a Carden Guide user inadvertently or, for that matter, knowingly posts proprietary material on the site? I suppose, if we are to be realistic, it is a virtual certainty that it will happen and we will be receiveing that message demanding the immediate removal of material from our website.

It is with this in mind, that we have decided to publish a copyright statement, and in the spirit of full disclosure, we have 'borrowed'  this statement from the web. It represents 'best practice' and is believed to be in the public domain.

Copyright Statement:
Some images on cardenguide.com are readily available in various places on the Internet and believed to be in public domain. Images posted are believed to be posted within our rights according to the U.S. Copyright Fair Use Act (title 17, U.S. Code.)

Claims of Infringement
If you believe that any content appearing on cardenguide.com infringes on your copyright, please let us know. E-Mail  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  the following information and the infringing material will be removed as soon as possible.

(a) your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
(b) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
c) the exact URL or a description of each place where alleged infringing material is located;
(d) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use has not been authorized by you, your agent, or the law;
(e) your electronic or physical signature or the electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on your behalf; and
(f) a statement by you, that the information in your notice is accurate, that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf

Meanwhile:
Our Free web-page promotion ended in mid October and the lucky winners have their new pages in place. Thank you to everyone who "dropped their card" we will be in touch with a personal thank you and an extra-special offer. 

Members of the Carden Field Naturalist Club have now taken charge of the club's pages. Good luck and happy web-authoring Neil and Ann.

The website for the Carden Nature Festival 2010 is now in place. Thanks to everyone who uploaded content or edited material to ensure consistency and accuracy.
This year's festival has continued to evolve in terms of the level of on-line-collaboration. Next year will see even greater site access to include not only Festival staff but also volunteers and participants, in an effort to create a truly interactive On-line Festival Community. 

Looking Forward:
We are anxiously awaiting the release of Joomla! 1.6 (stable), and the expanded capacity it will bring. Look for more details in the spring.