Posted by Kim on March 13, 2018, 9:50am
Following a public comment period about the specifics of how moderators would enforce a rule about RL characters and what the community would like to see, we are announcing a new rule for the RP Repository:Quote:
RP with fictional characters only
We are primarily a site for fictional characters. We do not allow the creation of characters based on other real life humans. We believe that human beings should have as much right to say how their identity can be used as players have to ask that other people not copy and use their original characters.
We make exceptions for respectful portrayals of historical characters (typically defined as over 100 years dead) or accurate references to/minor NPCs of real life public figures that provide contextualization of plots that occur in the real world.
We are primarily a site for fictional characters. We do not allow the creation of characters based on other real life humans. We believe that human beings should have as much right to say how their identity can be used as players have to ask that other people not copy and use their original characters.
We make exceptions for respectful portrayals of historical characters (typically defined as over 100 years dead) or accurate references to/minor NPCs of real life public figures that provide contextualization of plots that occur in the real world.
In many ways, we believe this is essentially a clarification on our "Be nice" rule, which asks us all to be considerate of one another. We know that the majority of people who create characters of real life people do so out of great admiration or love for the subject, and don't realize they may be overstepping or doing something that could make the person they are so excited about uncomfortable.
Over the next week, the moderators will reach out to those people we know who are currently utilizing real life people as RP characters and work with them to either retool those characters into originals, or help remove those characters from the site. Since this is a new rule, we're offering a 30 day grace period before any actual mod-deletions occur; hopefully this gives everyone a chance to save their work for private storage or do needed rewrites.
Faceclaims
Rules regarding the practice of "faceclaims" or "muses" (the use of an image of a real person, usually an actor, to give a starting place for imagining what a character looks like) have not changed. As a reminder, these are the guidelines that govern the use of faceclaim images:
- You must ensure that you have permission to use all images that you upload to the RP Repository.
- Keep in mind that 99.9% of images you find online - including those from a general Google Image search, things posted to Facebook and Instagram, etc. - are copyrighted and not technically okay for use here.
- This means that largely only people of whom "open license" images specifically exist of can have face claims made of them.
- Keep in mind the "be nice rule" and consider how many people would be squicked to discover that someone was encouraging people to picture a carbon-copy of them, only with a different personality, doing things they maybe would never do, and try to be sensitive to that concern.
- Remember that if we receive a complaint from the copyright holder or the person the picture is of, the images will be immediately taken down and repeat offenses can impact your account.
Comments
On my YCH Stall I stated that I was okay with working with faceclaims as a secondary reference (meaning that I prefer to work with pre-existing illustrations of the character over faceclaims and dolls) so I can pick which pieces to match to the character- should I stop making art for characters who use solely faceclaims on RPR? I currently have two characters I'm in the middle of making their pieces for who have faceclaims and I would like clarification on what I should do after these have been finished.
@Allicat - That's probably a fine usage, so long as your original images meet the use guidelines in this post.
AlliCat
March 19, 2018
12:09am
I would just like to say I've been role-playing since 2000 and although I use Elize Ryd pictures to portray just simply what my character Kya looks like, she is completely fictional and made up, however I use Elize's pictures because I feel that's exactly how that particular character would look, but I also change the hair, eye, and skin color to make her look different too so really I just see it as using her as a sort of "base" for character look, in that respect is it still not ok? I'm asking politely, I am new here, but I've roleplayed on other sites originally starting with MySpace. I don't see doing this as exactly disrespectful, but I don't want to break rules specially with being new here.
You've got my support on this.
:>
:>
@Unicorn
Don't forget Kik. I lost count of how many times I've seen rabid fans roleplay Michael Jackson.
*shudders* It's immoral to roleplay as someone who's deceased.
Don't forget Kik. I lost count of how many times I've seen rabid fans roleplay Michael Jackson.
*shudders* It's immoral to roleplay as someone who's deceased.
@LawofJohnson
ahahaahhaaa, you poor, poor soul. there are tons of roleplayers on tumblr who roleplay celebs and youtubers such as markiplier and pewdiepie. its incredibly disturbing.
and i 100% support this rule.
ahahaahhaaa, you poor, poor soul. there are tons of roleplayers on tumblr who roleplay celebs and youtubers such as markiplier and pewdiepie. its incredibly disturbing.
and i 100% support this rule.
Honestly, this is such a large source of discomfort for me that I'm very stoked to see this rule being enforced. Thank you.
I'm grateful that the rule is being enforced to prevent users from roleplaying as real people, living or deceased, unlike some other sites/apps.
*stares at Kik for 10 hours*
*stares at Kik for 10 hours*
so glad to hear this! i've always thought face-claims through using real actors is extremely destructive to the immersive environment of an RP. people will be upset over this, sure, but it's just as easy to use descriptors for a character--nobody said an image of a character was a requirement for it to exist!
Let's just be thankful that those who are popular enough with groups of people, like Markiplier, or Jennifer Hudson, won't be used for disturbing roleplays starring themselves as themselves.
@Pockets: Now the "be kind to each other part" I understand perfectly. We may have our different views, but in the end all we can do is try to be nice to each other, even if we don't agree on things. I'm sorry if my words came off as judgemental of others who do RP real life people here. But that's not what I'm doing. Just like people have a right to celebrate a clarification of the rules, others have a right to lament as it ends up restricting them. I understand that some may be upset because of this new rule, and that's okay. I'm not here to judge others or put them down. (Gaia knows people have done that to me way too much to be normal.)
To be fair, I was mostly bothered by your comparison of people who RP disturbing things with bought/purchased artwork to those who RP the same kinds of content with real life people/photos. I may have misunderstood your intention for that, and if so, I do apologize for it. However, even if I am celebrating, I'm doing so with respect to those who are not fond of the new rule by understanding their plight and hoping they can cope with the rule changes. It hurts I know, and I can never villainize them (or anyone for that matter) because their feelings matter too. But the new rule clarification still stands. If others don't agree, then there's always discussing it with Kim for some sort of compromise, maybe.
I still could be misreading this all wrong, but that's how I understood your words. If any of that touches on what you're trying to say, good! Otherwise, I apologize for not reading and understanding more thoroughly. Either way, I hope you have a nice day.
To be fair, I was mostly bothered by your comparison of people who RP disturbing things with bought/purchased artwork to those who RP the same kinds of content with real life people/photos. I may have misunderstood your intention for that, and if so, I do apologize for it. However, even if I am celebrating, I'm doing so with respect to those who are not fond of the new rule by understanding their plight and hoping they can cope with the rule changes. It hurts I know, and I can never villainize them (or anyone for that matter) because their feelings matter too. But the new rule clarification still stands. If others don't agree, then there's always discussing it with Kim for some sort of compromise, maybe.
I still could be misreading this all wrong, but that's how I understood your words. If any of that touches on what you're trying to say, good! Otherwise, I apologize for not reading and understanding more thoroughly. Either way, I hope you have a nice day.
Wooo! 
I still find it hard to believe that RPing real life people as real life people is a thing (with the exception of using historical figures as NPC, that sort of makes sense).
I still find it hard to believe that RPing real life people as real life people is a thing (with the exception of using historical figures as NPC, that sort of makes sense).
Y'all can feel free to delete my comments! Thanks. They don't have a place here.
Hi folks!
I think it's time to remind everyone that these rules were developed with careful consideration and community input. In the end, they were implemented because the moderators and the majority of our community felt strongly that characters of this type can be directly harmful to the person portrayed (whereas other RP concepts which might be distasteful for upsetting as ideas do not have a specific "victim",) and against already stated community standards such as the "be nice" rule. These rule changes are a formalization and guideline in the name of transparency and fairness.
The mod team has discussed it, and does not feel that celebration of these rules is inappropriate. Nor have we decided that the comments need to be disabled. We kindly ask members not to tone police this comment section, as that very behavior is creating the kind of animosity we all seek to avoid.
If you are unhappy about this ruling, we are truly sorry, but this is a community standard.
I think it's time to remind everyone that these rules were developed with careful consideration and community input. In the end, they were implemented because the moderators and the majority of our community felt strongly that characters of this type can be directly harmful to the person portrayed (whereas other RP concepts which might be distasteful for upsetting as ideas do not have a specific "victim",) and against already stated community standards such as the "be nice" rule. These rule changes are a formalization and guideline in the name of transparency and fairness.
The mod team has discussed it, and does not feel that celebration of these rules is inappropriate. Nor have we decided that the comments need to be disabled. We kindly ask members not to tone police this comment section, as that very behavior is creating the kind of animosity we all seek to avoid.
If you are unhappy about this ruling, we are truly sorry, but this is a community standard.
@lightsided, I wasnt expressing that using a real person is the same as using a fictional character, I was expressing that gross things are roleplayed every day and using that as an example of how it's still going on, even if this one thing has changed. I understand why people don't like real people being roleplayed.
The entire point of my first comment has been casually overlooked with every reply to it, so I gently put my hands up and step back at this point. Be kind, don't put down those who are effected by this. All I suggested.
The entire point of my first comment has been casually overlooked with every reply to it, so I gently put my hands up and step back at this point. Be kind, don't put down those who are effected by this. All I suggested.
Noncommercial reuse is an optional distribution rights allowance that some people choose to attach to their images.
These images are a fantastic resource for roleplayers! You can search for them specifically in Google.
Unless it's specifically stated in the rights, however, noncommercial is not protected use, as Kim said.
These images are a fantastic resource for roleplayers! You can search for them specifically in Google.
Unless it's specifically stated in the rights, however, noncommercial is not protected use, as Kim said.
@Boe - That's not really true. Only "educational" use has special caveats that make it legal to use copyrighted materials. "Non-commercial" use is less likely to have someone come after you, but it's not specially protected, and the copyright holder has every right to send a take down demand. The RPR asks all users to do their due diligence on all images used on the site so we don't have to deal with that many take down requests.
There were a lot of "Howevers" in my statement. Whoops. Sorry guys. 2 hours of sleep is not my friend.
Having taken several business law classes in active pursuit, I'd like to explain a little bit about the use of stock images.
Most images that belong to a model or actress are out there for admiration. However, the ones that aren't water marked for obvious reasons are typically uploaded to sites where access to them is allowed. However, the general rule and LAW of these photos is that people may not use them for COMMERCIAL purposes or recreation of posters and printing.
However, so long as the images aren't being recreated into a poster, being printed, or used commercially, there isn't really any kind of law that prohibits use for face claim basis. We aren't selling the photos. We're merely using them for likeness purposes.
Most images that belong to a model or actress are out there for admiration. However, the ones that aren't water marked for obvious reasons are typically uploaded to sites where access to them is allowed. However, the general rule and LAW of these photos is that people may not use them for COMMERCIAL purposes or recreation of posters and printing.
However, so long as the images aren't being recreated into a poster, being printed, or used commercially, there isn't really any kind of law that prohibits use for face claim basis. We aren't selling the photos. We're merely using them for likeness purposes.
Random
March 29, 2018
1:30am
Jake: What are you doing?
Anna: *turns to Jake and shrugs*
So it's been an adjustment for me to do that and it took a while to get better at it. But I can't get the physical appearance descriptions down no matter how hard I try. If someone could help me with my current characters, then I would appreciate the help as hunting for face claims is a pain anyways and I'd rather have a description because it provides more imagination on everyone's part which is always fun.