Ganymede Explains His Picture Policy :P


STARRED PICTURES

There are several reasons why I do not let anyone use the pictures with three stars next to
their links.  I only put the stars next to pics if friends have scanned them specifically
for my site alone or if I have edited a picture so extensively that it looks quite
different from when I acquired it.  I also put stars next to pics that I created from
online movie files - back in the mid-1990s I spent hours and hours downloading huge movie
files with a 14.4 modem, making screen captures from them, and then doing pixel-by-pixel
editing.  As you can see I don't put stars next to a picture link on a whim - I actually
have strong reasons for doing so.

I don't believe you should be forbidden from taking ANYTHING, which is why most of the pics
are not starred.  At the same rate I don't feel that you should be free to take images
which I have created myself; images which my friends have gone out of their way to scan or
capture as a gift for my website; or images which I have extensively edited myself -
sometimes pixel-by-pixel - to make my webpage unique.

I must also point out that I have NO way to make screen captures and until recently had
very limited scanner access, so intensive editing on pictures which I acquired (with formal
permission) from other people is THE MAIN WAY I keep my image vaults unique and different.
I also download online movie files and make "poor man's screen captures" by capturing
images from these movie files.

Sure, these images aren't really mine to give or take no matter how hard I worked on them
because they belong to Takeuchi-san and Toei and other big companies, but if everyone took
everyone's edited images and unique content, then what would be the point of making a
webpage? If every Sailormoon site had the same images in their image vaults, how could an
image vault stay unique?  I consider my Sailor Neptune Shrine unique as it is, but I would
like the image vaults to be unique too.  The total number of days I have spent editing,
merging, splicing, and capturing many of the starred images is gargantuan, and I do not
appreciate people going around and placing the images I have worked so hard on at THEIR
websites without sacrificing any of the work or time that I have.

So please, PLEASE respect my wishes and the time and hard work I have lovingly given to
Michiru and the Shrine by NOT taking the pictures that have the three stars next to them.
^_^  Of course, no matter how hard I try I can't stop you from stealing images, so I'm just
asking, *requesting* that you guys respect my wishes and the work I've put into my site by
appealing to your honor and sense of decency.  I respect people's work and do not take pics
if they are marked as "untakeable."  If people don't want to give that respect when they
come to my site or anyone else's site, then all the Sailormoon image galleries will end up
looking the same, and image gallery maintainence will become extremely unfulfilling for
webmasters while image gallery surfing will become an extremely boring for websurfers.

Thanks for respecting my wishes, and if you don't plan to do that, then thanks at least for
taking the time to read this.  And remember, there are tons of unstarred pics that you can
take with minimal fuss.  ^_^

- James (Ganymede)