Disclaimer: April 2008

Hey, as long as we're here, we might as well get started.

Right, then -- everything on this blog is an original work as written by Sean. That means that Sean literally conceived, planned and wrote out every single word, graphic and shredded idea that you see on this web site's blog posts. The only exceptions to this statement involve those items owned by Blogger as owner of this weblogging service, and...

Which Sean?

...Huh?

I said, which Sean?

What do you mean, "which Sean?"

I mean, which Sean? There are two of us, as you can plainly see.

...Er, right. But wait... there weren't two of us before.

Of course there were. There were always two of us. There's you -- the standard, spokesperson goody-two-shoes Sean... and there's me.

You?

Evil Sean.

Oh. Er... I see.

You sound surprised.

It's just that... well... I didn't expect to see you again.

Neither did I. I had to admit that trapping me in that alligator pit was a stroke of genius, especially after you had caught me off guard with that giant mousetrap. After all that's happened, I would think that you're trying to get rid of me.

Ah... of course not. That's rather funny. Ha ha ha.

Hahahahahah.

...

So... are you going to continue this disclaimer of yours, or not?

Oh, right. The disclaimer. Okay... er... everything here was written by Sean, and...

Which Sean?

Er... both of us.

Good. Carry on.

And... uh... some entries on this blog use or reference outside material which was generated by other creators. Whenever this blog uses such an item, Sean will always attempt to include some form of acknowledgement that identifies and promotes the creator of the work.

...

Er... aren't you going to say something?

Why?

Uh... you're Evil Sean. Aren't you're supposed to be the negative, malevolent, alternate-universe version of me?

I am.

Then why aren't you saying anything? I just mentioned something about giving the right acknowledgements to the right people.

Hey, I'm completely against plagiarism too.

You are?

I'm just as much a writer as you are. I don't like my stuff getting taken by other people and used under their names.

Oh. Ah... that makes two of us, then. What Sean... what I do, mind you, is that whenever I use somebody else's stuff, I try to make sure that they get a link, or a byline, or something like that. And if any author out there feels that one of their works was improperly used in this weblog, then they only have to contact Sean for further discussion.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Really?

Really.

Then, well... Sean also doesn't like it if people use his stuff without some form of permission or notification. What we'd like to avoid, to be honest, is a situation where some person out there decides to copy from or use Sean's stuff under their own identity, effectively taking credit for Sean's work.

Which is plagiarism, pure and simple.

Right. We'd also like to avoid any incident where Sean is misquoted, or where Sean's words are taken in an out-of-context manner to mislead people or damage anyone's credibility. That's the only reason why Sean reserves the right to demand permission before having anyone place his writings anywhere else.

So money doesn't enter the picture? You are a goody-two-shoes.

I won't lie -- sometimes money does enter the picture, particularly if the work will enter formal publication, or will be the source of royalties for the originator. But Sean is usually very lenient towards these things; he's willing to let most requests go with little more than a good conversation and the right permission.

So you say.

There's a Creative Commons License on the lower-right-hand corner that contains the conditions towards the use of items on this blog. In a sense, it contains everything that I've explained here and more.

Except maybe for one small thing.

What?

You haven't described what you're going to do to offenders who will blatantly steal your stuff and thumb their nose at us in an insultingly rude manner.

Er... ah... I've mostly given up on that. Usually the presence of my lawyer's enough to deter people like that.

Lawyers are admirable. But there's little that can compensate for a good, old-fashioned beating. I find two-by-fours to be very useful, especially those that have a nail driven through them.

Yes, but...

Or you can mention any number of subtle life-threatening concepts. Immolation comes to mind. Pit bulls come to mind. Watermelons and public rectal exams come to mind. And even if you're too squeamish for those, there's always the old standbys.

Old standbys?

Blackmail. Extortion. Kidnapping. Writing them into your next story as an obviously villainous character and acquiring greater exposure for the issue.

I can't do that. That would be...

...Evil? Hahahah.

Geez. Is that why you decided to show up for this one?

You do your job, and I'll do mine. Besides, this feels kind of nice, threatening your own readers and getting away with it.

Er... ah... that's all the time we have for today, I think. Time for us to go.

Spoilsport.

There's still next month, if you really want to cut loose.

I've got the plans in the trunk of my car.

We have a car?

Of course. How do you think I managed to get out of that alligator pit?

Oooooh. Does it have a mini-bar?

It's got its own bartender.

Sweet.