Slimming World Copyright Clarification

SW are running a business, they arent going to give things away, why should they. As a paying member wouldnt you object to people getting free access to things youve paid for???

At the end of the day the diet is under copyright to SW, theyre extremely fair with what they allow us to do on Minimins, but do keep an eye on this section. Most people may not indeed think of breach of copyright which is why this thread is a sticky, so everyone CAN see it and be aware of the issue.

If they say that things are in breach of copyright then Minimins as a site will and does respect that.
 
Indeed they are a massive and wealthy business BUT there are morals - not everyone can afford to pay the extortionate amounts for a slimming club and we all know that weight can be a major health issue both physically and emotionally and I personally consider that copying a mass load of text from their site is a breach and don't aggree with it BUT a recipe??? And no I wouldn't mind sharing what I have paid for if it meant that it helped someone loose some weight.

If I have paid to see a recipe then any company have given up that recipe because I paid for it - I possibly wouldn't share it openly on a forum because I wouldn't want the forum to get into trouble for breach of copyright BUT I would happily pass the info on if asked.

I can't imagine how much dosh these clubs make and like I said before, forums like this are huge advertisers for them - if i read a recipe on here and it sounded fantastic BUT i didn't understand the whole diet then I may be tempted to join.

I am still a member of WW BUT their most upto date diet is pants - I wanted to know more about the core plan BUT they wouldn't tell me and whilst I found snippets on the net I didn't know what the full core plan entailed - had I have been able to find the info I may have continued with WW and they would still be getting my money each month, as it is I didn't find the info so i walked and joined SW.

I could read this forum thread for thread and I doubt that i could fully grasp SW from a few syn posts and a few recipes - even a lot of posts with such info - so paying the money is the only real way to go.

I would hate to ever breach copyright but I think that the huge slimming clubs should be thankful to forums like this one - I have read a few posts this past few days and looked at a few different diets and considered investing because of the information shared here.

I actually found this forum before i managed to find the SW online site - they should be paying you for the content you hold and pass on.
 
I think maybe you should read all the posts in this thread before commenting as many angles have already been discussed here. WW don't actually promote Core any more which is why you wouldn't have found the information. As for getting information here on other diets, you can get all the information for VLCDs but you still have to go to the company to get the products. 'diets' like SW and WW don't have a 'product' as such other than their literature. Many doctors surgery's can give vouchers for people to go to SW so there IS help available for people to join when they can't afford it.

The danger of people NOT joining in the proper way and just using places like this to start with SW is that a lot of the information here is personal opinion. People will interperet the plan in their own way and that way may not be beneficial to someone else. This is a support forum, not a promotion site. We are her to support people and get support back however they choose to go about their weight loss journey. I am currently not going to a class because I can't afford it while I am off work but I don't expect to get the bonuses that paying members get. It's a decision I made aware of that fact
 
The purpose of this forum is not to tell you how to follow a diet but for support and help.

I think youll find because you have paid to be a member it doesnt mean SW have 'given' you the recipes, you dont own them youre getting use of them. And you question passing on 'a' recipe, passing on a recipe isnt whats in question here which you would know if you maybe took time to read the forum properly. The issues with SW were as I already said because people were copying parts of their site and reposting them here.

To say WW new diet is 'pants' is ridicolous. WW promote Discover plan now but after 4 weeks of classes they will and do still give out info on Core if thats what you want to follow.

The copywrite issue here is NOT negotiable, its the forum rules and all members MUST abide by it - regardless of how they feel about it
 
I think I agreed with all of that too but as I have read it, despite having clear responses from SW there was still some confusion about recipes and the way around that appears in suggestion to add an extra ingredient/free food. My opinion was in support of what the majority of people have wanted - ie, for syns and recipes to be mentioned. I made a point that hadn't been mentioned in this entire thread that (in my opinion) I can't see why SW would object to the odd recipe being used/discussed - I wasn't undermining anything, merely making a point and sharing an opinion.

I am still a member of WW but they wouldn't give me details of core even though other members in my class were following core. I have followed Discover since Jan and lost 6 LBs and so i think it is not ridiculous at all for me to say it is pants - it was pants for me and that is my opinion and why with almost a month left that I have paid for i decided not to waste any more money. That said I am a lifetime member of WW and have been for over 18 years so I am able to compare their plans.

I am also now a member of SW and I like the diet, and personally think ( well i will do if i see some weight loss) that it is a much better diet and very easy to follow. Its not the best online diet plan in what it offers to members but as far as what I can eat, it seems to be the most suitable ( for me).

My point or opinion was, very simply that ( and i recognise the reasons for the forum) that despite this being a support forum, it is also a resource and regardless of that, it is still somwhere that advertises diets - regardless of weather that is the forums intention. I read on here about Alli last night and went and spent £32 on Alli this afternoon - I think that sort of explains what i meant by my comments. I also understood clearly and agreed that swipping huge bits of information is wrong and I also stated that I considered it wrong to place a forum in a position of breaching copyright.

I had read quite a lot of the thread but not all of it ( didn't read some of page 2 that were talking about a particular forum memeber) and my response agreed with what some people had said, i hadn't realised that I wasn't allowed to make a comment or place an opinion.

I am not sure why what I have said (appears) to have rattled some of you.

Twas not my intention, my intention was to support this forum and specifically SW and howit is discussed because I would have thought that offering support and answering question is a huge part of the forum and its pretty hard to do so if it is completely restricted as was first thought in the early parts of the thread.

Doh!
 
You seem to be missing one point SW DONT have an issue with the occasional recipe being given, in fact we have a whole recipe section here. As has been said SEVERAL times now, what they objected to was people cutting and pasting whole pages from their website. THATS whats been stopped.

I dont think this is the place to discuss WWs ins and outs either but if you werent given access to Core than thats something to take up with them direct as the class leader was wrong in doing that.
 
No, I didn't miss anything at all! Maybe you didn't read what I said properly or understand it in the way that i meant it and now I feel like you may want to have a go at me and so I am defensive. I have read the thread as a newcomer, was not party to how the thread came about and have only been able to comment on what I have read now and not as it was being said - aghhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I think that i mentioned that in my opinion WW diet was pants, didn't mention any ins an outs and as i have read quite a few posts that offer opinions on particular diets and products (mainly when they haven't worked for someone) I hadn't realised that my suggestion/opinion was wrong.

Crikeyits hard being new on some forums!
 
Anne Summers said:
I can't see why SW would object to the odd recipe being used/discussed
Click to expand...

As you said yourself you dont see why they have a problem, Im explaining THEY DONT


Anne Summers said:
No, I didn't miss anything at all! Maybe you didn't read what I said properly or understand it in the way that i meant it and now I feel like you may want to have a go at me and so I am defensive. I have read the thread as a newcomer, was not party to how the thread came about and have only been able to comment on what I have read now and not as it was being said - aghhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I think that i mentioned that in my opinion WW diet was pants, didn't mention any ins an outs and as i have read quite a few posts that offer opinions on particular diets and products (mainly when they haven't worked for someone) I hadn't realised that my suggestion/opinion was wrong.

Crikeyits hard being new on some forums!
Click to expand...

Noone is having a go at you! Youre commenting on what youve read but by your own admission you commented on various things without actually reading the whole thread.

The Admin team here work very closely with SW and have an excellent relationship with them. SW have no objections to the things posted here and we intend to keep it that way. The rights and wrongs of decisions made are quite frankly not up for discussion. Any breaches of SW rules and copywright are going to end up getting this site into all kinds of bother.

And yes, people have commented on diets success/failures but on threads appropriate for that. A thread on SW copywright isnt really the place to declare 'WW is pants'

Its not hard being a newcomer, if you take the time to read threads and rules and respect them.
 
Sorry Sandy, I just have to jump in here.

Anne, it's not hard being a newcomer at all hare. This is a great place where so much support and advice is available and if that's what you are here for then you will find it. Many of the Sticky's on the forum were started a long time ago an were provoked by people doing things they shouldn't or challenging practices. Therefore there was a need for clarification. These threads have been left open for discussion where they could have been locked and the initial statement left without debate. The rules on copywrite have been made clear: recipes and Syn values are allowed, direct copying and pasting from their site or literature is not. It's not that difficult and this HAS already been discussed on this thread.

Introduce yourself on the main forum and get involved in current discussions and you will see just how easy it is to be a newcomer here
 
Copyright is a very interesting topic, its an incredibly wide field and you can get lost in it.

From my understanding of what I have read over the years copyright/trademark of material or items a company has are tools that are used to protect and accredit the original creator of the content.

A coke cola bottle shape is a trademark, nobody else can use that shape. Same with the slimming world logo, we can talk about slimming world all day long, its products and our opinions on slimming world but that doesn’t mean it can be attached to something we create in order to give it more emphasis (regardless if we meant to do so or not).

Copyright is a little different to trademark. You can’t copyright a design but you can copyright text. Now if I buy the Times magazine I don't own the copyright. I buy two things the physical copy of the magazine and a limited usage right of the material or a license.

You have a license to use copyrighted material to inform yourself of Slimming World diets.

I am not lecturing anybody and I am certainly not trying to say I am an expert I am sure my interpretation may be incorrect in places.

Now we can take syn values and individual diets so long as we do not take the images attributed with them. As this is fair usage of copyrighted material. At the same time you cannot write down a diet from Slimming World and claim it as your own.

Now I know its not a clear cut in real life as that but those are the general guide lines we use.

Now I know that you can argue that we could possibly introduce new people to slimming world all the time, at the same time we can only do that because members are allowed to use Slimming World material (within reason) on our site so it is a two way relationship.

Pierce
 
As a new member here, I would like to thank everyone for the interesting threads posted.
I am a co-owner/moderator of a site that has nothing at all to do with slimming but I appreciate the hard work put in here by the moderators. It is not at all easy to try and please everyone and keep within copyright laws etc.
Please keep up the good work.
I really am enjoying reading threads and will post as often as I can.
Sites like this, offering the support you do, certainly help us to keep on the right track.
Thanks. :)
 
malaika said:
As a new member here, I would like to thank everyone for the interesting threads posted.
I am a co-owner/moderator of a site that has nothing at all to do with slimming but I appreciate the hard work put in here by the moderators. It is not at all easy to try and please everyone and keep within copyright laws etc.
Please keep up the good work.
I really am enjoying reading threads and will post as often as I can.
Sites like this, offering the support you do, certainly help us to keep on the right track.
Thanks. :)
Click to expand...

Same from me as well. I too am the owner, moderator of a small support site and know the amount of work that goes into maintaining a site even one as tiny as mine . Goodness only knows how much work must go into a site as large and diverse as this one.

I hope the members of my site appreciate the support they get as much as I do this one.

The copyright issue is one that could be discussed forever and I notice this one went through from 2008 to 2009, and now here am I in 2010..........

many thanks to all involved in the smooth running of minimins.
 
I have a few suggestions on sprucing up the forum. I used to be in admin of 2 big forums in my university days.

The amount of hard work and dedication it takes to maintain a forum is phenomenal, god knows how much times the mods/admin spend on here.
 
A previous posting offered advice about sprucing up the site, please leave it as it is!I use this site for it's clear layout, ease of use, etc...
I have tried the other SW website but find it hard going, with restrictive rules,few supporters, and too many rules about content that can be posted.
I use this site every day sometimes several times a day, leave it alone! Please.......
 
Well I'm new to this forum too - have loved it so far until I came to this thread. I know it's an old one but I read all the posts and I did feel sorry for Anne. Some posts really did give the impression she was being got at. Reading some of the posts back to her made me feel very uncomfortable. Bless her - maybe she had a few misconceptions but certain people lost no time in putting her straight - not in the nicest possible way either.
 
Personally i think it is rather comendable (terrible spelling i know), that the moderators here are trying to liase with SW about these issues. I also think SW are very generous in regards to what they are allowing us to do. Yes admittedly it would cause them losts of hassle if they were trying to limit the use of SW forums ect. But i think it shows they do think about their members and are generallly a helpful company.
Well thats just my views on the subject but i was very impressed with this threas for both side. Round of applause i think :p
 
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