Jim smith-wright
Western Thunderer
I do think this raises a wider discussion point. It’s less curates egg and more chicken and egg.
Yes a forum (any forum) has costs but it’s the contributions the members make that make a forum worth visiting. There has to be some value placed on that somewhere. So the problem with charging is that the members have already contributed. So where does the fee ultimately go? To the owners or to the contributors that make the forum a saleable project?
You can look at this several ways. If everything is free then everyone is in the same boat (simplistic I know)
If you charge the end user, like a magazine would, then is it reasonable to expect to pay a nominal fee for contributions? Ultimately you are taking someone’s work and selling it without reimbursement. Now that’s absolutely fine if that’s clear before anyone starts but less so when the situation changes after contributions are made. You could argue that this breaches copywrite laws as you are taking control of someone’s work without obtaining the rights to do so.
Well I think it’s interesting anyway
Jim
Yes a forum (any forum) has costs but it’s the contributions the members make that make a forum worth visiting. There has to be some value placed on that somewhere. So the problem with charging is that the members have already contributed. So where does the fee ultimately go? To the owners or to the contributors that make the forum a saleable project?
You can look at this several ways. If everything is free then everyone is in the same boat (simplistic I know)
If you charge the end user, like a magazine would, then is it reasonable to expect to pay a nominal fee for contributions? Ultimately you are taking someone’s work and selling it without reimbursement. Now that’s absolutely fine if that’s clear before anyone starts but less so when the situation changes after contributions are made. You could argue that this breaches copywrite laws as you are taking control of someone’s work without obtaining the rights to do so.
Well I think it’s interesting anyway
Jim