Ah, after clicking into lots of stories I finally managed to find one that can't be opened unless logged in. So only most of them are accessible to anyone and everyone.
WSA seemed to chop and change between their site being publically viewable and requiring people to have an account to browse.
I haven't been on in a couple of days and I wanted to post on here to make my position a little more clear. There's been a few comments made by people as well, that are a little surprising.
Let me clarify my stance as to why I'm livid over this:
1. My works were not taken from "online". Wait what? Yes and no. Allow me to elaborate: Online implies that if you Google it or go to a random website it'll be on there free a clear. Social Media is a great example of "online". Now when you break it down literally there's the yes. As they were posted on an internet based site. The thing is, the Yahoo Group it was taken from is an adult restricted Group that you have to submit permission to access. It's a closed community. If you're not in it, you can't get access to it. So it's not public or "online". 2. They're my own original stuff. One of the works was a piece of fanfiction. So technically not all of it was owned by me other than the story and one of the characters. But I acknowledge that. The other one however...that was all me. My story, my characters, my world. None of it was anyone elses. And the worst part is, it wasn't even the first part. The work that was posted was the sequel. Without the context of the first, it may not make a lot of sense. 3. I probably know the theif. This one hurts the most. Our Yahoo Group is fairly tight knit. We all know each other and talk to each other for the most part. So the odds are I've spoken to the thief at least to say "Hi thanks for joining our group!" Because we do actually welcome new people who post. And while there's a lot of accounts on the group, there's a lot of dummy, dead or inactives that don't post or engage. There are some lurkers, which makes it a little easier to deal with. But it's still not ok, because they were let in under false pretenses. 4. You victimized my friends. Which is why I'm still posting on this thread. WAM Librarian, you want to post something that's not yours? Fine. Go Google Image Search Slimed Girl and put it up on here. BUT STOP taking my friends works without asking them.
Just-visiting said: Ah, after clicking into lots of stories I finally managed to find one that can't be opened unless logged in. So only most of them are accessible to anyone and everyone.
WSA seemed to chop and change between their site being publically viewable and requiring people to have an account to browse.
It is the choice of the owner of the profile on here as to what is and is not available from outside the site. the CHOICE. using stories from those profiles means they no longer have that choice. How many care to make their profiles public or site-only is immaterial.
To be clear WL DID NOT post any of my stories on the site and I do support a 'story archive', just not with the current host.
Wam_Librarian, not meaning to be a pain or cause you problems as I really appreciate what you're doing and would love to see a new story archive built. However, just a cursory glance at the terms and conditions of this site confirms there's going to be the same problem as last time. (See below from T&Cs - have highlighted the appropriate section)
To this end, I'm really sorry, but I don't have the time to invest in posting my stories on your site knowing they could be pulled at any time. With regret, I have to ask you not to post any of my storiies there either, as they clearly breach the conditions below. Again, I'm not trying to be a dick, I just don't want to waste anyone's time
14. Restrictions
You agree not to (publish any material) that is pornographic or sexually explicit.