[INFO] Our Statement on Our Policy of Citing and Sharing

October 1, 2011 · by JYJ3 Team

A few days ago, it came to our attention that JYJ19.com has made an official announcement with regards to JYJ3 on its website. This is the translation of the announcement:

We prohibit the transfer of all materials of JYJ19 to the website JYJ3 (http://jyj3.net). The reasons are as follows.

– Modification of the material without (prior) notice.

– Failure to cite the source.

– Modification of the credits.

Due to the above reasons, we prohibit the posting of all JYJ19.com materials until the website apologizes publicly and posts an official notification of rectification.

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This is a rehash over a series of emails exchanged over a single post on JYJ3. Since this issue was made public, we want to reproduce the email that triggered the exchange in this post. The summary of the incident is as follows:

On August 7, 2011, JYJ3 translated and posted a comic strip created by JYJ19 (see here. This post was originally taken down but we have temporarily made it public for this purpose). The comic strip left the original markings/signature of JYJ19 intact and also added the following words: “Credit: as tagged + DoctorJaee + JYJ3.”

On August 9, we received an email from JYJ19 that read in full as follows (emphasis added in bold):

Hello, this is JYJ’s korean fansite JYJ19.com, 핥(Halt).

Recently, I received a report about this picture(Fan art) by my email.

This picture spread after it has drew in our site, there is source(halt) its left corner.

I don’t think you didn’t know original source because you translated every Korean sentences into English.

But “jyj3” site left out the original source of that picture, and they spread it with wrong source(as tagged + DoctorJaee + JYJ3).

We recognize this really seriously, and we are going to enter a protest about the wrong action.

The “source” is the most important and sensitive thing to JYJ’s Korean Fansite.

Especially, I received lots of report about data of JYJ19.com spread with wrong source(JYJ3), we can’t pass this anymore.

We require.

1.When you copy the material of JYJ19.com, PLEASE write the correct source.

2.We ban the words “Share by JYJ3”.

(In this case, materials of JYJ19.com spread with wrong source(JYJ3))

If you can’t follow this 2 rules, we ban our all materials to JYJ3 site.

We are glad to understand and to share our materials with foreigner fans.

But, it’s wrong that our data spread with wrong ways.

Except these, please send me mail if you have any question.

(master@jyj19.com)

Thank you.

First, JYJ19 was incorrect in its assertion that JYJ3 spread the material in question “with the wrong source.” To write something to be “as tagged” is to credit the original marking on the fanart. This is a common way of citing on international fansites. We can understand if JYJ19 prefers that we cite them as “JYJ19” and not “as tagged,” and if that request had been made we would have honored it immediately.

Second, JYJ19 did not want JYJ3 to put “shared by JYJ3” on materials from JYJ19 (while leaving the credits intact). While it was their freedom to request so, we thought this was extremely unusual and stripping of our effort in finding and translating the material.

We explained the above to JYJ19. JYJ19 replied back, saying that they did not agree.

At this point, the JYJ3 Team decided that arguing with a fansite was simply not on our list of priorities. Further, to refrain from posting materials from any individual small-scale website, while regrettable, would not noticeably impact JYJ3 because we can compensate from a vast array of other sources. Thus, immediately receiving JYJ19’s reply email, we promptly stopped posting all materials from them. Thus, it has been close to two full months since this incident occurred and anything of JYJ19 posted on JYJ3.

The above is the full extent of what has happened. Thank you.

———————————————————–

We rehash the short but tiring incident because JYJ19’s announcement misrepresents us. It argues that JYJ3 had committed three offenses:

– (1) Modification of the material without (prior) notice.

– (2) Failure to cite the source.

– (3) Modification of the credits.

The first point, we will discuss last. As for the second point (“failure to cite the source”), we explained above that to cite “As tagged” properly identifies the original creator to be JYJ19. We also explained that while the author is free to request that their name be specified and we would have complied, our having cited the particular comic “as tagged” was not omission/removal of JYJ19 as the source. Thus, it was incorrect for JYJ19 to claim publicly that we had done so.

As for the third point (“modification of the credits”), JYJ3 did modify the credits by adding the translator and ourselves. This is standard. When JYJ3 or any other international fansite translates an article or work, we add ourselves to them. Furthermore, JYJ3 and most other international fansites add variations of “Shared by: JYJ3” because we have gone through the effort of locating and posting the material. Sometimes the original author can request that we refrain from doing so, but since we did not want to do that, we simply decided to not post JYJ19 materials. In other words, it was incorrect for JYJ19 to cite JYJ3’s modification of the credits as if it was an offense.

To return to the first point (“modification of the material without prior notice”)—it is true that JYJ3 translated and posted the JYJ19 comic without notifying JYJ19 in advance. However, as long as the citation states the original source, it is standard and accepted in academic, professional, and of course in fandom circles to translate and to post others’ works without first asking them. JYJ3, like every other fansite, translates news without asking permission from the publication. Many Korean and international fansites for JYJ routinely reposts from JYJ3 without notifying us first. In fact, this is true for literally almost every website that exists that deal with the members of JYJ, both on Korean web and the international web. All academic and professional writing regularly cite sources without asking the original source for permission.

JYJ3 regularly translates news and materials from the Korean web because that is why we exist. We usually do not ask prior permission but always credit the creator/source. The usual reaction by the original creator is one of joy and happiness at sharing their love for JYJ with the world. (For a recent example, please see here. The title reads: “Wow, Sandy-nim’s post has ventured out abroad! Congratulations~”)

In sum, to translate and post without prior permission is normal in virtually every realm of publishing. It was incorrect for JYJ19 to cite that act as if it was an offense.

We will not ask JYJ19 for a public apology for misrepresenting us publicly over a single incident that took place two months ago. Our wish is to minimize the time we spend on matters that are not related to JYJ themselves. We however hope that this clears up any confusion for our readers.

—————————————————————

JYJ3 is extremely committed to sharing the news and media of JYJ with the international fandom. We are the leader in web traffic and the speed and volume of information among all international fansites that exists in the fandom today. It has always been our goal to have the international web actually approximate the Korean web in terms of speed and volume of information available, and we are extremely proud to say that the goal has not been a mere dream on JYJ3 for many months. And we’ve been in turn rewarded with an amazing family in JYJ3 who are educated on JYJ and always willing to stand up for their fight.

Of course, we cannot do it alone. The JYJ3 Team is small and we are not in Korea. Thus we source almost all of our photos, fanaccounts, videos and other fun items from a multitude of individuals and fansites and we’re truly grateful for their hard work. Thus, we have always given credit where credit is due and never before, until this instance which we believe to be unfair, have we been confronted with the allegation that we failed to provide proper credit.

Certainly, a fansite has the right to dictate the terms in which they are credited. If it requests a certain style, we will always comply, or if we are unable to or unwilling to comply, we simply do not post their work. This has always been our policy and this incident was no exception.

It is well known that JYJ3 is not universally loved. We are the first prominent website to support JYJ only and not 5VXQ. This has made us passionately hated in some circles, and our readers see the hatred daily in the form of rated-down posts. We are also sometimes openly maligned and attacked by the admins of other fansites. Despite this, JYJ3 has NEVER prohibited anyone – even those that openly show their hatred for JYJ3– from sharing our posts. Furthermore, it is extremely common for many smaller international websites to simply take our entire post and repost them on their websites, post after post. It takes us a long time to look for pictures to post and to translate articles, but we have always welcomed everyone to share our materials. That is because, in the long run, it is a win-win for JYJ: Other fansites may share posts from our site, but in turn, we also share posts from their sites, and more people in the world get to enjoy JYJ. While some websites enjoy the power to shun fansites with views different from theirs from posting their materials, we are happy that our posts are being shared and that news and media pertaining to JYJ is being spread in many corners of the web, thereby strengthening and growing JYJ’s fandom base. After all, we know that it takes a village to build the great JYJ community that is currently in place.

In conclusion, we’d like to thank all the individual fans and the fansites that have contributed materials to share with JYJ fandom. JYJ3 will continue to serve fandom to the best of our ability and with a little help from our friends.

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[INFO] Our Statement on Our Policy of Citing and Sharing

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