Petition to keep Polyvore.com up and running

Polyvore.com is simply for fun - nothing else. We do not take credit for the photos, nor do we get paid for the work we do on the site. We IN NO WAY remove watermarks. There may be some members who violate the rules that most of polyvore.com members abide by, but we cannot take a stand or take fault for their actions.

It is unfair to punish the members themselves for what the Polyvore administration has for their rules, many try to not use personal photos that are uploaded and we try to acknowledge the Polyvore copyright rules. As we have stated earlier - we cannot speak for those who do violate this, but the majority of Polyvore users do not take part in this.

We have never tried to take away the watermarks or tried to hide who the true artists are. Although not all works of art are linked back to the artists' personal site, they are linked to whatever website supplied the work.

Polyvore.com is a place for creativity and fun. In the past few days many members have been harassed, threatened and lied to by artists claiming they’ve violated their copyright. There is a simple and easy way for artists to report copyright infringement to the staff of polyvore.com, why did they feel the need to create accounts in order to harass people? Most of Polyvore completely understands the artist's take on the situation, and can empathize with how they feel, but we feel as though we do not take advantage of their art. If we received any monetary gain from the sets we make on Polyvore, we would understand Polyvore being shut down, but that is not the case.

It is true that all items used in all sets on Polyvore have been clipped from other websites, but that doesn't mean creativity does not go into the works of Polyvore members. We may use the photos of another, but we create something out of them that we feel we can relate to and express. There are many younger members who find Polyvore a positive way to spend their free time. A sense of community is formed and many personal problems can be addressed and solved.

Polyvore is just a fantastic place for creative people to come together and share thoughts and ideas on how they see life, love, happiness, liberty, and so on. Creating collages of certain art works help express those feelings. To take that away would be hurtful and costly to those of us who so value the friendships of other Polyvore members, and the feeling we get when we express ourselves.

Summary:

- Most members don't claim the items they use are their creations.
- No member receives any type of monetary gain. Polyvore.com might receive revenue by teaming up with a fashion site or store, that's it.
- All of the items to the right of the "set" are linked to where they were clipped, that does not mean that the polyvore user put that item on that site ie:fffound.com etc.
-Many of Polyvore's users are other artists who upload their own work.
-Users feel that by using great works of art they can in a sense create something else enjoyable that will be linked back to the original site.
-Once an item is removed because of the copyright issue, the set also will be removed it just takes a day or so.
-Many art & expression sets fall under the Transformative use in the the Fair Use of Copyrighted Works.

Many of Polyvore.com's artists "sets" fall under the Fair Use of Copyrighted Works. Here is a link explaining this:
http://fairusenetwork.org/reference/c-fairuse1.php

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html

http://provost.ncsu.edu/copyright/copyright-cases/Copyright-Cases.php