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POST PLUS PROTEST PHASE 2 : 48 Hour Edition

Here we are back again for a 48 hour log off protest of the current version of Post+.

WHEN?

October 2, 2021

12 am Eastern Time/Atlantic Standard Time

1 am Chile Standard Time/Brazil Time/Argentina Time

4 am UTC

5 am BST/London/West Africa Time/West European Summer Time

6 am Central Europe Time/Central Africa Time

7 am Moscow Standard Time/East Africa Time/Eastern European Summer Time/Arabian Standard Time

8 am Gulf Standard Time

9:30 am Indian Standard Time

11 am Indochina Time

12 pm (Noon) Hong Kong Time/Australian Western Standard Time

1 pm Japan Standard Time/Korean Standard Time

1:30 pm Australian Central Time

2 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time

5 pm New Zealand Standard Time

October 1, 2021

11 pm Central Time

10 pm Mountain Time

9 pm Pacific Time

8 Alaska Daylight Time

6 pm Hawaii Standard Time

If you don’t see your time zone, or unsure which to use, click HERE for the checker!

We’ll be running countdown posts leading up to the main event!

We’re logging off for 48 hours! So, for example, if you log out on October 2, 2021 at 1pm JST you’ll log back on October 4, 2021 at 1 pm JST!

Also! Our Australian friends, take note that daylight savings/summer time ends in certain territories on October 3rd!

WHY?

Exhibits A, B, C, D, E

Tumblr recently announced a new feature called Post+ meant to help content creators make money while keeping a cut to help maintain the site. Not a bad idea, right?

The problem is that tumblr actively encouraged the use of Post+ in conjunction with fan works. Which is, despite the way they continue to side step it, highly illegal. Not enough people are aware of that fact.

Our mission is to force tumblr to either rebrand the Post+ feature as something for original content ONLY and/or offer a means to help the site survive outside of monetizing fan work. We want the see tumblr thrive but Post+ has the potential for ruining everything. Give us a better option, @staff ! In fact, HERE are some options!

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?

Optional avatar and banner to use!

Banner credit to @adairctedgibbgirl ! Thank you!

You can also spread the word on ALL social media (Twitter/TikTok/Facebook/Reddit etc) and reblog this post. Another option, if you’re using the mobile app, is to leave an honest review (be polite, be concise, don’t spam) on the App Store of your choice! The best and easiest way to protest is DON’T USE POST+!

WILL THIS WORK?

We got tumblr to temporarily hide the original Post+ posts and possibly made wip a thing. So who knows?

ANYTHING ELSE?

Keep checking @postplus-protest for updates and further info, especially updates to this post! Thank you, all of you, for participating or boosting!

Remember to reblog, use the hashtags #postplusprotest and #tumblrlogoff2021, and SPREAD THE WORD TO OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA!

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Breaking down Tumblr’s latest Post+ Statement

In the wake of massive backlash against their new monitization/paywall program, Tumblr staff has given a statement in an attempt to combat one of the major arguments against it: that this would be a nightmare for fan writers and artists who are vulnerable to lawsuits for copyright infringement.

This post was meant to read as “haha, your friendly neighborhood Tumblr staff!” while actually being intentionally vague and misleading. I’ve seen people laughing it off as Tumblr having an idiot for a lawyer, but the post is actually written very cleverly. So let’s break it down:

First off, let’s make one thing clear: this information is coming to you from Tumblr’s lawyer, not yours. Tumblr’s lawyer’s job is to protect Tumblr from legal trouble and is under no obligation to give fair legal advice to Tumblr users or protect them in legal matters.

Notice that they are careful to say that they encourage sharing these works on “the platform” in general, not through the Post+ system. This gives them deniability - they never explicitly encouraged users to post this content on the monetized platform.

Yes, fanfiction and fanart are frequently considered fair use when they are not monetized. And notice in the second sentence, they switch to the much vaguer term “fan work” when claiming that something can be monetized and still fall under fair use. Fan work could refer to something as innocuous as beta reading and other fan work related services. This could also be referring to works in the public domain. Again, they have plausible deniability.

And make no mistake, there is a long, ugly history of fan writers and artists being sued for copyright infringement. It is absolutely not legal to sell, through any means, fanfiction or fan art of copyrighted content.

And here we get to the real heart of the matter. Their TOS has a clause which states that you may not infringe on another person’s copyright. They have now vaguely but deniably suggested that you can monetize your fanart and fanfiction, but whether or not you’re violating fair use “depends.” They won’t give you specifics. Because it does depend - on whether or not the work is copyrighted. But their statement implies that there are special circumstances where the nature of a fan work based on a copyrighted source makes it ‘fair use.’ This is not the case.

Most importantly, when the copyright holder comes to complain, Tumblr will not protect you. They will say that you have violated the TOS by infringing on intellectual property rights, and we never told you to. You’re on your own, kid. I wouldn’t be shocked if this is used as an excuse to withhold your Post+ revenue.

And the DMCA takedown process? That’s just the process for getting the content removed from Tumblr. It doesn’t mention that the copyright holder then has the right to go after you, personally, with a lawsuit to recoup any money you made off your Post+ subscriptions, plus damages to the brand. Tumblr, meanwhile, can keep its cut of your subscriptions because that money was paid to them for hosting the Post+ service, not for the works themselves. And, as an online platform, they are not responsible for the illegal actions of its users beyond complying with DMCA.

This post is malicious and intentionally misleading. They intend to scrape a profit off of fan writers and artists on their way to the courthouse.

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POST PLUS IS COMING, WHETHER YOU WANT IT OR NOT!

Despite the fancy survey, changes to the UI and TOS reveal we’re getting the service in the future whether we want it or not. Obviously, Post+ is a terrible idea that is trying to bank revenue on user content. Unlike patreon or onlyfans, tumblr’s primary focus is on FAN content. The legality of this is NOT in the users favor and as the new tumblr TOS states, said users will be entirely liable for whatever legal matters arise.

SO WHAT ARE WE DOING?

Besides filling out the survey, it’s time to show tumblr we mean business and show our displeasure by hitting them where it hurts.

Ad revenue.

We’re proposing a 24 hour log off as phase one of this protest.

WHEN IS THE PROTEST?

AUGUST 6th, 2021        12 am Eastern Time (US)          5 am Greenwich Mean Time          6 am Central European Time          8 am Moscow Standard Time          1 pm Australian Western Time          2 pm Japan Standard Time          3:30 pm Australian Central Time          4 pm Australian Eastern Time

AUGUST 5th, 2021

11 pm Central Time (US)          10 pm Mountain Time (US)            9 pm Pacific Time (US)

THE END TIME IS 24 HOURS FROM START TIME!!!

So no posting, no queues, no likes, and no reblogs!

WHAT IF I CAN’T/WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?

Like this post and share it AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE. Use the hashtags #tumblrlogoff2021 or #postplusprotest on ANY and ALL social media.

WILL THIS WORK?

Maybe, maybe not. It’s an attempt at doing SOMETHING.

BECAUSE I’M A TIRED IDIOT, USE THIS TO DOUBLE CHECK YOUR TIME ZONE!!!!

[fuckyoupostplus]

POST PLUS IS COMING, WHETHER YOU WANT IT OR NOT!

Despite the fancy survey, changes to the UI and TOS reveal we’re getting the service in the future whether we want it or not. Obviously, Post+ is a terrible idea that is trying to bank revenue on user content. Unlike patreon or onlyfans, tumblr’s primary focus is on FAN content. The legality of this is NOT in the users favor and as the new tumblr TOS states, said users will be entirely liable for whatever legal matters arise.

SO WHAT ARE WE DOING?

Besides filling out the survey, it’s time to show tumblr we mean business and show our displeasure by hitting them where it hurts.

Ad revenue.

We’re proposing a 24 hour log off as phase one of this protest.

WHEN IS THE PROTEST?

AUGUST 6th, 2021        12 am Eastern Time (US)          5 am Greenwich Mean Time          6 am Central European Time          8 am Moscow Standard Time          1 pm Australian Western Time          2 pm Japan Standard Time          3:30 pm Australian Central Time          4 pm Australian Eastern Time

AUGUST 5th, 2021

11 pm Central Time (US)          10 pm Mountain Time (US)            9 pm Pacific Time (US)

THE END TIME IS 24 HOURS FROM START TIME!!!

So no posting, no queues, no likes, and no reblogs!

WHAT IF I CAN’T/WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?

Like this post and share it AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE. Use the hashtags #tumblrlogoff2021 or #postplusprotest on ANY and ALL social media.

WILL THIS WORK?

Maybe, maybe not. It’s an attempt at doing SOMETHING.

[fuckyoupostplus]

some very important info re: paid accounts~

I am not a lawyer, but I can decently interpret legalese and, being as I also suffer from tl;dr syndrome and assume others may as well, I took one for the team and went through the updated TOS for the post+ accounts and highlighted (what I understand to be) the most pertinent information, which ultimately comes down to this:

You cannot monetize copyrighted works (aka charge and earn money from fanfic, fanworks, etc) and if you do decide to put your fanworks behind a paywall via Tumblr, when you are inevitably sued, Tumblr will not protect you and will not defend you and you alone, personally, will be responsible for whatever monetary damages said lawsuit results in.

If anyone is a lawyer and knows I've gotten any of this wrong, please do not hesitate to correct me/this post.

Screenshots taken from Tumblr's TOS (updated 7-21-21), Stripe's Account Agreement, and the post+ FAQs.

1. Your paid account will not be hosted by tumblr; it is routed through a 3rd party.

2. By signing up for a paid account, you're entering into an agreement with Stripe, so in addition to Tumblr's TOS, you are also bound to Stripe's TOS.

3. Stripe, like Tumblr, will not defend you or protect you against any lawsuits.

4. Furthermore, you may end up owing Stripe money (indemnify = compensate)

5. Tumblr's TOS specifically states that you can't put any content on your post+ account that violates any laws, including laws that protect intellectual property rights of others. This is super important, because Tumblr's post+ FAQ also states that you can post anything that you would regularly post on tumblr, which I'm sure many will take to mean that gifsets, fanworks, etc are fair game, since all of that stuff can be posted on tumblr now. However, the difference is, you're not making money from the fanworks you're posting or reblogging now. Once money enters the equation, the game changes.

Tumblr is making it seem like any and all content goes for post+ accounts, knowing 90% of this site is fanworks. This is not true and you'll be opening yourself up for lawsuits if you charge for fanworks.

6. Tumblr further disclaims any and all liability in any legal issues.

tl;dr: Please do not make a post+ account, bc you will be opening yourself to lawsuits and if that happens, Tumblr's response will be not our problem, you agreed to all the terms which said you couldn't do that, sorry not sorry. Please protect yourself.

[fuckyoupostplus]

I think I should get paid part-time for my contributions to this website

[fuckyoupostplus]

some very important info re: paid accounts~

I am not a lawyer, but I can decently interpret legalese and, being as I also suffer from tl;dr syndrome and assume others may as well, I took one for the team and went through the updated TOS for the post+ accounts and highlighted (what I understand to be) the most pertinent information, which ultimately comes down to this:

You cannot monetize copyrighted works (aka charge and earn money from fanfic, fanworks, etc) and if you do decide to put your fanworks behind a paywall via Tumblr, when you are inevitably sued, Tumblr will not protect you and will not defend you and you alone, personally, will be responsible for whatever monetary damages said lawsuit results in.

If anyone is a lawyer and knows I've gotten any of this wrong, please do not hesitate to correct me/this post.

Screenshots taken from Tumblr's TOS (updated 7-21-21), Stripe's Account Agreement, and the post+ FAQs.

1. Your paid account will not be hosted by tumblr; it is routed through a 3rd party.

2. By signing up for a paid account, you're entering into an agreement with Stripe, so in addition to Tumblr's TOS, you are also bound to Stripe's TOS.

3. Stripe, like Tumblr, will not defend you or protect you against any lawsuits.

4. Furthermore, you may end up owing Stripe money (indemnify = compensate)

5. Tumblr's TOS specifically states that you can't put any content on your post+ account that violates any laws, including laws that protect intellectual property rights of others. This is super important, because Tumblr's post+ FAQ also states that you can post anything that you would regularly post on tumblr, which I'm sure many will take to mean that gifsets, fanworks, etc are fair game, since all of that stuff can be posted on tumblr now. However, the difference is, you're not making money from the fanworks you're posting or reblogging now. Once money enters the equation, the game changes.

Tumblr is making it seem like any and all content goes for post+ accounts, knowing 90% of this site is fanworks. This is not true and you'll be opening yourself up for lawsuits if you charge for fanworks.

6. Tumblr further disclaims any and all liability in any legal issues.

tl;dr: Please do not make a post+ account, bc you will be opening yourself to lawsuits and if that happens, Tumblr's response will be not our problem, you agreed to all the terms which said you couldn't do that, sorry not sorry. Please protect yourself.

[fuckyoupostplus]

can’t wait to enable Post+ on my posts just for someone to pay 3.99 and it just be an image like

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I’m automatically unfollowing anybody with a blue checkmark.

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Y'know what, fuck this bullshit. I need to know y'all are actually against it.

Reblog this if you will NOT use or support Post+.

I hope to make @staff see how that is total bullshit. Tumblr will die without writers/creators.

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Y'know what, fuck this bullshit. I need to know y'all are actually against it.

Reblog this if you will NOT use or support Post+.

I hope to make @staff see how that is total bullshit. Tumblr will die without writers/creators.

[fuckyoupostplus]

in all seriousness. if u are a content creator and u want to make money. do not put your money in the hands of tumblr. like not just bc it will ruin the site but because i genuinely do not trust them to handle ur money. literally just open commissions or use patreon/ko-fi

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when tumblr gets inevitably deleted lets all go on one giant google doc

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a story about failure, told in images

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this is really not going to be good huh.

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refusing to make people subscribe to my tumblr for exclusive content not because i care about not exploiting my followers for money but because i don't think any of you deserve to be able to avoid the bullshit i say on here

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source: TechCrunch

Like Twitter’s Super Follows, Tumblr’s Post+ lets creators choose which content they want to put behind a paywall, whether that’s original artwork, personal blog posts or Destiel fanfic. Creators can set the price for their subscriber-only content starting at $3.99 per month, with additional tiers at $5.99 and $9.99. Tumblr will take a 5% cut from creator profits.

oh no.

this could actually get very, very bad, because just ask the OTW—you cannot profit from fan fiction without running into legal issues. that’s why AO3 has to come down hard on anyone doing fic for paid commissions, posting links to their ko-fi in the author’s notes, etc.

if a tumblr user puts their fanfic behind a paywall, they are now profiting from it, and would be entirely at risk if the owner of the intellectual property in question decided to sue them. god help you if it’s disney.

and if tumblr is hosting that and also profiting… then I imagine that tumblr itself might be part of that lawsuit.