August 22, 2021:
THIS IS A FAMILY-FRIENDLY, G-RATED SITE. IF YOURS IS NOT, DO NOT LINK TO, REFER TO, REBLOG, REPOST, IN ANY WAY, ANYTHING ON MY SITE OR ANY OF MY WORK, TO YOUR SITE, PAGE, OR OTHER VENUE WHETHER ONLINE, PRINT, VIDEO, OR WHATEVER. ASK ME FIRST IF YOU ARE IN DOUBT. I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SAY ANY OF THAT, BUT DUE TO BAD ACTORS ON THE INTERNET, EVIDENTLY I DO.
January 8, 2021:
PLEASE NOTE: AS OF THIS DATE MANY OF MY PHOTOS ARE BEING TAKEN AND USED ON ANOTHER SITE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. THEY “THANK” ME AS THOUGH I GAVE PERMISSION, BUT I DID NOT GIVE PERMISSION!
ALSO NOTE, EARLIER: On Jan 7, 2021, although I had disabled the “Reblog” button in admin and it does not appear on my posts, one of my posts made of my original photos and my original text, was reblogged without permission by another “blog” run by several individuals. It was also added to without my permission; an inappropriate photo was placed into it in a way that made it look as though it was part of my post and it was NOT part of my post. Reblog permits an introduction by the reblogger, like “Here’s something interesting . . .”, but this wasn’t an intro. It was modifying, which is prohibited by US copyright law. In the US original work is copyrighted at the time of creation; and in the case of my blog posts, parts of the text are from my published book. I won’t reveal which places those are but they extend over many posts. My book also has a registered copyright from the US Copyright Office, so my text has additional copyright protection. That same website went on to take many photos out of my posts without permission, and place them next to inappropriate photos on their site. Besides “thanking” me in a dishonest effort to make it look like I gave permission, which I did NOT, NO WAY, they made many other attempts to give the appearance of having permission when they had NONE. I had NEVER heard of this site, had and have NOTHING to do with it, and NOTHING in common with it. It included many topics I have ZERO interest in, and in many cases, find objectionable. They posted a lot about politics that is opposite to my views on politics. Still, my goal was ONLY that my work be taken off their site; they could run their own website using THEIR OWN work as they wished. I requested to the site owners that my work be taken off their site and their response was to take more of my pictures right out of my posts with NO permission, and use them on their site; they stated that I had made them angry by telling them to take my work off their site, so they would share it on Twitter as revenge; they also stated they would take my photos and combine them with their inappropriate photos as revenge, which they did. I stopped talking directly to them, according to advice given by experts on the subject of cyber uh, disagreements. I’ve had to spend lots of my scarce time trying to contend with this.
Sites of the same name and run by the same persons as the site I refer to above still have my post that they reblogged, posted on their social media of the same name as their prior blog site which reblogged it before. They have also reposted all the posts I’ve done since, on their social media pages. Their pages are not cat or nature-themed and have NOTHING to do with my blog, and I DON’T want my work on those sorts of pages. Catwoods Porch Party is about the topics written about here ONLY and is a family-friendly site.
SO AT THIS TIME I HAVE TO SAY: PLEASE DO NOT REBLOG WITHOUT ASKING ME AND INFORMING ME AS TO WHAT SORT OF SITE YOU PLAN TO POST IT ON. No worries for those who reblogged before the date above, to appropriate sites, generally cat, nature, visual art, or literature-themed; I must now request to be asked first, because there are those on the Internet who feel entitled to reblog the work of others to inappropriate sites. AND, PHOTOS ARE FOR THE USE OF CATWOODS PORCH PARTY BY LEAH ALFORD, AND BY LEAH ALFORD, ONLY. The rare times I granted a small number of sites permission to use my photos are explained below. If you would like to use a photo of mine for an appropriate use, please ask me first, and I will consider it. If your site has the best interests of cats at heart, chances are I’ll say yes.
HERE IS THE LINK TO A DESCRIPTION OF US COPYRIGHT LAW WHICH INDICATES THAT EACH ORIGINATOR’S CONTENT BELONGS TO THE ORIGINATOR. THE FACT YOU CAN REBLOG FROM WORDPRESS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. ALSO YOU CAN’T MODIFY SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/intellectual-property-rights-wordpress-blog-57660.html
THIS IS ALSO ABOUT RESPECT FOR AN ARTIST/WRITER’S RIGHT TO DETERMINE HOW THEIR OWN WORK WILL BE USED. REPOSTING AND MODIFYING ANYONE’S POST INCLUDING PHOTOS AND ORIGINAL TEXT WITHOUT PERMISSION; TAKING PHOTOS OUT OF POSTS BY OTHERS AND USING THEM AS PART OF ANOTHER POST WITHOUT PERMISSION; OR TAKING PHOTOS OUT OF POSTS BY OTHERS AND USING THEM IN ANY WAY ON ANOTHER SITE WITHOUT PERMISSION; THESE ARE IMO NOT RIGHT AND DO NOT FOSTER GOOD WILL AMONG BLOGGERS.
PHOTO MATTERS. Most photos and/or art on my site/blog, Catwoods Porch Party, are taken by me. I use a few taken by my husband. A few taken by friends have been removed to protect them from being taken and used in the situation described above. I rarely grant anyone permission to use my pictures/photos and my husband has rarely granted permission to use his pictures/photos either. There are a few exceptions where I allowed other sites to use my pictures, but only about 7 or 8 sites. Generally they will be university publications, art sites, cat-themed sites, science sites, the publisher of my book, and booksellers. So if you see my photos or my husband’s photos on any websites around the web other than Catwoods Porch Party, please let me know in comments, because it is most likely they have NOT been used with permission. With 2 exceptions that I can recall at this time, now deleted for their protection as described above, I use my own photos and images only, and a few by my husband. If I ever use photos or images by others again it will be with permission and it will credited to the originator(s). I write all my own text with the possible exception of quotations and citations and those will be credited to the original authors. I do not reblog anyone’s post and I would certainly never do so without asking them first. I had the reblog button disabled on my blog but somehow I have been reblogged anyway. (I have since learned it can still be done from the Reader, even if you opt to not display the reblog button on your blog site.)
The old basic info, somewhat rewritten:
All text, photos, and art are originated by Catwoods Porch Party and are copyrighted by Leah Alford as “catwoods”, and/or by Leah Alford. Links to the blog posts, on other websites, blogs, Facebook, other Internet venues, are only permissible when Catwoods Porch Party is clearly designated as the author, with clear and appropriate direction to the original content, IF the site linking to it is family friendly. So it’s OK to link to the blog posts or the blog because the credit for the content goes with it; however, I prefer that those sites linking to my work have a theme in common with my work, such as cats, the natural world, fine art, books and literature, animal advocacy, science, environmentalism, extreme weather; topics I have posted about on this blog. Printing links to the blog posts in books is also permissible under the conditions stated above. If I know you (includes Internet friends) and what your site is about, I’d still like to know in advance, in light of recent events. I’d like to be asked if I don’t know you and your site or book project. Please contact me via the comment section to let me know before linking, if possible. I know most people don’t ask for permission before re-blogging but I prefer to be asked for permission. I’d like to get to know your site before appearing there! If I agree to a reblog, please use the intro section for an actual written introduction explaining why you are reposting, or leave it blank; do not add another picture to my post.
Copyrighted photos are considered part of the post and so a link as described to the entire post inherently includes them. For actual excerpts and quotations, I’d like to be contacted if at all possible for review first. Please do not quote, reproduce, or copy separate photos or excerpts of text without contacting me first via a comment on this blog, to ask for written permission. I will get back to you as fast as possible depending on health and other factors. Photos are part of the photo-essays and are not to be taken and used without permission by content scrapers or anyone else! (Some of mine have been used both years ago and recently in 2021, and I’m steamed about that!)
The reason this page is so long, and exists at all, is 1. the situation described above, and 2. there seems to be confusion regarding copyright in general and even my write-up above. One person who was going to post a link to one of my posts on a Facebook page about cats decided not to after reading my copyright section. While I appreciate anyone who tries to respect copyright, this was a misunderstanding. Links are almost always OK on appropriate sites and under the conditions described above because they carry the credit to the author and include the unaltered entirety of the post. What drives me crazy are the content scrapers who have taken photos out of my posts and used them for other illustrative purposes and/or offered them to others to use as they wish, and the recent case in which one or more individuals just took pictures to use with no regard for the wishes, intentions, and rights of the originator! I DO NOT state a Creative Commons License because I don’t know enough about it and whether it allows that kind of use. But linking to my posts with credit, referring to the posts with credit, those modes of reference are usually OK under the conditions I described, but not if I regard your site as inappropriate. Taking pictures and text out of my posts, or anyone’s posts, without the knowledge and permission of the originator, and offering them for use by anyone and everyone on the ‘net is NOT OK. It’s happened with my pictures repeatedly.
Catwoods Porch Party will at times link to its own posts within this blog.
Catwoods Porch Party will also link to and reference other websites written by other authors as credited and copyrighted within those sites. Catwoods Porch Party will sometimes cite written and spoken sources authored by others. Other sources linked to and cited are solely the work of other authors and are protected under their copyrights.
Catwoods Porch Party does not endorse the content of other sources referenced – written or spoken works, websites, videos, or audio recordings.
I live near a creek in a forest, in close observation and awe of the wildlife outside, as well as the domestic animals of the household. I'm writer Leah T. Alford. I was "catwoods" on this site Catwoods Porch Party, Itchmo Forums for Cats and Dogs, and a few other sites that may or may not exist now. I have now published a book, and the publisher wanted it called Catwoods. I never expected the book title to be the same as my username, so for now I've changed the username to Leah. For more info, click the "About" button above.
Catwoods Porch Party 