Before I begin my rant, let me get something clear, I’m all for the FM community becoming closer knit and sharing the wealth of information that it’s members possess. However, I do think that before information is shared (or copied) that the original creator of the piece in question should be asked whether or not they are happy for their work to be reproduced and that decision be honoured. It’s a similar situation to the graphics people who create kits, skins, logos and facepacks - they like to know where their work is being hosted and by whom. In my opinion it’s simply a common courtesy and good manners.

And so to the rant…

Bearing in mind the view above, imagine my surprise when I discovered this site had stolen a large chunk of a guide I’d written on the Indian Football League. Not only that but they’d failed to:

• - Ask me;
• - Reference the original article; or,
• - Mention the fact that the original was hosted at FM-Britain.

What makes this particularly annoying is that prior to writing the guide I spent two seasons playing in India to make sure I understood the rules I was writing about. I then referenced this knowledge against Wikipedia and another site which was dedicated to the Indian league, just to make sure that I understood how FM differed from the real world. All that for someone to ‘Copy and Paste’ it to their site without a seconds thought.

Would I have given permission if they’d asked? Yes, I’ve given permission to the FM fanzine to use some of my stuff after they asked, but I’ll be damned if that site will ever get permission from me in future - once bitten, twice shy.

If the community is to develop closer links this is one of the things that needs to be overcome, the notion that a willingness to share produced work equates to an ok to steal it.

Rant over. For now.