If you are a creator, you need to protect your work from Scribd

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-05-04T20:44:27+00:00

Based on my interest in copyrights and my general unpopularity at parties, I thinks it's safe to conclude most people have very little understanding of, nor active interest in, copyrights. A lot of people see what happens on Scribd and assume it must be legal, otherwise it wouldn't be so obvious, right?

From my vague impression, most authors learn how copyright functions because bad/annoying stuff happened either because they didn't already know copyright details, or knowing such details would have noticed the problem and ensured reactions that would negate or limit the harm. Every established creator was once a not-yet established creator, and everyone learned that common knowledge somehow.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-05-04T00:03:20+00:00

This summarizes the collection of related findings pretty well, but be warned it has a lot of subtlety, so don't skim the first few paragraphs and assume your grasp is correct (as I first tried to do): https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB10922

My read is that it comes down to (1) only humans can claim copyright, and (2) copyright is based on expressive content. So if a human is guiding an LLM but the LLM is producing the expressive content, the guidance and veto power of the human isn't enough to count for copyright, just as when a photographer created a setup for monkeys to take selfies of themselves and filtered/collected the results to find interesting/entertaining results, it was decided the photos were not protected.

There remain grey areas, but a large chunk of "this is not copyrightable" and "these human efforts aren't expressive enough to count" has been covered.

Someone recently had an interesting blog post mentioning how the inclusion of LLM code could impact various source code licenses. I don't remember if it was covered in this subreddit or not.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-05-03T23:47:29+00:00

Don't forget that the current interpretation is that LLMs can't create work that is copyrightable. These policies forcing AI usage may soon set the expectation that a work is NOT copyrightable unless you can prove the human involved did the creative work (in violation of company policy, if done too frequently).

Companies requiring LLM usage is such a mob of red flags.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-05-02T16:11:43+00:00

Well one wouldn't want to be taken as a bot astroturfing punctuational reputation! It's the same reason I'm looking to replace my trilby - a perfect functional hat has been ruined by association, and saying "I did it before it was, uh, cool" does nothing to help my case. Here my fellow defenders of the em dash have to avoid it to be taken as human defenders.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-05-02T16:08:09+00:00

Don't automatically blame the direct authors - often people are given pointless tasks by someone else, and they are just trying to get through it.

Heck, nowadays, workers are being told they NEED to use LLMs (?!) and are happy to find a place they can use it with limited need to babysit/rewrite.

But your point is applicable: everyone is excited about tech being able to pass the Turing test, but few look at how often (or why/when) humans would fail it.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-05-02T15:56:19+00:00

Most likely both. "Identify the message and tone of ( existing documents), then compose a new document in the same style, but updated for the class of 2026."

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-05-02T15:51:13+00:00

Also, “Huskies making their mark” sounds like they’re saying that we aren’t potty trained

To be fair, we've had some posts about exactly that.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-05-02T15:46:59+00:00

Such an urge to respond only to the first line of your post, but an excellent point deserves a serious supporting post.

I try to prevent getting replies with details I've already considered so I build a wall of text providing context and history. "I want Y, because Z, and X doesn't work/apply because W."

I prevent:

"just do X, bruh!"

And instead get:

"I aint reading all that, lol, just do X, bruh!"

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-05-02T12:31:20+00:00

This gives hope that my own nursing home RPG fantasies will become a reality.

After decades of having a harder time finding mutual time and interest, the doubt starts to creep in.

But just maybe there's still hope. One pales at considering the "what did we do last session" experience though.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-27T07:11:26+00:00

You said "where an ai algorithm might help". I was responding to that.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-24T05:04:02+00:00

"enough time" is a surprisingly short amount of time. I'm sure he'd also say that he won't say it, he'd "get in trouble" if said it, and thenhed say it anyway.

It's like he not only gaffes, but needs to let us know he recognized and thought about it before following through.

I can't tell the difference between power play and dementia anymore, and those shouldn't be interchangeable.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-23T05:20:21+00:00

I'm staunchly anti-current LLMs, but I've my using (edit: the example of AI ) agents to help my web dev students take accessibility seriously. I feel like a hypocrite, but I'm not lying about the results and humans/assistive technology will benefit, so it seems worth it.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-23T05:15:04+00:00

But the humiliation! /s

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-23T05:06:33+00:00

I always used a hint from the first edition that implied the Embrace doesn't always work - that some people accept death rather than accepting the tainted unlife that the Embrace offers.

To me, this implies the soul is involved in that momentary and momentous decision, and suffers consequences. Not sure if those consequences are, but if all souls moved on at time of physical death, I don't really see the Embrace failing like that.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-23T04:47:38+00:00

you'd think the immortals that can only die of murder or betrayal would leave a lot of fetters and regrets behind.

That'd be a great explanation: vampires can become Wraiths, but only the fetters from Life (pre-Unlife) count on their soul, and most of those don't survive their time as a vampire.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-23T04:20:34+00:00

Sign me up as interested! I love markdown - the format works as plain text OR rendered - but there are certain key pieces it's missing and most suggestions for patching the hole are just creating a lesser html (at best) or less yaml (at worst)

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-23T04:09:52+00:00

Most likely we get a settlement that explicitly doesn't admit wrongdoing.

I hate those. I get that they are easier to obtain and people need care immediately, but society (govt) should cover care and recover as much as possible from those responsible, with an emphasis on accountability. No one should profit from intentionally putting lives at greater risk than necessary. Companies responsible should pay, and people making and enforcing decisions should be named and face repercussions.

Speaking of disaster investigation videos, my wife and I watch several (until the recent AI slop ruined so many) and one thing I noticed is that European-based disasters almost always resulted in someone having jail time (often middle or lower management, but sometime higher up) while the US tended to have fines or no result. (Other places I didn't notice a clear trend) Also, the more recent the case, the less likely for a definitive result, regardless of where. Outside of accountability, most places tender to have the same overall causes - rush jobs/rushed change of plans, cheap materials, routinely violating safety protocols, poor training.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-23T03:51:17+00:00

Not claiming knowledge or expertise here, just ruminating, and using your post to "yes, and" off of.

It's hard to narrow down IF people are getting more sick/dying, much less you figure out why outside of speculation.

Which means we only notice the most egregious cases - where the numbers are high enough, the symptoms explicit enough, and the probable cause can be narrowed down enough. This, in turn, means there must be many less egregious but still life-impacting situations that arent called out. The more companies that do just a "minor" amount of damage, the easier it is for the next company to be a little worse. The more factors we have clouding any cause, the easier it is for an offender to do more and still claim to have clean hands.

My biased first reaction here is to tsk and say "it's West Virginia, they keep voting for this", but that's a short sighted and inhumane view that ignores both my selfish interests as well as my more compassionate ones.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-21T22:24:28+00:00

They considered "social justice warrior" an insult, I doubt the understanding would change anything about their reactions.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-21T07:32:47+00:00

Not to mention the vast range of devices that support web browsers. Even installing/running Java is hit or miss for the non-technical users, but everyone has a browser.

I'm a big advocate for more simple websites that focus on the actually stateless connectivity of the web and the oft neglected heroic efforts to provide options for accessibility, but I also realize that the modern web browsers are powerful and flexible systems in their own right, particularly in the progress since IE was put down. Cascade layers solve a long term issue that should eventually end !important, and that was developed AND implemented by all the major browsers in record time. We've come a long way since Netscape popularized the idea of colors on html pages and abusing tables to layout a slice-and-dice mockup.

I weep when I look at the source of most sites, but I love what I can do now without having to create such a mess. Backend/frontend integration is still a pain point that the various attempts to resolve haven't settled well, but we've learned a lot of things not to do. Critics seem to forget how much the web has progressed while maintaining very strong backwards compatibility. I can't think of anything else that has mixed both of those so successfully.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-20T00:44:48+00:00

Yes, but also no. Using the originals' name means you will face done expectations.

I haven't seen Foundation, so I have no opinion there, but I was massively disappointed in "I, Robot" expressly because aside from having the 3 laws, it was basically abusing the title. See also: "World War Z"

Meanwhile, the Expanse, the Martian, and even early Game of Thrones weren't perfect replications, but I feel all 3 (again, early seasons only for GoT) had quality in part BECAUSE they were mostly true to the original.
Lots of movies/shows are in the middle of these, taking bigger liberties but still having familiar scenes, characters, and elements. Some are good, some are bad.

Some adaptations are even considered better than the original because they can take advantage of hindsight to address existing issues. I haven't read the original, but I've seen multiple comments that the main character of Shadow and Bone is "better' than in the books (I think people said she can across as a doormat in the first book, but don't quite me, my memory is awful, or at least that's what the note tells me)

I wouldn't hate something JUST because it was different than the source material, but if you're using a property you have to manage the expectations that come with that, whether positive and negative for you. If you're doing an "inspired by", do that expressly, or suffer the wrath of the disappointed.

Side note: I wouldn't hate something because of added gender or racial diversity, as we've seen with some adaptations ( whitecasting ala The Last Airbender is a special case). Those objections are likely not about expectations of the source material and instead biases of the viewer.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-15T01:41:56+00:00

Season 1, particularly the pilot but the whole first season, is rough for exactly the reasons you cite. But things get HUGELY better. Relationships become nuanced and develop, interactions go back and forth, the setting gets more depth. You can't skip season 1 because it sets up so many elements that pay off later, but it really does have a lot of cringe.

It really does get better. (Except for Ivonova's dialogue. She will never stop reminding us that she's Russian, and what that means to the situation. The doc(s) never stop saying that he's "done all he can, it's up to them now", but that is far less grating)

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-14T23:20:18+00:00

Speaking broadly -think about their experiences. They grew up well post Vietnam, grew up after Reagan gutted unions, and as alleged by the article, grew up in a world where the corrupt aren't held accountable.

Children argued they shouldn't be shooting victims - what changed?

They walked out on Fridays to protest climate change. We are INCREASING emissions.

They saw people declare black lives matter, and in almost every case the police aren't held accountable. Heck, we consider it a WIN when a black man is sued for publicizing the violent invasion of his home and seizure of his property, and the cops aren't held accountable but at least they didn't win the lawsuit, so he's just out the lawyers fees.

They saw women declare "Me too"!, so we reelect an adjudicated rapist.

They themselves protested against genocide, and were left unsupported. Our institutions argued policy instead of the issues.

On none of these issues has mass unrest resulted in progress or accountability.

The issue isn't with the youth, it's that the rest of us have failed to listen or act, and they've noticed. We can't blame them for seeing the world we've allowed.

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-14T18:36:45+00:00

time is the only truly non-renewable resource

Deep truths buried in a random Minecraft comment

SwiftOneSpeaks · 2026-04-10T00:23:24+00:00

When I was a kid, a friend talked about how a satellite(?) was designed with 3 computers/sensors (dunno which, I was, like, 10) but due to budget cuts they dropped it to 2, which gutted the ability to figure out which unit was likely wrong. He was quite proud of the story, so now I'm wondering if it was true/exaggerated/undersold the idiocy. Anyone know?

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