Post Plus - Blog Posts
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.
The Post Plus Protest is coming! Updated Edition
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
Fill out the survey on the original Post Plus post (be polite, don’t spam, but GET YOUR POINT ACROSS that we don’t want this). Since we mean business, it’s time to hit them where it hurts; Ad Revenue.
We’re proposing a 24 hour log off as the main event of phase one.
WHEN IS THE PROTEST?
The protest starts by logging off on August 6th, 2021 at 12am Eastern Time (US). Here’s a quick chart to help figure out when you log out. AUGUST 6th, 2021 12 am Eastern Time (US) 4 am UTC 5 am BST/London 6 am Central Europe Time 7 am Moscow Standard Time 9:30 am Indian Standard Time 12 Noon Hong Kong Time/Australian Western Time 1 pm Japan Standard Time 1:30 pm Australian Central Time 2 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 THE START TIME!
So that means if you log off at say, 6 am Central Europe Time you’ll log back in at 6 am Central Europe Time on August 7th. We’d prefer if if there is no posting, no queues, no likes, and no reblogs during this period.
WHAT IF I CAN’T/WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
Like this post, share it, and use the hashtags #tumblrlogoff2021 and/or #postplusprotest on ANY and ALL social media. If you’re using the mobile version, you can always leave an honest review on the app center of your choice (once again: be polite, don’t spam, but GET YOUR POINT ACROSS!).
WHY IS POST PLUS/POST+ SO BAD?
Tumblr’s primary focus is on FAN content (whether any of us want to admit it or not). Putting these kinds of contents behind patreon like paywalls is a terrible idea and the legality is NOT in the user or their subscribers favor. You can absolutely get in legal trouble for what tumblr is proposing with this new feature. There’s also the worry about the site’s (poor) security and access to Post Plus users bank information. Do you really want a site that lacks a functioning search function and whose userbase routinely get hacked to have your credit card information? No, you really don’t.
WILL THIS WORK?
Maybe, maybe not. It’s an attempt at doing something to combat tumblr’s impending self-inflicted demise.
ANYTHING ELSE?
There’s a time zone checker linked in a previous post if you need it and I’ll try to fix any mistakes to times as I find them. Keep an eye out for future posts closer to the protest date and the eventual phase two! Thank you ALL for your support so far.