The Problem
So, it constitutes plagiarism if someone uses an image not their own without a citation. What if the source of the image was widespread across the internet? The source for one image was spread across over three dozen websites. How do you find the original? Who made it? A source link originally reported lead to another meme site. How do I know if those images are plagiarized or original. There's nothing specific to report otherwise.
What is Hive's position on memes?
The gray area. Some people get hit and others don't. There are dozens of articles utilizing memes of one form or another in the communities I checked tonight. Some hive articles using memes reach +70 Hive. No one bats an eye. Hive's position and method of moderation is unclear and inconsistent. Memes are definitely used on POB. I've no doubt they will become popular on VYB.
What is Plagiarism.org's position on memes?
It has discussions of images-a-plenty. The one I keyed on was using an image without crediting the source. Where's the source of the images? My understanding of source is where the image originated and, not necessarily, where the author pulled it from. Maybe I'm wrong. Am I expected to do reverse image searches to find the source of his image? I could just ask and he could of written some explanation.
Conclusion
His mute is removed (@manorvillemike). After this more detailed review, I can't necessarily hold him accountable for a practice carried out by dozens to hundreds of people with unclear guidelines provided by Layer 1 or VYB. I'll readdress the moderation policy. The memes in his articles didn't violate the other guidelines outside of using source links which wouldn't tell me where it originated anyway.
Engagement
If I had gone off of the original response, I would have walked away not questioning the mute. Only through engagement, at least professionally, can we recognize the kinks in the system and work to correct them.
Have a good night guys.
Subtle matter, lol, there are genres when it is very difficult to talk about authorship, collages and memes are one of them, but, in fact, they are like mushrooms that are not plants and animals, this is a separate branch, this can rather be attributed to needlework, when a crocodile or an ostrich should become the author of a Versace bag, because it is made of their skin.
A couple of years ago I was at an international exhibition of paintings, where a painting was presented, or rather a collage, assembled from scraps of newspapers.
It was a pile of strips glued to the canvas, cut out from someone's articles (author's articles), and in this chaos everyone saw a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, the author of which is da Vinci himself. But, this is a different look at the usual things, which, in my opinion, should be respected.
It the reason we decided to be transparent about these processes. I don't know everything. I can't know everything without engagement from the community. So, we have to put these issues out for everyone's input. I don't think we can grow otherwise as a community.
This is very wise of you. Many may disagree with me, but although I never use stock images, I believe that if a person has brought something of his own into someone else's picture, an image, a thought, a joke, or something else, then this is no longer possible. call it a plagiarism. I agree, it's debatable, but not a reason to send a person to the chopping block, lol. He labored. I think the biggest problem with the Hive is that there are no clear laws and regulations. If people know what can be done and what is not punishable, everyone will breathe a sigh of relief and the Hive will flourish with renewed vigor, and, of course, a mechanism is needed against petty paranoids who are looking for someone to hang a flag and accuse of all mortal sins.