Vuze - Rules and Policies

Vuze Rules and Policies

Last updated: July 8, 2009

To promote an enjoyable, fair and legal content experience, Vuze has established Rules and Policies that govern the use of the Vuze Platform. These Rules and Policies cover such things as what types of content you are allowed to offer on Vuze, how content can be described, and certain prohibited practices that could violate law, create confusion, provide an unfair advantage or result in a negative user experience. Violations of these Rules or Policies can result in one or more of the following consequences:

Removal of a particular piece of content
Removal of all content associated with your Vuze account
Restriction of your ability to publish content on Vuze
Restriction or indefinite suspension of all Vuze privileges
Other actions, as may be deemed appropriate under the circumstances

Learning about these Rules and Policies before you publish content or use Vuze will help you avoid unintentionally breaking them. When policy violations occur, Vuze emails the publisher (and in some cases, the viewer/buyer) regarding any action that is taken, including removal of the content.

In addition to the Rules and Policies, you should also be familiar with our Terms of Service, which also govern your activities on Vuze. Additional information about these policies and other topics may be found on our FAQ pages.

Restricted and Prohibited Content

Mature Content

Mature Content is generally permitted on Vuze. Although Vuze is intended only for an adult audience, we recognize that viewers have different levels of sensitivity about certain types of content. To accommodate such viewers, we have provided a "Mature" designation that must be used in connection with any content you publish which may contain strong violence, strong profanity, highly disturbing scenes, explicit sexual dialogue or situations, and/or graphic sexual content. (Keep in mind that certain content, including pornography, extremely violent content, and hate speech are not allowed anywhere on Vuze.) Also, nudity of any kind is no longer permitted on Vuze. The Mature designation enables viewers to identify and possibly screen out content that may not be of interest to them. All content must be properly designated. Your failure to properly designate content as Mature may result in re-designation of the content as Mature or removal of the content from Vuze. See also, Prohibited Content policy.

Thumbnail Images

Thumbnail images may not depict nudity of any kind, graphic sexual content or extreme violence. This policy is designed to strike an appropriate balance to accommodate the general sensitivities of our diverse user base.

Prohibited Content

Certain types of content are not allowed anywhere on Vuze. Publishers may not publish content which:

Promotes or glorifies hatred, violence, racial or religious intolerance, or organizations which promote such views.
Is pornographic, obscene and similarly adult oriented, which includes content depicting explicit sexual acts, any sexual content involving underage persons, and content depicting excretory and other bodily functions.
Is excessively and/or gratuitously violent.
Highly disturbing to an appreciable number of viewers.

Vuze reserves the right to exercise its discretion to remove content that is deemed to be Prohibited Content.

Infringing and Illegal Content

Vuze is committed to protecting the intellectual property rights of third parties and to providing its users with a safe place upload and view digital content. Infringement is the unauthorized use of other people's intellectual property, which includes copyrighted materials, rights of publicity and trademarks.

The publishing of unauthorized copies of materials protected by copyright laws is strictly prohibited.
The publishing of content which infringes the trademarks of third parties is strictly prohibited.
The publishing of content which infringes other intellectual property rights of third parties is strictly prohibited.
The publishing of any content which is illegal under the laws of the United States is strictly prohibited.

We appreciate that intellectual property laws are sometimes arcane and difficult to understand and apply. However, as a publisher, you are responsible for making sure that the content you are publishing is lawful and non-infringing. Penalties for infringement can be severe. If you have any doubts about whether you should be publishing particular content, we strongly encourage you to consult a lawyer or consult other helpful resources, such as:

As part of our commitment to protecting intellectual property rights of third parties, it is our policy to comply with legally compliant requests from copyright owners to remove content which they believe infringes their rights. To find out how to report potentially infringing materials see our Copyright page.

Site Usage and Publishing Policies

Misleading Thumbnails, Tags and Content Details

Publishing practices which are likely to confuse viewers or inappropriately divert attention to particular content are not permitted on Vuze. Such practices include, but are not limited to:

Publishing content in incorrect or inappropriate categories
Using a thumbnail image which is misleading as to the content being offered
Using tags, titles or keywords not reasonably related to the content and which are likely to confuse or inappropriately divert viewers to the published content

Why does Vuze have these policies? Use of confusing or misleading tags, descriptions and thumbnail images results in a poor finding and viewing experience for viewers since such practices return search results in which the viewer may have no interest. These practices are also unfair to Publishers who categorize and describe their items appropriately and may receive fewer potential viewers and/or buyers.

Video Content Only

While in the past Vuze has accommodated the uploading of different types of files, including music and games, we now permit self-publishing of only video files. Other types of files will be removed.

Thumbnail Images

See Thumbnail Images section above under Restricted and Prohibited Content.

Fee Circumvention

Publishers cannot use techniques to avoid fees that would otherwise be owed to Vuze. Prohibited practices include, but are not limited to:

Content details containing with contact information (including email address, phone number or domain name) in the title, subtitle, item location or images are not permitted.
Offering the opportunity through Vuze to purchase the published content or merchandise outside-of-Vuze are not permitted. The Vuze details page may not refer to or promote the seller's individual Web site (including home page URLs which directly or indirectly promote an outside-of-Vuze website), sales outside of Vuze, or other businesses. However, sellers may include links to their Vuze profile pages and other content on Vuze.

Unauthorized Advertising

Publishers cannot upload content that contains advertising or other promotional material, including links to such material, unless expressly authorized by Vuze.

Executable Files

Publishers cannot upload content that contains executable files, unless specifically authorized by Vuze. Executable files are program files that cannot be read by humans and which, when clicked, cause a built-in routine to automatically execute code that can set several functions into motion. Executable files are typically used to install and run programs and routines. Common filename extensions for denoting an executable file include, but are not limited to:

.exe
.com
.bat
.cmd
.vbs
.com
.doc, .xls, .ppt

A more comprehensive list of common executable file extensions can be found here.

Site Interference

Practices which interfere with the operation of Vuze, the enjoyment of Vuze by its users, or which inappropriate add or alter content to Vuze are not permitted. Among other things,

Interference or attempted interference with Vuze's site and/or operations using any practice, software program, routine or activity is a serious offense and is not permitted.
Users using the Vuze may only modify or add content in those areas specifically designated for member use. All content must also abide by all other Vuze policies.
In no case may a user block, obscure, overwrite or modify any Vuze-generated content or pages. All other site locations or components of Vuze pages are strictly for Vuze use.

Users may not embed or display instant message, VOIP or other communications clients on Vuze.

Vuze Community Content Policy

Vuze provides members with a variety of opportunities to express themselves, including through ratings, comments, profile pages, wikis, forums and uploaded content.

Community content published or edited by Vuze Community members is solely the opinion and responsibility of the person posting the content. All content posted to one of these forums must comply with all aspects of the Vuze Terms of Service and this Policy.

See the Examples section below for examples of content that is not permitted. These examples are designed to provide guidance when self-publishing content on our site and should not be viewed as an exhaustive list.

Violations of Policy can result in one or more of the following consequences:

Removal of a particular content entry or uploaded content
Removal of all content associated with your Vuze account
Restriction of your ability to use or publish content on Vuze
Restriction or indefinite suspension of all Vuze privileges
Other actions, as may be deemed appropriate under the circumstances

Learning about these Rules and Policies before you publish content or use Vuze will help you avoid unintentionally breaking them.

In addition to the Rules and Policies, you should also be familiar with our Terms of Service, which also govern your activities on Vuze.

To report violations of this policy, please click the "Report" link located on the specific content in question.

Some Examples

The following are examples of content or actions not permitted in Vuze:

Enabling, encouraging, or instructing others to infringe copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights. See also our Copyright Compliance Policy.
Using intellectual property without the property owners express permission, where applicable.
Using HTML, JavaScript functions or flash.
Publishing personal contact information of any person in any public area of Vuze, including emails, phone numbers, name, street address, etc.
Misusing the violation reporting function to maliciously or frivolously report content as not in compliance with Vuze policy.
Using another Vuze member's pictures or text without the other member's express permission.
Promoting or advertising to buy, sell, or trade any product or service listed or located outside of Vuze.
Publishing more than one identical piece of content concurrently.
Misrepresenting yourself as a Vuze employee or as another Vuze member.
Publishing content that promotes or glorifies hatred, violence, racial, or religious intolerance, or content that promotes organizations with such views. See also our policies on Mature and Prohibited Content.
Promoting giveaways, lotteries, random drawings, raffles, or prizes of any kind.

Last updated: July 8, 2009