Do not post legal threats on the SCP Wiki.
A legal threat, in the context of this policy, is a threat to engage in an external (real life) legal or other governmental process that would target other editors. These include threats of copyright takedowns, threats or references to hiring attorneys for the purpose of resolving a dispute with another user or the Wiki, or threats of litigation (commonly, "suing").
It does not refer to any dispute-resolution process on the SCP Wiki. It also does not generally include good-faith suggestions that another user consult an attorney to find an answer to what might be considered a legal question, such as a complex licensing issue.
Legal threats on the wiki or in discussion forums should be reported to SCP Wiki Staff. Users who make such legal threats are typically blocked from editing the SCP Wiki while the threats are outstanding. Legal threats made off-wiki which staff find to be sufficiently genuine in nature may, discretionally, lead to similar action.
It is important to note that blocks made in response to legal threats are not inherently disciplinary actions. They are a safeguard which protects our community.
If you have a legal issue which may actually require staff intervention, always contact staff.
Rationale
- It severely inhibits the creation of content which ranges in scope, nature, and diversity. The SCP Wiki has historically been a place for open expression in content creation.
- It creates bad feelings and a lack of trust within the community, damaging our ability to proceed quickly and efficiently with an assumption of mutual good faith.
- We have had bad experiences with users who have posted legal threats in the past; by doing so, you may damage your reputation with the rest of the SCP Foundation community, both on-wiki and at-large.
A note regarding copyright complaints
If you are the owner of copyrighted material that has been inappropriately added to the SCP Wiki, a clear statement about whether it is licensed for such use (such as a DMCA request) is not considered a legal threat. In such cases, you should contact a member of the Licensing team to help resolve the issue.
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This proposed policy is partially based on Wikipedia's No-Legal-Threats policy, CC BY-SA 3.0