Writing, Reprinting & Copyright Policy 

My Mission
There are no costs whatsoever involved with reading anything on my website. I believe in the free dissemination of information. You can read more about why I write about BDSM.

My Reprinting Policy
I believe the universe is abundant and that sharing information freely is part of this abundance, so I allow reprints of my writing in most venues. If there's something you're interested in, just ask! SensuousSadie@aol.com

Advertising
I do not include advertisements or banners on this website. I only advertise websites that I like on my website links page. I do not do link or banner exchanges.

Pornography
There is no hard-core pornography on my website. There is art and photography which I consider to be tasteful fetish photography. Translation – no beaver shots or close ups of genitals.

Gender Neutral Language
As readers may have noticed, I follow a number of writing conventions that may or may not be used by other writers of the genre. I think of myself as a writer first, and a BDSM writer second. That means that I follow standard rules of grammar and sentence structure as well as guidelines that professional magazines like Prometheus require.

These include:

I don't use co-called "internet styles" of writing such as capitalization of Dominant's names, and uncapitalization of Submissive's names. I also don't use any of the online styles such as "W/we" which interrupt the flow for the reader, and generally are not accepted in professional level publications.

My goal is to show respect to both Dominants and Submissives through the form of my writing as well as the content. I also feel that using correct formal English is critical to broader acceptance of our lifestyle.

As a result, I capitalize both Dominant and Submissive, because I believe they are equal partners in the D/s relationship – similar to a yin yang. In addition, I capitalize both Dominant and Submissive when referring to a person, but not when it's an adjective such as in "she was acting dominant." In all cases, I use the gender-neutral "Dominant" instead of Dom, Domme, or Dom/me. I use gender neutral words like "they" instead of the common usage of "He" for Masters/Dominants and "She" for Slaves/Submissives

I also use the term "BDSM" in all cases which is more inclusive of the other alternatives: SM, S/m, S&M, Leather and so on.

Read my article: Making Sense of Internet Writing Styles

My Copyright & Reprinting Policy

My website follows standard copyrighting practice. All articles, art, and photography by guest writers and artists are reprinted with their explicit permission. Interviews with BDSM personalities are reprinted with their permission as well. All these permissions are kept on file.

"Fair use" guidelines are followed regarding quotes. The Fair Use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute states it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports and that "In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include... the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole." This is normally interpreted in legal cases to include 20% or less of a complete work.

Quotes from individuals in my column appear with their explicit permission which I keep on file. There are five categories of people's names in my writing.

True Legal Names of Private Individuals: I never use actual names unless they specifically wish me to do so. One example of this is Vladimir Kozicki. Vladimir believes strongly that using scene names and pseudonyms is contrary to his belief in not hiding his orientation in any way. This takes courage, and kudos to him for living his beliefs!

Publicly Known Personalities: Authors such as John Warren or Gloria Brame who actually use their own names are used freely, as other personalities whose names are used in a public sense such as group leaders like Flirticia of Rose & Thorn of Vermont.

Scene Names – Scene names are names used just in the BDSM community and these individuals gave me permission to use their scene names. Example in my writing are Master Dex and his Submissive Barbie.

Pseudonyms: Pseudonyms are used for people who wish to remain unidentified by their Scene Name, or whom I am unable to reach for permission. In some cases I change identifying characteristics to protect their privacy. The majority of names in my writing are pseudonyms.

Alternate Pseudonyms: There are some cases which I will have written about a particular person using their Scene Name or a Pseudonym, but later wish to write more about them without readers connecting the information to that person for whatever reason. In this case I have a second pseudonym for that person; I call it the "evil twin" pseudonym.

Easy to read information on copyright:

10 Big Myths about copyright explained: An attempt to answer common myths about copyright seen on the net and cover issues related to copyright and USENET/Internet publication. By Brad Templeton 

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html