1 - Abusive behaviour will not be tolerated. We can all disagree from time to time but let's keep it civil and keep the language moderated, also keep in mind that this is a site visited by all age groups, nationalities, people of varying religious beliefs...or no belief at all and lifestyle choices so let's respect everyone's opinion even if you disagree. Probably best though to avoid politics and religion if you can
2 - Member Names and location. All forum member names should be readable and easily pronouncable. Not a jumble of random characters such as hhdshkfeh and yes we have had people registering with names like that. If you do this you may be aksed for an alternative or even removed from the forum. When registering you also need to provide your current location. If your ip address does not match your location you may be banned from the forum. You should also choose your country flag. That can be either your location or your nationality. These things sometimes help people when they are offering help as certain resources are only available in certain locations. Also specifications of Yamaha products can change from country to country. And finally if you are selling something on the forum it helps if potential buyers know where you are.
3 - NO FREE ADVERTISING! I have said this so many times over the years but honestly if your first post is going to be an advert, either commercial or personal you are looking at an instant ban. We do allow paid advertising so contact me if that is something you are interested in. We have managed to keep the site pretty much spam-free over the years and this policy is in place to ensure it remains so. Please do not register if your ONLY intention is to sell something. There are other sites out there for such purposes. Yamahamusicians.com is primarily a community of musicians who are here to share knowledge and help each other out. You can sell your gear of course but only if you are also an active member of the forum. The best course of action is to always ask if in doubt.
4 - Do Not use this forum as a place to promote your videos. Please don't sign up just to post your music tracks/videos on the forum. User music is of course, welcome but you need to be an active participant in forum discussions before you can do this.
5 - This kind of ties in with number 1 above but, there is to be no flaming on this forum. For those who do not know what this is, it is when someone posts a question or information that results in a tirade of demeaning and sometimes abusive comments from other members. Most commonly this occurs when someone asks a question to which the answer is already available had they used the forum search function. Let me be very clear. This forum is not like most others out there. Sure you could use the search facility but there is no harm in asking ANY question on our forum. I don't care if it has been answered a thousand times before. We are here to help, not ridicule or judge. So no jumping on people just because they asked what you consider to be a simple question.
6 - No forum police on this site! Unlike many forums, we don't generally adhere to strict "On Topic" posting. Often conversations will go off on a tangent from the original topic. That's OK. This forum is all about communication so please feel free to converse in the same way you would if you were talking to someone face to face. In any case, topics tend to migrate to specific threads of their own accord and I am more than happy with that situation. So please, do not stifle conversation by telling people to create a new thread just because the conversation has gone off-topic.
7 - Negativity. This forum's primary function is to help people. We all have our complaints about manufacturers. What they should and should not have done. It is fine to let off a little steam about it in your posts from time to time. However there comes a point where negativity grows into a hungry monster that can never be satiated. If you are at the point where your only reason to be here is to constantly critisise Yamaha then perhaps it is time you moved to another manufacturer. Why labour over an instrument and stick with a brand that you dislike so much? Just move on. If it becomes apparent that you are only on the forum to post criticism and be generally negative about everyhing Yamaha, you may be removed from the forum.
8 - Ai-generated text: With the advent of tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini there have been increasing instances of AI-generated text appearing on websites and forums. Indeed we have seen examples of this on this forum, both as "original" posts and responses to other people's posts. To be clear, Ai generated content is not welcome on this forum. Tools that help with grammar and spelling are fine, Grammarly for example, Ai-generated content is not allowed.
9 - User Content and Copyright Compliance: By uploading or posting any content, including but not limited to music, data, or other forms of media, to this forum, you affirm that you are the rightful owner of the content or have obtained all necessary permissions, licenses, and rights to use, distribute, and share the content in compliance with applicable copyright laws. You are solely responsible for the content you upload and for ensuring that it does not infringe on the intellectual property rights of any third party.
This forum does not take responsibility for monitoring or enforcing copyright compliance for user-generated content. However, we reserve the right to remove any content that we believe, in our sole discretion, may violate copyright laws or the terms and conditions of this forum. By submitting content, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless this forum, its administrators, and affiliates from any claims, damages, or legal actions that may arise from your failure to adhere to copyright laws or from the content you upload.
So there you have it. Not that many rules, nothing too complicated. We may update these from time to time so always check if you are not sure or just drop me a pm or email.
10 - Sharing videos to the forum. If you want to share a video to the forum please use YouTube or Vimeo and then post a link to it. Do not try to upload a video directly to the forum as it will exceed the file limits set in place. Also do not link to any other service such a dropbox etc. Links to anything other than YouTube or Vimeo may be removed.
