It's no one's fault that we put in the rule. The copyright issue has always been there and it's something I've been cautious about for years (which is why I've been stricter on piracy talk in the past). We've been lenient about it because it has rarely directly affected us in the past, and it was more important that creators have an easier time. As we grow we draw a lot of attention to ourselves and now the risk of losing everyone's hard work because of some take down requests is too high. We've been warned recently that rights holders are targeting places like Newgrounds and they are having to remove a lot of old content that might be lost to time. Our website is just as much a monument to the hard work of this community and it would be a shame if that happened to us.
I really appreciate the positivity from you guys though! The more everyone can do to help us grow the more likely we are to keep doing these. I'm hoping when we get stage one of the new site up we'll draw in a larger more consistent crowd, then we'll really get going. If the competitions start getting more and more popular there's a chance the prizes will increase to offer more places. That would be a great opportunity for everyone, and we'll be safe from copyright issues.
