Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Reseller Hosting : are you allowed to use stuff from your resellers website?

[thomor25]

Like graphics, tos, user agreement, features list?

[Lesli]

Graphics, generally no.

Features list: not the exact same coding, but depending on your reseller status, you may have the exact same plan specs

TOS / AUP: no, not exact wording. Besides, it's never smart to use someone else's legal documents wholesale. You should never post, and by implication agree to, anything you don't fully understand.

FAQs: no, not wholesale.

Basically, using text on your upstream provider's web site as a basis for research about what should be on your site is okay, while copying and using their (or anyone else's) content completely and / or exactly is potentially legally dangerous, and definitely rude.

[Techark]

It depends on the host just ask them.

I let my resellers copy anything they want except my logo's and custom graphics anything else they are free to use as long as they are hosted by me. They leave my service they leave eveything that was copied behind.

[thomor25]

Hmm I thought it would be ok, graphics I can understand but I meant more like a cpanel logo or plesk browser shot. As far as tos I thoguth that would be accepted since you have to follow their rules and therefore your clients have to follow their rules.

[chrisb]

Many hosts don't seem to mind. It helps the user get a site up faster, and helps the host gain a customer. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

[Lesli]

You're going to have to provide concrete examples here, thomor. It sounds as if you're asking for advice about some very specific situations; but unless we know what exactly you're referring to, we can only provide general advice (which may or may not be appropriate.)

Plesk control shots? It's easy enough to get those for your own; but on the off chance that you can't take screenshots, ask the host if you can use those particular graphics. For something as general as a screenshot of a control panel, they'll likely say "yes".

Your clients, and you, have to follow your upstream provider's rules. However, do you know exactly what all those rules are? If you don't understand them, you shouldn't have agreed to them in the first place. Again, ask your upstream provider. Some may say yes, some may say no. Either way, though, by asking, you show yourself to be both responsible and courteous - in other words, someone the upstream provider would like to continue doing business with. Work *with* them. You're a reseller, but as much as you're able, conduct yourself as if you were a partner. You'll find that you get more polite, more responsive interactions in general when you work with people as equals.

Of course, if you're here fishing to get oblique permission to steal, than no argument anyone makes is going to dissuade you. Take your actions, then take responsibility for them.

[thomor25]

Originally posted by living_media
You're going to have to provide concrete examples here, thomor. It sounds as if you're asking for advice about some very specific situations; but unless we know what exactly you're referring to, we can only provide general advice (which may or may not be appropriate.)

Plesk control shots? It's easy enough to get those for your own; but on the off chance that you can't take screenshots, ask the host if you can use those particular graphics. For something as general as a screenshot of a control panel, they'll likely say "yes".

Your clients, and you, have to follow your upstream provider's rules. However, do you know exactly what all those rules are? If you don't understand them, you shouldn't have agreed to them in the first place. Again, ask your upstream provider. Some may say yes, some may say no. Either way, though, by asking, you show yourself to be both responsible and courteous - in other words, someone the upstream provider would like to continue doing business with. Work *with* them. You're a reseller, but as much as you're able, conduct yourself as if you were a partner. You'll find that you get more polite, more responsive interactions in general when you work with people as equals.

Of course, if you're here fishing to get oblique permission to steal, than no argument anyone makes is going to dissuade you. Take your actions, then take responsibility for them.

Ok i'm thinking of going with www.spiralhost.com using the plesk image on their reseller webpage and also using their user agreement and tos from their website. Specific enough? I didn't want to link them but some have yelled at me in posts for posting other hosts websites and linking to their packages etc so I didn't know if I could link to them but I also thought the question was general enough

[Lesli]

Thanks, thomor. Basically, saying that you wanted to use the control panel screenshots and TOS / AUP of your host would have been specific enough

I stick by my original comments: ask them. They will probably (don't quote me on any of this) give you an unqualified "yes" on using the control panel graphics. I don't know how they will answer the TOS / AUP question. Some hosts allow their resellers to use the exact text of these documents, while others don't.

In the event that your host will not let you use the exact text of the TOS or AUP, it's often easy enough to go through sentence by sentence and change the sentence structure enough so that the text is not a copy, and not even necessarily identifiable as coming from one particular source. Again, work with your host provider. They may offer you a reason why they don't allow resellers to use the text (if that's their stance). Even so, though, make sure you understand them fully enough to explain them to your clients - that way, no one will surprise you by whipping out some nearly-buried clause and holding you to it.