Ha! Before you go on reading, please be warned: I created and typed this words all by myself, so they are my property, and you must always use the "Quote" function when copying them in this board, and you can't copy them anywhere else without my WRITTEN permission - which of course I'll never grant... This is called (C) Agraf 2010.

I was not a member of "Gladiatrixs", which by the way is either misspelled, or an original error. The Romans did not coin a word for ?female gladiator?, and the few references to women in the arena are made by their stage names (the only ?photograph? we have of such a pair is Achillea and Amazona), or by their specific arena class (essedarii, venatores, provocatores, lanista, chariot-driver...), either unisex words (lanista) or convenient plurals. Gladiatrix is the singular feminine form derived by scholars, and hence the plural, Gladiatrixes. But I digress...

I know Sandi from this board (whom I respect, as well as her opinion), and I knew other women from other boards, like the AmazonFighterUK, and "Amazons - Lethal Female Combat" (Carrie and Becky's). With one of those ladies, who accepted to cyberfight a female character I based on a real person, I co-wrote one story that I published at Carrie's Amazons site, after revision, and with Erythra's permission (real name withheld on her request). I felt honored to be accepted by "Erythra", who rejected men as fight opponnents, but I was open with her about my true gender from the start.

Were those cyberfights copyrighted? As open messages in a board, like telephone calls and postal cards, yes - to the extent that anyone can, even without making an effort, to eavesdrop on you, or glance through the open card somewhere. And it's hopless to try to protect that sort of thing from being acted upon, ?copied?, etc. The story posted in full at Amazons, yes, that was, and is copyrighted. I would hate to see anyone reprinting it as their own, or without my permission. However, today I tried to access it, only to confirm that (a) the site went into the Necrobabes group before 2008, and (b) the site closed in 2008. If I had not a copy of it, now it would be lost even for me...

Copying someone's materials, or ideas, is alright, as far as we acknowledge being indebted to that person's work. In a board like those, or this one, with people changing nicknames, it's harder to do, but even so it can be managed. The question of ideas, and inspirations, that Hollywood professionals pass their lives registering at the Copyright offices, are bullshit as far as I'm concerned. I've seen films ackowledging being made ?based on the novel by Such&Such?, and you read the novel, and there's just a vague resemblance to a page of the 300 pp. of it! Others are blatant remakes, and using similar titles, and they don't even bother with a thank you in the final credits...

I read Gladiatrix, and was in doubt if it had written by a man. Some passages are so... feminine, in their approach to the subject - of love, of battle, of strength. I decided that it had written at two-hands, but did not gave it more thought, until today, when I read Sandi's reaction. Gladiatrix is definitely a book more than inspired by Whitfield's wife, and it is probably a good book because so much of it - namely the action sequences - were created by her.

I'm not in a position to know if there was copyright infringement, and I hope there was not. Even Sandi declares she is hurt, but confused, self ?conflited? about it.

Let's take 3 conclusions of this:

1) Never enter a cyberfight if you're afraid to get robbed of an excellent idea.

2) Always keep a hard dic copy of what you sent out, as web boards tend to disappear suddenly without notice, and pay sites (like Necrobabes' Amazons) are no different.

3) Keep your contributions flowing to this board, and acknowledge your respect for the prolific and authentic authors like Cage, as it's the only way you have to pay for their work... (I mention no other, but there are a few here I read regularly. I'm sure they know Cage towers high above them. Others may be as fierce, and lusty; but he plays with situations, characters, and words, like no other.)