The following are guidelines - FLM is pretty relaxed and flexible but these are good rules-of-thumb:
General
- No pornography. This one is NOT just a guideline.
- Films and videos must be commercially made - home movies, home-made YouTube videos, or other amateur-made films aren't valid. Generally, if a film is listed at any of IMDb, RareFilmFinder, Lost Movies Archive, Children in Cinema, CVMC, or a country's film board, it's okay to post.
- FLM is based on the eMule (ed2k) format. Torrents, UseNet, rapidshare, and other sources may be posted if there are no ed2k sources. Once posted in ed2k format, the admins may (and probably will) remove links to other formats.
- A film does not have to be primarily about children and they don't need to be the central characters, but they must be more than mere 'props'. In other words, if the children in a film could be removed without changing the plot or they're only shown for a minute or two, the movie probably isn't FLM material. In general, kids should have at least 10% screen-time.
- 'Children' includes kids up to the age of 16. Many children's roles are played by actors or actresses older than that, but if the characters they play are 16 or younger, that's acceptable.
- A film may or may not have partial or full nudity of some of its characters, adults and/or children. Inclusion of nudity - or the lack of it - does not determine whether any film is "On-Topic".
- Courtesy counts. The only way people have to judge your character is how you behave in the forums - if you can't say something nice, say nothing at all. Take any conflicts with other members to Private Messages. The admins do not monitor PM's in any way, but they reserve the right to edit or delete posts in public forums and discipline members if necessary.
[REL]eases
- A film is a [REL]ease when there is a verified eMule link - in other words, the complete file has been downloaded and the film really is FLM material. If nobody has the complete file, it's a [REQ]uest. A good release has info that encourages people to download it - name of the film, year of release, country, IMDb or other links, a synopsis of the plot, screenshots, comments, and of course, an ed2k link.
- Use 'Search' to see if your release has already been posted. If it has, is what you want to release an improvement? If so, go ahead and post it in the same thread as the original and tell people what's better about it (higher resolution, DVD rip instead of VHS, subtitles, etc.).
- Don't release more than you can share efficiently. We certainly don't want to discourage anyone from releasing but these suggestions can make the whole process work better.
- If you are the only source for a release, make sure others are able to completely download it before you stop sharing it. In general, once you've shared at least twice the bytes as the original file you can be pretty sure others have gotten a complete copy.
- Keep your eMule client online long enough to allow others to complete the file. If you can't be online 24/7 or you can only share so much per day/week/month, let people know so they have an idea of what they're getting into.
- Don't release more than your bandwidth can carry - if you release three films at once it will take three times as long to completely download any one of them from you. As others get parts to each file, they start sharing them too and help spread the release... but if you're the original source, someone has to get all those parts from you first.
- If you release something, it helps to temporarily UNshare everything else until someone completes the new release. If you direct your bandwidth to one file at a time it will get completed by others faster and you will now have help sharing this file, allowing you to move on to the next release. This isn't required but it can vastly speed up the spread of your file.
- Limit the filesize. If the source is Blu-ray or the release is special and you want it shared in the best detail, we'll understand the larger size as long as you let people know ahead of time. However, a 3GB rip of a 30 minute VHS film probably won't be downloaded by anyone. Plenty of people will help show you how to make a smaller rip if needed. Have a heart for those people with limited bandwidth.
- Many people don't release much, if anything. That's perfectly fine IF they also share some of the files they've downloaded. The more people who have parts to any one file, the faster everyone gets them. Posting a review after you've watched a film may encourage others to download it too. Saying "thanks" to a film's poster doesn't hurt either and may encourage them to post other goodies! All of these things are 'paybacks' for the posters' hard work, along with being simple courtesy.
- Anyone can [REQ]uest a film. You read a review someplace, you see a cool trailer that interests you, or whatever gets you interested in a movie, let us know about it - we'll probably be interested too. Eventually someone will find the film, post the ed2k link, and the film will be moved to [REL]ease.
- Use 'Search' to see if your request has already been posted. If it's been released, your search is over! If a [REQ] has already been made for it, a 'bump' might be in order. If nobody has requested the film before, you can be sure they want to know about it.
- The more info you post about your request, the easier it will be to find. A good [REQ]uest makes other people want to help find it. The same info used in a release makes it more likely - name of the film, year of release, country, IMDb or other links, synopsis, screenshots, etc.