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Cinemarati: The Web Alliance for Film Commentary By-Laws Cinemarati: The Web Alliance for Film Commentary is currently applying for recognition as a not-for-profit organization from the U.S. Federal government and the state of New York. The founding members of Cinemarati are: Jill Cozzi These bylaws were developed by the founding members in concert and approved on November 15, 2000, and amended on July 5, 2005. The bylaws may be altered via the Referenda procedure detailed below, with alterations indicated by date accepted. Cinemarati is governed by its participating members. The appointment of officers or committees to carry out organizational duties is on an ad-hoc, volunteer basis. Such duties may include maintaining www.cinemarati.org, communicating with studios and publicists, acting as press agent, etc. (These examples are not meant to limit or to codify the duties or titles of officers or committees.) Officers and teams shall serve indefinite terms, but members may call for a replacement of officers or committees via the Referenda procedure detailed below.
Cinemarati Membership is by invitation only, and is open to the best film critics, journalists, and critical minds whose work appears primarily on the Internet. Prospective members must be nominated by a current member, and ratified by affirmation of a 2/3 supermajority of the voting members. Existing members are expected to debate whether proposed members meet this criterion. Online critics who would be unlikely to be active Cinemarati members should not be considered for prospective membership. Once someone has been considered and rejected for membership, he or she is ineligible to be considered again for a minimum of six months. Once the decision to invite a critic to be a member has been reached, the nominating member may extend a formal invitation to his/her nominee (using the official Cinemarati invitation language), or the invitation may be extended by Cinemarati if the sponsor wishes to remain anonymous or for any other reason. Once accepted into Cinemarati, members are required to: - Post a minimum of two blog posts per week on the Cinemarati Blog (www.cinemarati.org) on a subject relating to cinema, its history or the film industry - Post a minimum of one comment per week on the Cinemarati Blog to the post of another member - Contribute annual Membership Dues ($30/year) to Site Manager MaryAnn Johanson - regularly participate in internal member discussions via Yahoo! Groups - post a banner and/or button in at least one prominent position on their own site - vote in all referenda that move to a vote - vote for the annual Cinemarati Awards Members may expect, in return: - to have access to an internal, members-only forum and screener swap - intelligent discussion on film with other Cinemarati members as well with the Internet public - assistance in dealing with studios and publicists - assistance in promoting their own sites Once accepted, members will be in good standing as long as they post the minimum weekly number of posts and comments to the blog, contribute annual dues, and participate in group activities such as forums and the annual awards. However, grievous conduct unbecoming a professional that is deemed to reflect badly on Cinemarati -- such as abuse of studio privileges, or any other action or behavior that the members consider inappropriate -- may be grounds for expulsion. Members may be expelled via the Referenda procedure outlined below; if minimum post/comment requirements are not met for more than four (4) weeks in a row, or if membership dues are lapsed for more than three (3) months at any time, Site Manager MaryAnn Johanson is empowered to restrict or withdraw membership at her discretion. Members may take leaves of absence for personal/family emergencies and/or personal health problems, upon written notification to the membership. The length of a leave may be up to 3 months or 1/10 the length of membership (members for 5 years, for example, may take a leave of 6 months, or 1/10 of 60 months), whichever is longer. Leaves may not be taken more than once every three years. An active member critic/journalist in good standing for at least the last 12 consecutive months may request "member emeritus" status if said member ceases to write about film on a regular basis. Such designation must be approved by a 2/3 majority vote. To be eligible for "emeritus" status, the member must have been an active member in good standing for the last 12 concurrent months. Emeritus status is only available to those who are no longer writing about film on a regular basis, not those who merely wish to quit the organization. Emeritus members appear in all membership listings, such as on the home page of Cinemarati.org, with the designation "emeritus." Emeritus members retain access to private, members-only forums, and may provide input into issues relative to the organization, but do not have voting rights. Emeritus status is not available to members who are in an active leave of absence.
Cinemarati members recognize that there are maintenance and site costs associated with Cinemarati, including, but not limited to, Web site hosting, site maintenance, software purchases, visual design and application development, site/organization promotion, and legal costs associated with achieving not-for-profit status. Where possible, pro bono services are sought, but where such pro bono services are not available, costs for such products and services will be paid from the common treasury of Cinemarati. Cinemarati shall raise revenues to support its operations. Methods of fundraising include, but are not limited to, advertising at the www.cinemarati.org and annual member dues. A quarterly accounting of income and expenses shall be posted by the Site Manager in the internal YahooGroups forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/cinemarati. Any profit (from ad revenue, etc.) will be returned to the common treasury of Cinemarati. Sponsorships are to be paid in United States currency. Payment via PayPal and international money orders are accepted. [this section added 3.5.01]
At the end of each year, the annual Cinemarati Awards are chosen and announced. The award categories and procedures will be determined each year by the membership. If no new category suggestions are proposed, the category voting list will default to the list from the previous year.
Changes to the bylaws, admission of new members, nominating and voting on the Cinemarati Awards, and discussion and ratification of any other issues and mandates necessary for the operation of Cinemarati are to be accomplished through referenda. Members are expected to limit proposed subjects for vote to serious matters that concern Cinemarati as an organization. Frivolous use of the referenda privilege is grounds for expulsion. Members may propose a referendum in the internal forum as necessary. Proposed referenda must be seconded by another member within three days of the initial proposal before moving on to member discussion and debate. Proposed and seconded referenda must move to a vote within two weeks after the proposal is seconded. A supermajority of two-thirds of the votes constituting at least half of the members is required for: - new members to be admitted - current members to be expelled - amendment to the bylaws - all referenda items In the event that a supermajority is not reached, the subject under vote must begin the proposal process anew. All internal forum discussions -- whether the issue under discussion is accepted or rejected -- are to be archived for future reference at http://groups.yahoo.com/cinemarati. Archives may be moved offline if necessary but must be made available to members in the event of dispute or future vote. All other issues -- such as the election of officers, addition of an Award category, and the choosing of Awards -- require a simple majority of the votes constituting at least half of the members to pass. In the event of a tie, the vote will be subject to no more than two more rounds of discussion and voting. In the event that the tie remains after two additional votes, the issue will be deemed rejected. |