Welcome to our list of frequently asked questions. If you have a question that is not listed here or one that ought to be, please email us at: CustomerService@theOpticon.com. Click on a question from the list below to be taken to it, or browse the list of questions and answers by scrolling down.
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DO YOU HAVE FILL-IN THE BLANK FORMS?
Date: 11/28/2002
YES, there is a special section for simple fill-in the blank forms. It is the Forms category (the first category listed), but there are additional forms spread across the site. The categories are alongside the left menu bar, or you can go to the Home Page or Browse pages to see them listed with their sub-categories. Fill-in the blank forms are different from other materials on the site in that they are customized to filled out by hand for simple legal needs without having to customize the more complex contract materials.
Special Note: IF YOU ARE AN ATTORNEY and wish to strike references to your clients from documents you are uploading, please do so and archive them wherever they are relevant. They do not need to be uploaded into the Forms category only because they contain blank spaces where client names or specific information used to be.
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HOW DO COMMISSIONS ON THE SITE WORK?
Date: 8/14/1999
The Opticon pays 10% of the gross proceeds it generates on document sales back to its users. The more quality documents you upload, the more money you will make. Because well-drafted documents get better user ratings than poorer documents, they are downloaded more often, and you make more because you are paid a pro rata share of proceeds based on the number of downloads your documents receive. Even well-written obscure legal documents can make you money because there are fewer of them posted to the site and available for those who need them.
FIGURING DIVIDENDS: Each month, we take the gross proceeds made on the site the month before from document purchases and divide that figure by the total number of downloads. We then times that figure by the number of downloads your documents had, and distribute that sum to your account. You can have us send you a check in the mail for that amount (any time you have over $40 owed to you), or you can use those funds for purchases in bookstore or put it towards monthly account fees.
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HOW DO I FIND THE DOCUMENT I WANT?
Date: 6/14/2001
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BROWSING & SEARCHING TIPS
Date: 8/3/2006
When browsing, click on the + button next to the legal category to see the sub-categories within it. To close the menu that appears, click the - button that has appeared next to the legal category you just selected. If you click the name of the category, rather than the button next to it, you will see a list of ALL the documents in that category and its sub-categories. If you intended to narrow your search/browse before seeing the list of documents, click the Back button in your applications menu bar and try clicking the + and - buttons next to the category names rather than the categories themselves.
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HOW EXACTLY DOES THE COMMISSION STRUCTURE WORK?
Date: 8/6/2006
Most publishing houses pay authors 8-12% royalties on the gross proceeds they generate from sales of authors' books. The Opticon has a similar royalty structure. The Opticon pays 10% of the gross proceeds it generates back to its users in the form of commissions. You choose the price for which you want a document to sell, and get 10% of the money made on sales.
It is important to be aware that the Opticon gives its monthly members free unlimited access to the site for paying a monthly fee, and does not charge them for downloads of documents on the site, BUT we pay 6% of the proceeds we generate on monthly subscriptions back to users in commissions also. The way these commissions are computed is at the end of each month the Opticon divides 10% of its monthly revenue by the total number of downloads made by its monthly users, then pays that amount to each user for each download made of a document they have uploaded. In the end, you are paid a commission for each download, whether or not it is a one-time purchaser or monthly member.
NOTE: You do not receive commission credit for downloading your own documents, and do not get credit for mulitple downloads of the same document by another user (so you can't have your friend repeatedly download your documents to fraudulently up your commissions).
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HOW DO I CLEAN A DOCUMENT?
Date: 8/22/2006
It is the responsibility of Opticon users to see that they have proper ownership and authority over every document they upload. If there is information in the document that needs to be removed before the document can be offered online, it is your responsibility to do so before submitting it.
Many applications (including MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Groupwise, Lotus and Outlook) have metadata that is saved with the file but not readily visible. It includes information about who drafted the document, when, where and what the document used to be named. Some of the information can be edited through the Properties option in the File menu. Other information must be erased through shareware or commercial applications designed to scrub metadata. Protect 3.0 by WorkShare is good metadata scrubbing program. Click HERE for Protect 3.0.
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ARE THERE AUDIO & VIDEO FILES ON THE SITE?
Date: 8/22/2006
The Opticon has more than just documents. Audio and video files are also archived on the Opticon. You can find video and audio files of opening statements in trials, witness testimony, sentencing, etcetera. You search for these files in the same way you search for document files. Click the Search button in the top menu bar and choose Multimedia as the document type you want returned in your search. If you want to go straight to a particular file on the site, enter its Document ID in the top field on the Search page or anytime in the left menu bar.
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WHAT KINDS OF NON-LEGAL TEXTS DO YOU ARCHIVE?
Date: 8/29/2006
The Opticon allows you to store and search non-legal texts in addition to legal texts. We archive research papers, essays, non-copyrighted works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, sheet music, etcetera. Search for documents that are not legal in nature by click the Non-Legal Texts button in the top menu bar. If you know the Document ID of the file you wish to see, you can enter it in the Document ID search in the left menu bar. Uploaded texts can be sold or offered free of charge to browsers. You must be a registered member to upload non-legal texts.
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DO YOU ALLOW 3RD PARTY ADVERTISING ON THE SITE?
Date: 8/30/2006
Yes, we have banner ad space available on CPI basis (cost per impression) for law firms and other legal related sites. Contact Customer Service at CustomerService@TheOpticon.com for more information.
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WHY ISN'T MY DOCUMENT DOWNLOADING?
Date: 9/8/2006
Remember, you must have not just a membership to download, but an active membership. This means that after you register you must either be paying the monthly site fees or uploading two (2) documents a month to the library. If you have an active account, you should be able to download any document you want free regardless of the price, BUT accounts are currently limited to thirty (30) documents per month maximum. This restriction is to prevent users from signing up for one month and downloading our entire library, possibly to compete with us, as well as to prevent attorneys from letting countless other attorneys use their Opticon account. If you have reached your thirty document per month limit, and want it increased, email us and we will happily do so at CustomerService@TheOpticon.com.
If you don't have an active account, you can still purchase files on the site by paying for them on an file by file basis, but you still must register.
MONTHLY ACCOUNTS: Monthly account fees can be paid on a month-to-month basis at the will of the registrant, or can be automatically charged to the registrant every month, in which case the monthly subscription fee is less. Users chosing monthly subscriptions must give the Opticon sixty (60) days notice of cancellation to prevent account abuse (to prevent users from starting and stopping subscription accounts in the same manner as they would non-subscription accounts).
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