Posted on 10/08/2008 4:38:08 AM PDT by numberonepal
I have a legal question for some FReepers that may be able to help. Here's the situation.
Copyright law is not like “theft” there are subtle differences. Since you took down the content as soon as you were made aware of the problem, under the DMCA he has little additional recourse, unless he sues you in court.
Why didn’t you just upload it for storage? No link. You could access it from the directory without the link for others.
I would tell him to pack sand, that his book was of no value, and in fact you want a refund!
Anyone here have a ping list for lawyer Freepers?
No. You acted properly at the authors request. The ball is in his court let him initiate the fight. Be apologetic after all you were in the wrong, but do not give the impression that you believe there may be a case for compensation. Don't put any resources into this unless you are forced to.
Robots.txt
For the next time.
Keep in mind, though, I am not an attorney - nor do I play one on TV.
Curiously...how many downloads to you THINK may have been done to the book? Have you notified Google that the spider indexed the page and it needs to be removed (in addition to your removing the copy) - erase any reference that it was there. There is a content removal link at Google.
How did the author discover it? Just out searching his name and your link was there?
Your personal space does not have a password protection? In other words, it was published to a public website? If it were password protected, the hits could have come from something else since no one could access it. I’m trying to help assess how many hits actually came from visitors who happened upon your site. People pay a fortune for search engine results to get people to their site and this content just happened to be found out there? They either searched for the book (is it a best seller or something?) and found your link (as mentioned get that removed)...or, not too many people found your personal URL pdf by surfing out on the web.
I know, I know. When I put the book up I never intended for it to be there very long. I simply forgot it was there.
That's what I did, although it was in the top level directory for the domain. I did not provide a link. Google provided the link.
The work is exemplary and I've read the book numerous times (non-fiction). I wouldn't be truthful if I acted in such a manner. But, I appreciate your input.
Thanks. I’ll look into the DMCA. I gave it a cursory skim, but didn’t see anything that stood out for this scenario.
I do in fact know how many times it was downloaded and from where the folks came to get it. I also have their IP addresses FWIW. I was thinking (to myself) of making an offer based on his site conversion rate and the number of downloads from my site.
He could promote the books sale on the web page as a courtesy for the mistake. The author may take the gesture as more economically favorable than a fight would be.
I would think at this point he has to prove damage. To do so he would have to prove others made copies from you site. That is almost impossible.
Further, you had no intention to cause harm and corrected the problem as soon as you knew of it.
The burden is on him...
I’ve really slobbered all over him both on the phone and in email. This is a rare time when I genuinely offered an apology. I really was sorry to have wasted his and my time over such a matter. I really appreciate your advice. Are you an attorney Realism?
I think this is a great idea. I'm sure the fine print of terms of sale of the eBook clearly prohibited anything like loading it onto a publicly accessible website. But it sounds like numberonepal honestly didn't realize the general public would be able to find and access it there. A free ad with link to the site where it can be purchased would be reasonable compensation.
I'm sure the author DOES very wisely do periodic searches to see if the book has be illegally posted to publicly accessible websites. He'd be crazy not to.
I KNOW how many downloads there were. Since it was a PDF the download is automatic.
How did the author discover it?
Someone else informed him of the link from Google.
Your personal space does not have a password protection?
No password protection on the site. It is open to the public. Folks got to the book directly from Google.
Im in the engineering field. Ive never had much use for an attorney's advice, but I have had to use them as a mouth piece.
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