Posted on 08/31/2007 9:53:36 AM PDT by antiRepublicrat
Viacom isn't the only organization involved in sending out "bass-ackwards" DMCA takedown notices; the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (abbreviated, for complicated reasons, as the SFWA) is in on the fun as well. The group has issued DMCA takedown notices for sci-fi reading lists drawn up to aid teen literacy, freely-distributed webzines, and Creative Commons-licensed material.
The debacle began a few weeks back when the SFWA contacted Scribd, a site that allows users to post documents in the same way that YouTube allows people to post videos. SWFA alleged that numerous works on Scribd violated copyrights of SWFA members and requested that these works be taken down. They were. But it quickly became apparent that the USS 1701-SFWA had a crack in its dilithium crystals.
(Excerpt) Read more at arstechnica.com ...
Proof that mediocre minds think alike ;). I wa sjust thinking the same thing when I saw this post... If you decide to run the list please put me on it..
Wait, so it’s just the reading list, not actual works? Can one copyright a list of books?
I belong to AAAAAA and am utterly unable to know what DMCA is.
May we get a clue?
Most normal people don't know every acronym in the universe.
Just saying.
Count me in for the copyfraud ping list.
I remember years ago during the first season of X-Files. Fox was sending out cease and desist notices to all the X-Files fan sites. Even just mentioning X-Files got you one. Most of the fan sites at the time panicked and shut down.
I personally sent a letter back to the lawyer trying to shut mine down and said basically “Go ahead and sue. This site makes no money and I have no money. Even if you win it’s going to cost you more then you will ever get from me.”
I never heard back from him and my site stayed up until I just got bored with the show and took the site down.
Meant to reply to first post
Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Legislation that proves that Congress can be bought.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a bad law paid-for by industry in order to maintain their profits and power. The only good part of it is this "takedown notice" section, paid for by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) industry for its protection against the copyright cartel (music labels, movie studios, etc.).
Basically, if you post a copyrighted work online, the owner of the copyright can simply tell your ISP to take it down rather than having to initiate a lawsuit, etc. This stops infringement fast, much faster than a lawsuit. The law also protects the ISP against suit if it takes the content down according to the law; otherwise, every ISP would be sued into oblivion for the actions of its users.
But even this good thing is abused. The law requires that the person sending the takedown notice be the copyright holder or his duly authorized agent (that claim is made under penalty of perjury), and that the work infringes on the copyright. Very often, as in this case, what was posted was not infringing or the person sending the letter wasn't even authorized to send it (which is perjury). It is used to stifle discussion about the wrongdoings of a person or company, because a complaint gets the evidence removed.
Aside from that, other terms of the DMCA have been used for other things, such as trying to stop competition for garage door opener remotes and printer cartridges from companies other than the printer manufacturer, to prevent a DVD legally purchased in England from playing on a US DVD player, and to stifle legitimate academic research.
Unfortunately, most people don't have the resources to defend against this fraud, although the Electronic Frontier Foundation has been taking up some cases of abuse.
No. For one, information cannot be copyrighted, only the arrangement of it if such arrangement involves even a small amount of originality (see Feist v. Rural). For two, you can't copyright book titles, although Ray Bradbury was royally pissed off when Michael Moore cribbed his book title for Fahrenheit 9/11.
Sounds good, but I need to set a definition. The list will cover stories involving copyright, patent and trademark where IMHO abuse and/or injustice exists.
It would cover fraudulent or abusive DMCA takedown notices and anti-circumvention action.
It would cover uses of the DMCA where it is against the interests or traditional rights of the people.
It would cover the record label lawsuits where abuse exists or is being defended against. However, they have every right to bring the suits, so just the fact that a suit or suits have been brought doesn't qualify.
Swordmaker, I've never done a ping list. What's the best way to do it?
Anti when I set one up all I did was just put up some articles like this and invited people to my newly made up list. Store it someone convenient..
Is there a Swordsinger, Sword-dander or Swordbreaker on FR?
Is there a Swordsinger, Sword-dancer or Swordbreaker on FR?
Worse [than Vogon Poetry...], one magazine that published a free story on the site, had it yanked because of the SWFA.
I did visit Scribd and did a search using Science Fiction and found what looked like full text of various books by Asimov. One of the books I saw had a copyright date of 1989. I don’t know if Asimov or his estate has given permission to distribute his books/magazines this way or not.
There were other lists of Sci Fi books too. The one in question has been taken down. If it’s just a list it shouldn’t have. The full text of books is something else.
In those cases the takedown notice was probably legitimate. I have never heard of Asimov's estate giving any such permission.
LMAO your new pirate ping list can't even get through its first post without getting busted for defending criminals. Great start for you guys, bookmarked.
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