Web hosting and copyright infringement notice

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ArcticSilver

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#44462 27-Oct-2009 21:54

I got a interesting email today:

Dear Scott,

If this information is incorrect, please disregard this E-mail.
I have found that you are the owner of "******.com" which seems to be hosting the Web site located at "######.com".

Unfortunately, it has been discovered that an image found to be hosted on your servers are infringing the copyright of myself (Business Man) and HostingCompany.com. ("Hosting Company")
The infringing image is located at:

http://######/download/file.php?id=528

To assist with their removal from the infringing Web site, a copy of the images hosted on servers owned and operated by HostingCompany Hosting is available here:

http://www.HostingCompany.com/logo.png

This E-mail is official notification under the provisions of Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”) to effect removal of the above-reported infringements. I request that you immediately issue a cancellation message as specified in RFC 1036 for the specified postings and prevent the infringer from posting infringing images to your servers in the future. Please be advised that law requires you, as a service provider, to “expeditiously remove or disable access to” the infringing images upon receiving this notice. Noncompliance may result in a loss of immunity for liability under the DMCA.

I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of here is not authorized by myself, the copyright holder, or the law. The information provided here is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I swear under penalty of perjury that I am the copyright holder.

Please send me at the E-mail address noted below a prompt response indicating the actions you have taken to resolve this matter.

Sincerely,
Business Man

The file in question is a image (a very basic text logo) for their small hosting company.

Also note that this was sent to me first, nothing was sent to the domain owner (my client)

The reason i find this so interesting and annoying is:

The clients site is gaming forums which you have to register with to enter (no public viewing) and it is a user uploaded file (which you need to have an account with the forums to see).

Personally i think it is unethical to go trolling through their data to find this one image and delete it. I also find it strange that a small hosting company is so concerned about some one using their logo on forums that arnt even accessable to the public without registration.

Also in a completely different prospective, what are my rights considering the server is hosted in the US yet i run out of New Zealand? (im guessing US law's for the server)

What are your thoughts?

Move this post if need be, wasnt sure what category to put it under.

LennonNZ

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#267507 27-Oct-2009 22:36

I am not a lawyer and I know nothing really about law but...

The Copyright Act Section 92C and D are the acts you want to read about regarding this...

As a hosting provider you really should know about laws which affect you and your company.

Yes they quoted DCMA but the same general idea what they are talking about is covered in 92 C/D

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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#267512 27-Oct-2009 22:48

IANAL but here is what we do on Geekzone... If the notice is valid we check if the fair use doctrine applies.

"Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test."

In other words, is the material being used for a review or study? If not, it's most likely breaking the law. It doesn't matter if it's in a private forum, people can still register and see it. It doesn't matter its size, it's still the property of someone else.

Note that that if your hosting provider or servers are based in the U.S. then you have to follow their laws - regardless of you living here. And because you live here then our laws also apply.

My suggestion? Check the use and just remove it if it's not something that you can defend.

By the way, in New Zealand there isn't a defense such as "parody" as in the U.S. Read this for an example.

As I said, IANAL but common sense should prevail.

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nate

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#267518 27-Oct-2009 23:08

I would say that the hosting company has signed up to your private forums and discovered the image for themselves.

Remove it, inform the user who uploaded it, and inform the hosting company. For the few seconds it will take for you to remove it, is it really worth battling over one logo that you really don't care about?

boby55

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#267519 27-Oct-2009 23:11

Btw if you are trying to hide those links - remove the hyperlinks as they still go to you site :)

ArcticSilver

731 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 148

#267521 27-Oct-2009 23:19

freitasm: IANAL but here is what we do on Geekzone... If the notice is valid we check if the fair use doctrine applies.

"Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test."

In other words, is the material being used for a review or study? If not, it's most likely breaking the law. It doesn't matter if it's in a private forum, people can still register and see it. It doesn't matter its size, it's still the property of someone else.

Note that that if your hosting provider or servers are based in the U.S. then you have to follow their laws - regardless of you living here. And because you live here then our laws also apply.

My suggestion? Check the use and just remove it if it's not something that you can defend.

By the way, in New Zealand there isn't a defense such as "parody" as in the U.S. Read this for an example.

As I said, IANAL but common sense should prevail.

I have notified the client. So hopefully he will remove it otherwise i might have to do some searching.

For those that are wondering the sites are not mine, i just host them, this is why i believe it is unethical to seach through a clients files.

I do not run the forums, i am not signed up on the forums.

Cheers for pointing out the hyperlinking, i edited it in the thread window but aparently it kept its links.