is this a copyright issue?

[FishStalker]

I have a fly fishing web site and I was emailed or he posted several fly patterns in my forum. I put them on my main website under fly patterns with his name and a link to his web site. now because he is mad at me, he wants me to take the step by steps down, and claims there is copyright issues and will sue me if I don't

is he right?

[edited by: FishStalker at 10:21 am (utc) on Feb. 20, 2007]

[Beagle]

Well, yes, it is a copyright issue. Unless he legally transferred the copyright to you (which, in the U.S. at least, requires a paper and ink signature - clicking on an "I agree" button doesn't do it), he does hold the copyright to his own work and has the right to decide how it's used. (A work is automatically copyrighted as soon as it's created - it doesn't have to be filed with the Copyright Office or even have a copyright symbol on it.)

That said, if your terms of service/use, which I assume he agreed to, state that sending material to you gives you a license to display it on your site, you may be able to hold him to it legally (depending on a whole lot of things that you'd probably need an attorney to sort out - if keeping his material posted is worth the trouble).

[andyll]

The TOS of my forums state that I while the poster retains the copyright that I have the right to duplicate posts on my main site.

However I always ask permission before doing so since the posters that post material good enough to go on my main site tend to be my most valuable members and I don't want to piss them off.

Andy

[FishStalker]

thanks, we took it down, he is a pain in the butt not a valued member and no point giving him any exposer