Copyright Thief

claims right to copy three pages!

[Terrier]

Three pages of historical content of which I own the copyright have been published on a website whose political stance I, and I should imagine you would be very unhappy about.

This material was published in book form in the 1960s and has been out of print since then. I intend in the very near future to publish this material in its entirety on the web.

I spoke to the person who owns the site and politely asked him to remove it he declined saying that it was his understanding he was allowed to take a proportion of material without permission. I often get requests for permission for people to quote from this material and I give my permission in most cases, however this is not a site I want this on and he has never asked permission.

I informed him if he wished he could link to the material when I publish it on the web and give his views on it but that I did not want him to publish the content on his site.

I would appreciate any views others may have

[too much information]

find out who his host is and tell them about your problem. They may be helpful in getting your content off of their server.

other than that, sounds like you may have a legal problem.

good luck! :)

[Terrier]

It appears he runs his own servers. I think he is very possibly used to attacks and abuse considering his stance.

Legal problems are both expensive and time consuming; I should be loathe to enter into such a battle.

[jdMorgan]

Terrier,

Short quotes and excerpts are "fair use" under U.S. law.

However, three pages copied word-for-word is not fair use. Should you decide to pursue a legal case, you have an excellent chance of winning.

Jim

[dmorison]

From [copyright.gov...]

Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances. See FL 102, Fair Use, and Circular 21, Reproductions of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians.

More information on that site that should help...

[Terrier]

Thank you jd Morgan, I agree with a paragraph being fair, even though it is polite at least to ask. The word for word copy is nearly of a chapter’s length taken from the content of two volumes books of about 1,000 pages.

As I understand it legal recourse can be very expensive. Both I and the offending website are in the UK

[kevinpate]

If UK law regarding copyright is similar to US, it's not inconceivable that three pages from a 2 volume work of 1,000 pages could permissibly fall within the 'fair use' provisions. The length of the excerpt is but one of several considerations, but that particular length doesn't seem to be excessive at first blush.

[Terrier]

dmorison Thank you that is a great link, I shall study it in depth. This does seem to be a bit of a minefield with very vague parameters. One of the things I object to is the manner and overall content of the website in question.

I think after a quick look at the link you gave me he may just may be able to get away with it despite the huge amount of content.

[Terrier]

One of the web pages is a complete chapter of the book! Bit more than a quote or paragraph!
I think that this is a very interesting subject considering the big issue with the web always is content!

[engine]

Terrier, take a look here for further guidance [intellectual-property.gov.uk...]

[Terrier]

Thanks engine, I have just done a word count for the material taken 10,170 words 179 paragraphs.

[Terrier]

Engine, that is a first rate link for us in the UK with copyright issues.

It appears from what I have seen with a quick look that this site is way out of line in every way.

This place is amazing where else could you get help and pointers for a question like this so fast and so informative.

[CBurger]

I have heard, but don't know from experience, that google will give a copy thief the boot from their index.

Report him without warning.

Peter

[paul12345]

I think CBurger (the post just above) really has the best solution. If the site uses its own servers and you don't have a hosting company to complain to the next cheapest/best idea would be to complain to the search engines and see if you can get them to omit this site (or atleast the offending pages) from thier indexes.

[MonkeeSage]

Terrier:

Looking at things from a court's perspective:

1. Is this citation being used in a commercial way, or for criticism (if the latter could the criticism be intelligently made without the citation)?
2. Is the copyrighted work information that is readily accessible by another medium if it were not used--viz., common knowledge (e.g., statistical figues, math models, 'self-evident truths', &c), or intellectual property?
3. Is the cited portion substantial in relation to the whole?
4. Is it imposing on the potential market value of the work?

(That would be my interpretation of the application of the 4 criteria listed under the "fair use" subheading of the Copyright Act that are to be used in litigation on particular disputatios over "fair use").

Also, as you said, litigation can be pricey, especially if you don't win. I'm in no way certified to give legal advice, but speaking personally, what I would probably do if I were in your position, at the least, is start getting some of the content on my site--even if just a little bit--right away, so that if it comes to the nitty gritty I could show that I was not just 'sitting on my hands' (so to speak), and that the work had potential market value and isn't just 'collecting dust on a shelf' (so to speak). Then I would make an appeal to the guy's sense of ethic (if he has one)--saying something to the effect of "You may be within your legal rights, I don't believe you are and may seek legal action if necessary, but even if you were, that wouldn't make stealing 'right.' You have stolen something that belongs to me and I just want you to stop, nothing more or less. If the law said you could steal my car, it would still be 'wrong'!"

That said, I'm glad I'm not you! I hope everything works out for you.

Jordan

[MonkeeSage]

Ps. It seems that Google will remove their site from the SERPs if you contact them and file a DMCA violation complaint. This [webmasterworld.com] post shows an example of a site that was removed in response to such a complaint, and gives the URLs for filing a complaint as well as Google's policy on DMCA violations.

Jordan