Copyright infringement cases

[Adroth]

Has anyone encountered any Internet-related copyright infringement cases that have actually gone to court?

[Jenstar]

Not personally, but yes, there have been ones that went to court.

[Adroth]

I've been reading a very good FAQ-type thread about things to watch out for when 'referencing' third party content.

But I think our knowledge of the subject would be enhanced further if we had examples of real-life blunders that other people made.

I heard a Web site called the <snip> ran into trouble once.

[edited by: engine at 5:26 pm (utc) on Sep. 18, 2003]
[edit reason] no specifics, thanks [/edit]

[paul12345]

I have a "content" type web site. Everybody and his brother rips my site's content off (text and sometimes images). The owners of these sites have doctorates. There couldn't possibly be a chance that they don't know what they're doing is illegal.

I registered my copyrights appropriately with the copyright office (doing so some how gives you extra benefits as to the types of awards the court can give you). I aways had a fantasy about taking someone to task legally for their infringement, either resulting in an out of court settlement or an actual legal proceding. When I started making money from Google Adsense I even considered using these funds to finance this fantasy, always assuming in my mind that I would win (because I registered the copyrights and therefore could document my ownership). I always assumed that this endevor could end up paying for itself.

I have never persued things however because I have never read one thing on a bulletin board (like this one) where anyone ever had anything positive to say about chasing infringers through legal procedings. More accurately I have never read anything by anyone who seems to have actually brought legal procedings against another web site. Everyone seems happy enough with just shutting down a site via DMCA (which I've done, however I've had such a site just spring right back up using a different hosting service). I guess my attitude is all screwed up for even thinking this but my thoughts are: You stole it, you used it, you should have to pay for doing so.

Does anyone out there (small to medium sized web sites, not giant corporations like MicroSoft) actually have some first had experiences with persuing copyright infringers via the court system or a lawyer and actually recieving a settlement?

[Jenstar]

I think why very few seem to go to court is because of the tremendous legal expense it would take to launch such an effort. Is it worth it if someone takes 2 or 3 articles? Not unless you have deep pockets and want the personal satisfaction. Is it worth it if someone rips of a 1000 page content site? You betcha, and if I couldn't afford it, I'd take out a loan to do it, lol.

The owners of these sites have doctorates.

if you are not at least getting credit for your work from the thieves, it could be fun to see if any of them are still involved in the university/college (and if a professor, even better) - a tip off to the school's newspaper could result in some pretty interesting coverage on the topic, and could hopefully result in the content being removed.