Rebuilding an expired domain from Archive.org

Is this legal in the US?

[Liquid Squelch]

I recently acquired an expired domain name that still has external url's pointing into it - so I know I may have some traffic... I picked up the domain for next to nothing, and I would like to see how well it does now that it is in my hands.

Here are my concerns:
The original site owner gave up on the site in 2008. He removed the site from the web after being hacked, and since then the URL pointed at a parked page at his registrar. Last week, the domain went up for auction, and I won it.

I would like to grab the content from the "internet wayback machine" on archive.org and rebuild the site to its former state.

A - Is this legal in the United States?
B - some of the early pages do not include a copyright tag.
C - Later pages (which I do not want) include the words "Copyright 2008" to a false company. There are no records of this "Incorporation".

I know that my best course of action would to see real legal advice in my state - but when you lawyer charges $400/hr I figured it couldn't hurt to ask here first ;)

Thanks for the help

[LifeinAsia]

First, welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com]!

A) You bought the domain, not the site. So copying the content from archive.org would be no different from copying content from an active domain. And you already know that's a no-no. Just because the owner abandoned the domain doesn't mean he abandoned the site. He could have easily moved it to a new domain.
B) Irrelevant- it's copyrighted even without a notice.
C) What do you mean by "false company?" Does the company name actually specify "Inc." in the name? Did you check incorporation records in all 50 states and the District of Colombia?

What you CAN do is build a site based on the domain and create pages with the same names as the old site. (In other words, keep the same directory structure and pages names.) That way you still get the link juice (unless/until the owners of the sites linking to the domain decide they don't want to link to the domain in its new form and take down the links.)

[Liquid Squelch]

LifeinAsia -
Thanks for welcoming me to WebmasterWorld. I've been reading the forums off and on, and I finally decided to register since I had a question of my own.

A - I am guessing I would have to make contact with the original site owner and see if he will all me to use the old content. I'm thinking that would have been better done BEFORE I purchased the domain instead of after :)

B - That is what I figured

C - I checked for a registered name that he claimed to use (including the "INC") in the state we BOTH live in.

I could build the site and keep the page names. I have very little interest in building the website from scratch. I might park it for the ads, or I may just put the website up for sale and try and flip it for a few bucks :) I picked it up in auction for less than a year's registration.

Thanks for the guidance.

[Major_Payne]

A) - B) 10 Big Myths about copyright explained [templetons.com]

C) I suggest you re-do the content and make it totally fresh. Then add your own copyright notice to pages.

Ron