DMCA'ed For Linking to other sites???

Hey guys! Got DMCA'ed today by Bandai for apparently linking to other sites. Some of my affiliates do provide downloads of their animes. I have it right in my legal statement that I do not take responsibility for my affilaites actions. So can Bandai really push this??

FYI: I am removing the links, but I am curious about the answer to this...

BTW...I HATE BANDAI

 

They're puffing smoke. You are in no way responsible for content that doesn't reside on your server.

 

Wrong. It's called contributory infringement, which requires (1) knowledge of the infringing activity and (2) and active participation in the infringement (inducing it, causing it or contributing to it) - which can take the form of linking to or embedding videos not hosted on your site.

 

Well, here's an interesting read on the subject: http://www.webtvwire.com/linking-to-infringing-content-is-probably-illegal-in-the-us/

The way they try to enforce these laws is rather sickening. Everything is considered copyright infringement these days. I'm curious as to where the line is drawn, though. Could you get in trouble for directly linking to youtube videos of copyrighted material? Sure. TVLinks got hammered for this. Could you get in trouble for providing what keywords to use on youtube in order to find copyrighted material? I'm leaning towards no. Could you get in trouble for simply telling users that copyrighted material exists on youtube? Or by posting a link to youtube.com? No.

All the cases I've found related to this involve directly linking to the offending video, something that the OP is not doing. Being that he is linking to a site, which has a subsection with links to copyrighted content, wouldn't that make this fall under a gray area? Is that not similar to linking to youtube.com? Hell, most of these anime subbing sites use strictly BitTorrent for distribution, complicating things even more.

I am no lawyer, obviously, but to me this just looks like they're threatening him with an unloaded gun.

 

It's a real threat - and whether or not they win an award, if they file a lawsuit for infringement, you will need to spend tens of thousands or more to go to trial. Even if you win, you are out attorney fees. Youtube is being sued and there will likely be millions spent in attorney fees. Is it worth it?

 

Nope, and that's why I removed the links. See they're upset that I'm linking to people who upload anime downloads, that's fine and dandy, but I've spoken to the admins of my affilaites and they havn't got any sort of problems. So...Bandai just DMCA'ed the middle man, and not the actual copyright infringers?

I don't feel I'm responsible for my affiliates anyway. I see it as the user takes a risk going to those sites. SO I wonder Bandai doesn't go after the actual individuals involved?

 

Were you "linking" to the anime or embedding the link and displaying the anime on your site? If it's the latter then they have a valid case.

 

I was linking to the other sites as affiliates. Just link exchanges between admins.

My site is an anime news blog, we don't host anime files of any kind.

 

then what exactly did they ask you to remove?

 

My affiliates on my blogroll, the hyper links in specific. (the letter is in the first post)

 

I would do it just to be safe, that is a very gray area without enough case law to back anything up. Its safer just to remove the links. I would also warn those admins that they may have something in the mail soon (if not already) and explain why you removed the links.

Also, just because your ToS say your not responsible, doesn't mean your not responsible. When providing links you know what you are linking to (or should at least) just like when hosting. I'm immune by law until I receive notice (or find something myself). You may be breaking your hosts ToS by linking to this material as it is. You can have something in your ToS where the people must pay any legal fees though.

 

Just take the links down. It is the other sites' loss, not yours.

 

Ok guys, got a big question for you.

If I told you the email to my host came from a would you believe it's Bandai?

Personally I think it's an imposter. How should I go about verifying this and what should I do??


edit: this guy DMCA'ed me again, even after I removed the links. The letter is SO vague that I don't know what to do to comply with it!!!

Maybe it is real...idk.
I sent a email to the company asking if they could verify him as an employee.

 

I don't know if it is real or not, but since you are dealing with potential legal liability, you really shouldn't be posting names and emails. Everything you post here can be used against you in a lawsuit - and posting correspondence can rub some people the wrong way - perhaps just enough to push them into litigation.

 

well DP wont let me edit the first post. I'm just so confused, and worried. Since I don't think I actually did anything wrong, that and the letter is so vague I can't comply with it because I don't know exactly what the demands are.

 

He does not need to be an employee of the company. Read the letter:

"The information contained in this notification is accurate as of the
time of compilation and, under penalty of perjury, I certify that I am
authorized to act on behalf of Bandai."​

 

So ok. Got another question. The site is offline, and will be staying offline until a resolve is made. If the site never goes back up, would this go away? After all...that would be even more than they demanded.

 

I have gotten these before. Usually, if I did not feel comfortable using the image or whatever, I would simply take it down and alert them that I removed the content they were concerned about. That was the end of it for me.

There is no way to know how far they will push something like this. The reality is that most rights holders simply want you to cease using their material and once you remove it they have little incentive to go after you. You will rarely get an "all clear" from them to keep going. That is simply a decision you will have to make.

 

well - quite few people have got those dmca - warnings ! -
usually you only need to remove what they ask you too - but offcourse if they come across it again - next time they might release a second dmca notification - - tell you - second and last warning ! if happen again it will be more serious !

you still in the - scaring you - in a warning zone - it should all stop after you removed what they ask you.

but if happen again - you never know - what they can do next ! to stop it.

not worth the risk in my opinion unless you are rich webmaster !

in this kind of things - if you come across the wrong person that like to give troubles to others - you can find yourself in a not nice situation.

 

Ask him to go through your site, and decide what he doesn't like, then, if you agree its violating his "clients" rights, take it down, if not, then don't. However, not doing so opens you up to potential civil liabilities.