Hello, This is my first time in the legal forum, and i'm asking for a little bit of help from you DP members. A simple question really: Do forum posts have any kind of copywrite to them? Many thanks, Cameron/Sims2.
Well, yes. As an initial matter any original expression fixed in a tangible medium is subject to copyright. Whether or not you own the copyright to the material you posted in a forum depends on the Terms and conditions of the site that you're posting on. Some sites require that you grant the copyright to the board, others you retain the copyright but you grant the board a license to use the post any way that they'd like. In some, you retain the copyright and only grant a licens to the board to display your post. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have other questions. Deena __________________________________________________________________________________ Any opinions are offered without knowledge of the specific law of your jurisdiction and with only the limited information provided in your post. No advice given here should be reasonably relied upon by you or any third party without consulting an attorney who is aware of all of the facts and law surrounding your situation. Any advice given here is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship in any way.
Thank you Deena, that was a helpful explanation. As the owner of the website, I was disappointed to find a smaller forum with owners copying the material from our forum word-for-word for some topics. I wish to create a copyright notice in the ToC which would protect individual's opinions, but not attribute them legally to the website so we are not held responsible for any possible instances of slander etc that may arise. Is it possible if you could give me advice on how to word that? Also, is it possible to file a DMCA if this continues, and do I forward it to the ISP or the Website host (i.e Invision, VBulletin etc)? Many thanks once more, Cameron.
Cameron, I can't give you language, because it would subject me to liability and you're not my client. Sorry. I can tell you that you can word the TOS (which I do for my clients) to protect yourself from liability associated with posts from other people on your site. Here's your problem. You don't own the copyright to the posts on your site unless you wrote them or you've obtained the copyright through your terms of service. You don't have standing to prevent someone else from taking them. As far as DMCA takedown notification, you can send a takedown notice to their host and also to Google if they're running Adsense, etc. on their site. You can find lots of examples (thousands) of takedown notices at chillingeffects.org. Let me know if you have other questions. Deena _______________________________________________________ Any opinions are offered without knowledge of the specific law of your jurisdiction and with only the limited information provided in your post. No advice given here should be reasonably relied upon by you or any third party without consulting an attorney who is aware of all of the facts and law surrounding your situation. Any advice given here is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship in any way.