Hello; I'm having a hard time figuring out if there is any legal protection for a publisher (me) if I publish a user submitted photo that the user does not in fact have rights to? To clarify the situation; I frequently accept photos people submit to me via my web site, then publish them on my site or in a video. My forms clearly states they must have the rights to publish said photo; also they agree that it is not a professional photo that they lack the rights to distribute, and that they assign me a royalty free, perpetual license, etc. My concern is mainly that sometimes I get photos that I suspect were take by a professional for them (i.e. studio photos they paid for, but don't own the copyright to). I've had times where I've taken the time to contact a photographer if the watermark is visible, only to find out they do in fact have permission (This is very time consuming and often not feasible). If they really have the rights to a photo is of course very difficult for me to actually determine in most cases. I've not run into a problem thus far, but wonder how careful I need to be, and what if anything else I can do to avoid problems. Thanks, Jamie
Its a tricky situation,at best nothing will happen,at worst some one will send a dmca complaint to you or your host claiming rights for a certain image.Most times its as easy as removing the item listed in the dmca.
Thanks Guys for the info. I think I will add a DMCA / info page to my site as well that explains that many photos are user submitted and we are happy to honor take down requests, etc. Might make people less likely to get upset at me or take action against me directly. Thanks.
The DMCA Safe Harbor -- DMCA Title II, the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (“OCILLAâ€), creates a safe harbor for online service providers (OSPs, including ISPs) against copyright liability if they adhere to and qualify for certain prescribed safe harbor guidelines and promptly block access to allegedly infringing material (or remove such material from their systems) if they receive a notification claiming infringement from a copyright holder. The Safe Harbor provisions are especially valuable to web sites providing blogging, social networking, etc. The DMCA with its Safe Harbor was signed into law in 1996 and many authors have said this legislation is responsible for the Internets phenomenal growth over the past decade. As a website operator the Safe Harbor means you are not responsible for the copyright infringement of others on your site as long as you do not have actual knowledge that the material is infringing, that you are not receiving a financial benefit directly attributable to the infringing activity and that you adhere to the takedown provisions of the act. The safe harbor applies to links posted by others as well as the content they post. The DMCA safe harbor is not automatic. The web site owner must post the DMCA procedure on their web site, and they must register an agent with the Copyright office.