One of our users linked to an image from a website and then others took that image and photoshopped/edited it and uploaded those images to imageshack / photobucket and linked to them in thread replies. The edits were rather trivial... poking fun at the guy saying he looks like Borat - etc. Anyways, this guy didn't like that and sent us this email: I replied stating that we would need a formal court order requesting the contact info identity of said poster - assuming that the court found sufficient evidence to see that the material posted could be libelous/defamatory in nature. He comes back with: I love how in the first email he tells me to give him the identity of the poster and remove the material or else he'll sue - and in the 2nd email he adds "Barrister and Solicitor" to his name. I fail to see the logic in this -- if the copyright images are on imageshack and photobucket what responsibility is it of ours that a thread links to them? By removing that thread it by no means prevents those images from being linked in another thread - or - on someone else's site.
You don't know who this person is. It could be someone trying to get your info for a scam. Don't give them any information at all (yours or the member who posted the photo). If he wants to pursue it, let him figure out who you are and when you get legal documents then comply with his request. I would remove the images though ASAP.
Thanks for the concern richwannabe. The original image is of a man in a booth (like at a trade show) - with a banner of his company name behind him. He emailed me from the account related to that company/website so I know it's not just a scam. I could just remove the thread - however - I don't see how I'm legally bound to do so since the images are not hosted by me (they're at Photobucket/Imageshack). I posted this up to seek feedback from others who may have had similar situations and what the outcome was.
I think you took the right approach by not divulging the identity of the person involved. I'd also keep a copy of that email, because if he is claiming to be a lawyer in that second email and he isn't one, that's a criminal offense.
Why not just remove the post to avoid the hassle? No point in getting in a pissing match with this guy. In my experience, I had a member post a copyrighted poem on my forum and when asked to remove it, I did so. However, the owner of the poem continued to me hassle me because the results were still showing in Ask Jeeves, even though the poem had been removed for from the site months earlier. The page gave a blank page when viewed, yet he said I was trying to prevent him from seeing it! He said search engines don't lie Whatever! Even though he requested the name of the person who violated the copyright, I was under no legal obligation to give him any information. He literally harassed me, threatened legal action, threatened to phone the local police and even went as far to tell me the police were coming to my house to arrest me, take my computers away and have my site shut down by ICANN. (don't forget the poem was long gone at this point!) In the end I told the guy to get lost and that if I received another email that I was suing him for harassment. Needless to say I have not heard from him since. If this guy produces legal documents, then you may be obligated to give out the member's information. Otherwise, you may end up on the hook for releasing private information. My best advice is just remove images and see what happens from there. Don't give out any personal information until you have a legal document in hand and your lawyer advises you to do so. Good luck
This is a tough one. If you do not moderate content at all then the person who posted is responsible. You aren't supposed to touch the post until you get a legal document asking you to do so. The funny thing is that if you attempt to moderate posts for copyright infringement ever in your history without being asked to do so you lose your "service provider" status and are now liable for the posts. Their reasoning is that if you are going to moderate you should do it before the posts go live. Even if you go to court knowing this it's not always 100% cut and dry as I have heard of the "in good faith" arguement working but haven't researched yet. Cheers.
Ignore them until they do something that legally requires a response. If you were hosting the photos yourself I would remove them, but it doesn't sound like that's the case. If you get an actually physical letter with a formal complaint just consult an attorney... otherwise, ignore this loser
30k Challenge is correct. When you start selectively removing posts or images, you open the door to possible liability. You can have a forum policy that you do not allow any hotlinked images, pornographic, etc., but then you should remove them all - just not the ones where people complain. Practically speaking, you could probably just remove the image and solve the problem. You aren't obligated to give any information without a court order - including your personal or company information. You could also let the person who posted the image know that you have been contacted about possible legal action and that their information (ip address, etc) can be obtained if this person gets a court order and let them decide if they want to remove the image.