I know in the US they have the Digital Millennium Act that, correct me if I'm wrong, protects the owner from being prosecuted over their forum containing copyrighted material IF they take down photos immediately on request by the copyright owner. 1) But in the UK, what's the protection for the owner of a forum in this regard? Legally must I make sure every post does not breach copyright or is it like the US? 2) A company that runs a Flickr site is threatening legal action if images originating from his Flickr account are found on the forum. Does he have grounds to threaten this or is he required to take this up with Flickr who then would contact me? As they are the hosts...
They'll first contact the web hosts. If their servers are in US, you'll probably go down...if not, the reporters will have to find another way to sue youif the hosts are not feared
Before a firm contemplates real legal action or than threating with letter they will want to find out if you have any asset. If you bank in the UK, Canada or US that is not hard to do. A number of online businesses incorporate, bank and use hosting offshore making it much more difficult to find and do something to you. In most cases the groups just give up or face the need to hire a lawyer in Belize or Panama or Cyprus.
Is the protection offered to a forum owner in regards to the Digital Millennium Act the same for the UK?
I see you're struggling to get the answer you're looking for, mark_s. I did some searching. The UK equivalent of the DMCA is the "European Copyright Directive" found here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/08/22/uks_dmca_there_aint_no/ Here is an article discussing the ECD and posting art on the internet: http://www.medicif.org/dig_library/StateArt/Ipr/Thijm/thijm.html I admit to not reading it all, but it may be relevant to your interests.