ASK YNOT

Dear YNOT,

I have a couple of questions after reading A Webmaster Introduction To Copyright Law by Gregory Geelan, J.D.

I’m completely new to the genre of site design, and after looking at other sites and seeing the same pictures everywhere (only in several instances — not all pictures), I thought to myself that these pictures are public domain, so I began creating my website.ASK YNOT

Dear YNOT,

I have a couple of questions after reading A Webmaster Introduction To Copyright Law by Gregory Geelan, J.D.

I’m completely new to the genre of site design, and after looking at other sites and seeing the same pictures everywhere (only in several instances — not all pictures), I thought to myself that these pictures are public domain, so I began creating my website. Then I read your article, and now have screeched to a halt.

I have two main questions:

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

1) How can all these people get away with this? I don’t want to get myself in trouble, but after looking, I would estimate that 80% of the content I have seen is duplicated. I know there are multiple licenses out there, but I find it hard to believe that this many people have done this. I’ve even contacted some webmasters to ask them and the general concensus is, “This image is being used by everybody, so I feel safe in using it without reprimand.”

Greg Geelan: Unfortunately, this is true. People are playing the odds that someone else will be caught, and not them. There are so many webmasters violating the intellectual property rights of others that it is difficult, and expensive, for the copyright holders to find each and every one of them and issue cease and desist letters or file legal action. There are, however, certain content providers/copyright holders who are extremely diligent and act on each and every violation that they come across – and they are using spiders and other sophisticated technology to easily ferret out where their content is being used without permission. There have been some HUGE legal awards handed down against copyright violators. So there is a big risk in breaking the law as so many of these inconsiderate webmasters are doing. My advice is to never, ever publish an image without permission – it is not worth the risk.

2) How do I find the copyright owner to purchase a license for the images I have? I’ve checked for information on a lot of the images, and there is no extra information attached to the image. Is there a site I can go to that groups information on these images? I would think that the creator of the content would want copyright information on the image so people would purchase a license, but I can’t find one on any image.

Greg Geelan: My advice is to start from scratch. You know what specific type of content you want to put on your site. Go to the Content Providers section in the YNOTMasters.com Service Directory and find providers who offer the specific content you are looking for, and purchase or license the content from them. This will not only diminish the risk of being sued on a copyright violation claim, but will also allow you to comply with USC 18 § 2257 requirements. All the webmasters stealing content from others and who are “just using images that everyone else is using” are in violation of § 2257 and not only can be sued by the copyright holders of the images, but can be fined and/or thrown in JAIL for not complying with § 2257. By buying or licensing content from a provider as listed in the YNOTMasters.com Service Directory, you will be given information accompanying the images which will allow you to comply with the § 2257 regulations. At some point in time, U.S. legal agencies will begin enforcing § 2257 aggressively, and if you are in compliance, you will be one of the webmasters left standing while all those who aren’t in compliance will be shut down.

Good luck with your Internet venture!

Greg Geelan, J.D.
YNOTMasters

ASK YNOT

(more…)