Fair Use of My Content - Sites "lifting" content and blocking access to my site.

[soletoday]

Fair Use of My Content - Sites "lifting" content and blocking access to my site.

I'm in FL.

I own a magazine and a blog and my writers create content for both. A lot of the content isn't on the web (and that is hard to do..!) so we are the first to show it. All photos / words are written by us.

I have two questions.

1. A forum on the internet allows it's members to use photos and words from my site but blocks the link back to my site when the poster is trying to give credit to us. I distinctly state that only one photo and two paragraphs of text can be used from my site and then people must link back to us.

I've asked the site to monitor their site and remove content as it is posted - but they refuse to do so. I said if they un-blocked the URL to my site then I wouldn't have an issue because people can credit it to our site. They are stating that "YouTube requires people to submit claims when they see copyrighted materials posted on their site". And they say that is how we have to do it. But we don't have the time to go through every single thread on their site.

2. Many blogs take the content from our site and post it on theirs. They only put a small link with our initials - and sometimes they don't even do that. As I've stated in the paragraph above - I've put a notice on my site that says they can only use one photos and two paragraphs - but they don't abide by this.

My overall problem is this; my team and I work very hard in creating original content for our site but many sites lift all of the content and post it up. Even through we have our domain name tagged in the photos - we still have an issue with them taking the content and making their site more better and not having to do any of the work. And so many people make comments on their sites "you guys take the best photos" and they respond back "thanks" - and they are not even their photos!!

What can I do?

Thanks for taking the time to read this - any help is greatly appreciated.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[FlyingRon]

It's not up to the sites to police their users. If you find your copyright material on their site, send them a demand to take it down, if that doesn't work, figure out who hosts it and send them the demand.

 

[soletoday]

It's not up to the sites to police their users. If you find your copyright material on their site, send them a demand to take it down, if that doesn't work, figure out who hosts it and send them the demand.

It just seems like "fair use" would come into play here. How can a site use content from mine yet block access to it? That doesn't seem fair to me.

 

[FlyingRon]

It just seems like "fair use" would come into play here. How can a site use content from mine yet block access to it? That doesn't seem fair to me.

This isn't a fair use issue at all (at least at this point). You're free as the copyright owner to demand the takedown. It's then incumbent on whoever put the stuff there to counter that. The site, if they want to maintain the safe harbor provided by DMCA, needs to get out of the way of the dispute. Most people won't counter you.

The "SITE" is not the issue here. It's the users of the site. The SITE is free to disallow access to anybody.

 

[soletoday]

What is a fair amount of time for them to remove the content? This is the Internet so things are fast - and I want the content taken down fast. 24 hours?

 

[divgradcurl]

What is a fair amount of time for them to remove the content? This is the Internet so things are fast - and I want the content taken down fast. 24 hours?

If you send them a takedown letter in compliance with 17 USC 512(c), they must "respond expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material," otherwise they become liable for copyright infringement.

 

[novelist999]

If you send them a takedown letter in compliance with 17 USC 512(c), they must "respond expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material," otherwise they become liable for copyright infringement.

Thank you. I'm going through a similar thing and that info helped me a lot.

 

[quincy]

novelist999, I agree with you that the information provided by both divgradcurl and FlyingRon is helpful. It was also, however, posted in a 2010 thread.

This forum prefers that old threads like this are not revived with simple comments or additional questions. You can certainly learn from and appreciate the information provided in old threads, however, and the information provided by divgradcurl (FA's resident IP attorney) can be especially good information to look for in the Archives and review.

Because many people who come to FA are here with questions similar to ones that have been answered before, searching the Archives can be a useful way to get information relevant to your own situation.

For Copyright and Trademark questions that have been asked and answered previously, you can look through: https://forum.freeadvice.com/archive/index.php/f-39.html. Again, please do not add to these old threads with comments or questions of your own. These should be used for informational purposes only.

Thanks.