I Got a DMCA for Public Domain Material on Amazon

[VaulDogWarrior]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I got the DMCA from a company in Washington. I'm in Ireland

I recieved a DMCA via my Amazon account from a company declaring that I infringed their copyrighted material by putting it up for sale.

I researched diligently before I put up that material, and I am certain it is firmly within the public domain.

Amazon have been very unhelpful. They will not get involved and are keeping the material blocked until I have sorted out the matter personally with the claimant.

It appears they will not accept my counter-DMCA. As far as I could find out, they are not liable by accepting it. It basically takes liability out of their hands and into mine. They restore the material and then the claimant can choose to sue or not.

I was able to talk to the company and they plainly admitted that they were not aware the author of the book they sell has been in the public domain in the US for decades. They also told me they had no real understanding of copyright law at all.

So I told them if they contact Amazon stating what they told me, and that it was a mix up and that I am not guilty of copyright infringement, then I will take down the material.

The problem is that this material has been very profitable for me, and I am well within my rights to sell it. The material was written by their grandfather and they are a family business/"ministry" that publish and sell his books.

I am in Ireland. They are in the US. The material is public domain in the US and countries with copyright laws extending to 60 years after death or less. In two years the author will enter public domain in territories with life+70 years copyright laws.

I've had a few days to think about it, and I'm thinking that we work in a capitalist society. Maybe they should consider expanding the ministry, including other public domain authors, just like I do. In two years, their sole author will be free material in practically the entire western world and much of the rest of it too. Only a few countries have copyright laws beyond the 70. They have no legal ground to claim a monopoly on these writings.

So I'm thinking of sending them some kind of cease and desist letter, asking them to pull the DMCA and refrain from sending any more under threat of legal action. They know they have no case. They admitted it.

The problem is I am in Ireland and they are in the US. They know I live here too. What kind of complications could that pose for my case if it had to go further? Would I have to fly over there for some reason? Would I even be able to bring a case against them under these circumstances?

Any advice would be great, thanks.

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I got the DMCA from a company in Washington. I'm in Ireland

I recieved a DMCA via my Amazon account from a company declaring that I infringed their copyrighted material by putting it up for sale.

I researched diligently before I put up that material, and I am certain it is firmly within the public domain.

Amazon have been very unhelpful. They will not get involved and are keeping the material blocked until I have sorted out the matter personally with the claimant.

It appears they will not accept my counter-DMCA. As far as I could find out, they are not liable by accepting it. It basically takes liability out of their hands and into mine. They restore the material and then the claimant can choose to sue or not.

I was able to talk to the company and they plainly admitted that they were not aware the author of the book they sell has been in the public domain in the US for decades. They also told me they had no real understanding of copyright law at all.

So I told them if they contact Amazon stating what they told me, and that it was a mix up and that I am not guilty of copyright infringement, then I will take down the material.

The problem is that this material has been very profitable for me, and I am well within my rights to sell it. The material was written by their grandfather and they are a family business/"ministry" that publish and sell his books.

I am in Ireland. They are in the US. The material is public domain in the US and countries with copyright laws extending to 60 years after death or less. In two years the author will enter public domain in territories with life+70 years copyright laws.

I've had a few days to think about it, and I'm thinking that we work in a capitalist society. Maybe they should consider expanding the ministry, including other public domain authors, just like I do. In two years, their sole author will be free material in practically the entire western world and much of the rest of it too. Only a few countries have copyright laws beyond the 70. They have no legal ground to claim a monopoly on these writings.

So I'm thinking of sending them some kind of cease and desist letter, asking them to pull the DMCA and refrain from sending any more under threat of legal action. They know they have no case. They admitted it.

The problem is I am in Ireland and they are in the US. They know I live here too. What kind of complications could that pose for my case if it had to go further? Would I have to fly over there for some reason? Would I even be able to bring a case against them under these circumstances?

Any advice would be great, thanks.

Your matter would fall under Irish law...but I'm not sure you are right about the book being in the public domain here in the US. In any case, you can't force Amazon to allow you to sell the book on their site.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I got the DMCA from a company in Washington. I'm in Ireland

I recieved a DMCA via my Amazon account from a company declaring that I infringed their copyrighted material by putting it up for sale.

I researched diligently before I put up that material, and I am certain it is firmly within the public domain.

Following is a link to a chart showing copyright terms and what is in the public domain in the US (e.g., anything published before 1923 is in the public domain in the US): http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

Amazon have been very unhelpful. They will not get involved and are keeping the material blocked until I have sorted out the matter personally with the claimant.

It appears they will not accept my counter-DMCA. As far as I could find out, they are not liable by accepting it. It basically takes liability out of their hands and into mine. They restore the material and then the claimant can choose to sue or not.

You are correct that Amazon is provided a "safe harbor" from suit if they remove material said to be infringing upon receipt of a DMCA copyright takedown notice. They need to notify the alleged infringer of the DMCA notice and the alleged infringer, if the infringement claim is disputed, must file a counter-notice.

Here are links that explain the DMCA takedown notice:

http://www.sfwa.org/2013/03/the-dmca-takedown-notice-demystified/

http://www.dmca.com/FAQ/What-is-a-DMCA-Takedown

I was able to talk to the company and they plainly admitted that they were not aware the author of the book they sell has been in the public domain in the US for decades. They also told me they had no real understanding of copyright law at all.

So I told them if they contact Amazon stating what they told me, and that it was a mix up and that I am not guilty of copyright infringement, then I will take down the material.

The problem is that this material has been very profitable for me, and I am well within my rights to sell it. The material was written by their grandfather and they are a family business/"ministry" that publish and sell his books.

Are you creating your own copies of this book or are you purchasing copies for resale? Copying the material to sell would be infringement if the works are not in the public domain and you do not hold the rights in the material.

I am in Ireland. They are in the US. The material is public domain in the US and countries with copyright laws extending to 60 years after death or less. In two years the author will enter public domain in territories with life+70 years copyright laws.

In the US, copyrights last the life of the author plus 70 years.

I've had a few days to think about it, and I'm thinking that we work in a capitalist society. Maybe they should consider expanding the ministry, including other public domain authors, just like I do. In two years, their sole author will be free material in practically the entire western world and much of the rest of it too. Only a few countries have copyright laws beyond the 70. They have no legal ground to claim a monopoly on these writings.

Yes. There is a legal ground for a copyright holder to claim a monopoly on their copyrighted writings.

So I'm thinking of sending them some kind of cease and desist letter, asking them to pull the DMCA and refrain from sending any more under threat of legal action. They know they have no case. They admitted it.

The problem is I am in Ireland and they are in the US. They know I live here too. What kind of complications could that pose for my case if it had to go further? Would I have to fly over there for some reason? Would I even be able to bring a case against them under these circumstances? ...

If a copyright holder living in the US wishes to sue you for infringement, they will sue you in Ireland in Ireland's courts under Ireland's copyright laws. If you have been profiting off the copyrighted works of another, and there is a substantial enough loss to the copyright holder, a lawsuit becomes more likely.

 

[justalayman]

If the owner of the rights didn't file a copyright infringement claim, who did?

 

[FlyingRon]

Nobody is going to do anything with your C&D letter. If you want to come to the US and sue the party who issued the DMCA and it is the case that they have no rights to the material, you might prevail. Otherwise, you're out of luck. There's nothing you can do to Amazon to make them change their mind.

 

[quincy]

VaulDogWarrior appears to have enough confusion over copyrights, the public domain and DMCA takedown notices that, if the sales of these books have in fact been very profitable for him, VaulDogWarrior should probably sit down with an IP attorney in Ireland for a personal review and a discussion of his rights.

If VaulDogWarrior wishes to dispute the takedown notices he is receiving, however, he must follow the procedure outlined in the links provided in my post above.

 

[justalayman]

So I told them if they contact Amazon stating what they told me, and that it was a mix up and that I am not guilty of copyright infringement, then I will take down the material.

I have a better idea; they don't do a thing and the material is not put back up.

That statement doesn't make any sense. Why would you pull the material if
they rescinded their dmca take down notice. What is the point?

 

[quincy]

I have a better idea; they don't do a thing and the material is not put back up.

That statement doesn't make any sense. Why would you pull the material if
they rescinded their dmca take down notice. What is the point?

It is not only VaulDogWarrior's statement about the DMCA takedown notice that is confused. His understanding of copyright ownership and public domain material, at least as it is in the US, is not quite right, either.

It almost sounded like he was reselling books instead of making copies of copyrighted material to sell. Perhaps he is profiting off the sale of text books? That has led to more than a few lawsuits by publishers (the latest found in favor of the textbook seller).

Whatever is going on, if he wants to know if the books he has been selling on Amazon are legal for him to sell in the US, he really needs to have the matter personally reviewed by an IP professional in Ireland who knows US IP laws. Here for VaulDogWarrior's benefit is some information on the copyright laws in Ireland, from the Irish Visual Artists Rights Organization (IVARO): http://ivaro.ie/copyright/