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Author Topic: Are Copyright Holders Seeding Own Files To Find, Sue Downloaders?  (Read 6261 times)

Lettered

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I have always strongly suspected that companies like Getty are purposefully sloppy with their IP protection because infringement demand letters can be so lucrative.  Just a strong suspicion on my part and Ive seen no direct evidence of this.

However, there seem to be some companies (not Getty that I know of) that may be taking it to a whole new level:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090826/0033215996.shtml

http://cabalamat.wordpress.com/2008/11/20/davenport-lyons-digiprotect-and-evil-angel-criminal-scammers/

Is the contract language in the above links a smoldering gun (or even a smoking gun) that this is indeed happening?  Is this sort of behaviour legal in the US?

Someone needs to put a stop to this.  I hope they pick on someone with the resources to do it.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2011, 10:19:09 AM by Lettered »

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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Re: Are Copyright Holders Seeding Own Files To Find, Sue Downloaders?
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2011, 10:29:13 AM »
Good find!, Great Links!! There has been some suspicion that a certain stock image company / photographer is doing just this, just a matter of proving it. While i agree that getty can be sloppy as you noted, I don't think they would stoop to this level, nor would they need to... Over these last few weeks i have actually gained a bit of respect for Getty....wait let me rephrase...I still strongly believe that the way they go about enforcement and their tactics are wrong, but they are much more professional and shall we say "human" than some other new players on the block..
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Oscar Michelen

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Re: Are Copyright Holders Seeding Own Files To Find, Sue Downloaders?
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2011, 09:32:28 PM »
That's incredible! Those articles were great and I have to admit make the "conspiracy theorists"'s beliefs that content is being seeded in order to be found more plausible. 

Lettered

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Re: Are Copyright Holders Seeding Own Files To Find, Sue Downloaders?
« Reply #3 on: January 09, 2012, 03:49:35 PM »
Just thought I'd pass along some related reading.  I am intrigued by the concept of an "implied license" when the copyright owner doesn't do enough to protect material. One cases I found interesting:

Field v. Google

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15945714264866823005&q=field+v.+google&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5&as_vis=1

" Consent to use the copyrighted work need not be manifested verbally and may be inferred based on silence where the copyright holder knows of the use and encourages it."

So, if someone knows that their material is on a free wallpaper site (no matter if they put it there themselves), and does not take the simple step of sending a take-down request would that not be an implied license?  I certainly believe so.

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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Re: Are Copyright Holders Seeding Own Files To Find, Sue Downloaders?
« Reply #4 on: January 09, 2012, 03:56:13 PM »
another GREAT find!, will have to read/digest this later, but it amazes me how this community has grown and how much good info is coming out!
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

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Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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Re: Are Copyright Holders Seeding Own Files To Find, Sue Downloaders?
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2012, 04:34:14 PM »
Well this is certainly interesting, perhaps someone should draft a letter to V.K.Tylor, bringing all of these wall paper sites to  his attention ( just in case he's not aware) Send it certified mail to HAN and Tylor, kepp copies tucked away and on scribd..future letter recipients may be able to use this as part of their defense..especially now that we know that he knows, and even more so if he decides to do nothing about the free sites..
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

Any advice is strictly that, and anything I may state is based on my opinions, and observations.
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Jerry Witt (mcfilms)

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Re: Are Copyright Holders Seeding Own Files To Find, Sue Downloaders?
« Reply #6 on: January 09, 2012, 05:03:31 PM »
My thoughts exactly! In coding there is such a thing as a "code sprint" where programmers get together for a concentrated effort. It can be a few hour over over a few days. But imagine if all the ELI members got together, hunted down the most prevalent purveyors of "Free" wallpapers that use HAN images. From there we could "notify" (because I'm sure they are unaware) HAN that these sites were indeed giving away there images. This would effectively shut down this process.

This is too late to help anyone going through this right now. But it might serve to prevent future victims. I can give a few hours to this some evening.
Although I may be a super-genius, I am not a lawyer. So take my scribblings for what they are worth and get a real lawyer for real legal advice. But if you want media and design advice, please visit Motion City at http://motioncity.com.

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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Re: Are Copyright Holders Seeding Own Files To Find, Sue Downloaders?
« Reply #7 on: January 09, 2012, 08:02:38 PM »
My thoughts exactly! In coding there is such a thing as a "code sprint" where programmers get together for a concentrated effort. It can be a few hour over over a few days. But imagine if all the ELI members got together, hunted down the most prevalent purveyors of "Free" wallpapers that use HAN images. From there we could "notify" (because I'm sure they are unaware) HAN that these sites were indeed giving away there images. This would effectively shut down this process.

This is too late to help anyone going through this right now. But it might serve to prevent future victims. I can give a few hours to this some evening.

I could throw some time into it as well, let's co-ordinate it. Tineye should give us more than enough to get going, I think we might need 1 or 2 more willing souls..
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

Any advice is strictly that, and anything I may state is based on my opinions, and observations.
Robert Krausankas

I have a few friends around here..

 

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