News and Analysis by PC Magazine: "A donation-based record label is back online Tuesday after its Web-hosting company took the label's Web site offline for alleged copyright violations.
One problem, though. The label – Quote Unquote Records – produces all of its own content, and was perplexed as to how it could have infringed upon itself."
9 comments:
This is truly a ridiculous situations that shows the sad state of our society today. Copyright is in effect from the time at which an idea is put onto a fixed medium, like a website, or recording. Are hosting companies so scared of getting sued they pull anything at the drop of a hat. You're paying them to host your site, not shut it down. And most hosting sites have contracts that release them of liability for copyright infringement.
In this situation the hosting company is clearly targeting this site because their primary content is music. I am sure that similar problems might arise for sites that host pictures or videos or other media that is commonly illegally obtained. Pert of the problems in this society is that sites like youtube.com are stocked with plenty of home videos and original content, but can also be riddled with copyrighted material. The biggest issue here is that the hosting companies have the power to shut down a site, but their customers need to then have contact to resolve issues, which I can imagine, is where this issue is running into trouble.
This is the problem with having ISPs take down content without full review. Most providers don't even bother to check before issuing takedown notices to websites, and it can end up censoring legitimate, not copyright violating material.
And the problems continue. There is too much bitching going on and now ISPs are making stupid moves to cover their a$$. And guilty until proven innocent is against the law... by the way. It is a shame that a company lost a major tool of advertisement and communication because of another company. There was really no basis for this. The ISP should have known that their client was creating "copyrighted" material. Oops... The IPS really did not do their research before the shut someone down and didn't bother to ask either. Next thing you know the internet is gonna get shut down.
Wow. Wow. I don't know what's more ridiculous, Prince freaking out because his song was played in a video on youtube, or someone getting copyright-schwacked over their own stuff. We've reached a really sad state with this whole copyright thing. When someone can't even share their own stuff without some website freaking out that their going to get sued, we've reached the end of the information sharing age.
I doubt this is the first time this has happened. Copyright issues can lead to some pretty ridiculous situations, such as John Fogerty in essence suing himself back in the 80's. There is nothing wrong with teh copyright rules themselves. This is simply a case of someone not looking closely enough into the work on the website before immediately jumping to a lawsuit.
In the theatre we are faced with copyright everyday, not only in obtaining rights for performance, but in out pursuits of design. At what point does visual research become copying work? Where is the line drawn from inspiration and copying? I think it is a difficult situation not only in the music industry but in our industry as well. In this instance it seems more like a matter of legal stupidity and less of a concern with copyright infringement, nonetheless it is something we must concern ourselves with.
This brings up again a recent issue being tested in the courts. The findings seem to suggest that when someone sends a DMCA takedown notice, they are responsible for finding that the material is infringing, including fair use considerations. Assuming this holds up in appeal, the label would have a right to sue whoever sent the takedown.
recent talk about copyright laws is the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard
people are getting so angry about what's theirs, what they think is theirs, and what they want to be theirs - nobody seems to have any desire to find a working solution to the problem, just the desire to sue people for all the money they have.
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