Online copyright challenges

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  • Most companies online where their users infringe copyright, the companies in complaint ask for signed proof to be sent by post.

    Say UK USA Australia means added costly expense for any copyright holder
    as also extra time allowed for the company to illegally display this material without given consent to do so.

    Many also forget a popular piece of work illegally used also means they could face charges for using this work simply to gain visitors traffic and popularity to their own web sites and servers, regardless who actually placed the material there.

    What is wrong with a scanned copy being placed online by a copyright holder, on a server for the companies to download view and print off instantly in cases of dispute hence saving time expense and added delay.

    For companies across the other side of the globe this has to be made given as a legal right to copyright holders, and included as an option in their TOS re copyright challenges of all those holding and wishing to challenge copyright material.

    Why should endless copyright holders need to pay costly postage to have something belonging to them removed from a server. Endless companies often forget this is likely data theft as well as a copyright infringement.
  • It may or may not be data theft in the US- theft has a specific legal meaning that is different from copyright infringement. That's one reason I dislike the simplistic copyright infringement=stealing statements.

    At any rate, in the US there is a notice-and-takedown provision for removal of infringing materials in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. As long as you follow those provisions, the ISP is required to remove the materials. Physical or electronic signatures are sufficient, so no postage is necessarily required.

    http://digital-law-online.info/lpdi1.0/treatise34.html

    There are several reasons that this type of verification is necessary. First, authentication- the ISP needs to know that the person is who they say they are. Then they need to make sure the person believes they are the copyright holder of the materials or acting as an agent of the copyright holder of the materials. These formalities are necessary to help ensure that this notice-and-takedown isn't being abused. There are arguments that it is being abused anyway- some fairly used material may be being shut down.

    If the materials are distributed, and the company does not take them down in a timely manner, then the companies cannot take advantage of safe harbor provisions and may be liable for additional damages.

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