Quote: Originally Posted by
Draxx 
I suppose in general it would/could apply to anything that is uploaded to here.
From what I remember it all started way back when because someone threatened to sue a BBS operator (pre-internet networking) for displaying the post he made in a forum.... yes that is as stupid as it sounds... Basically the guy wrote a really offensive post that made him look like an *** and the operator refused to delete it so the guy threatened to sue him and the "We have the right to redistribute content blah blah" phrase started popping up everywhere.
Both of your posts are really off the mark.
The "story" you speak of was not related to copyright law, it was related to defamation case (Hence the offensive post. The person asking for the removal was the person defamed, not the person who made the piost). Someone was defamed on a BBS/FORUM, and the person defamed sued the ISP and the FORUM for transmitting the defamatory statement, which is vicarious defamation. The courts found the ISP was liable as well. This was rectified with the DMCA and the Communications Decency Act, which were enacted by Congress to "correct" the courts ruling in that case.
There are cases of Copyright infringment by ISPs, and ISPs ARE LIABLE for the posting of copyrighted material, under a theroy of vicarious liability. DMCA gives the ISP or a Forum a way to limit thier liaility for Copyright infringments by 3rd parties on thier services, but they must remove the copyrighted material if asked. If they do not, then they are liable for vicarious infringment.
First, the TOS for this site means that they can do anything with your posts, and that they own the Posts, but not the content or the links. So, while you may posts pictures of your skin in a thread, they do not now own the pictures, they own the thread. There is a difference.
Derivative works also do not have a threshhold amount that must be yours in order to own the new work, and at no percentage do you own the wentire derivative work, becuse the original author owns his part, no matter what. In a derivative work, you own the part that you create, and the original creator of the work own the part that is still thiers.
Copyrights (which is what we are talking about) exists in "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of authorship include the following categories:
(1) literary works;
(2) musical works, including any accompanying words;
(3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
(4) pantomimes and choreographic works;
(5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;
(6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
(7) sound recordings; and
(8) architectural works."
There are several exclusive rights reserved int he author of an original work. There are many rights, the right to distribute the work, the right to license the work, the right to display the work, etc.... Thier rights are AUTIOMATIC, and "vest" as soon as the work is created. You need not register the work, nor even distribute the work, or let anyone see the work, to vest the rights. (There are advantages to registering and distributing the work, but no matter what, once the work is created, you have a copyright in them) The copyright extends to all manifestations and represetnations of the work, including the underlying computer code, and the graphuical representations of the work.
Therefore, unless you have some how licensed, granted the use of, or given your work away, no one else can use your copyrighted work. It does not belong to anyone but the author. In fact, even mirroring the work on another website, with out permission or a license to do so, is a violation of the copyright act.
That should answer your questions,
Anything you create is yours, anything you take from someone else is thiers.
Flux Media is not permitted to distribute your Skin with out permission.
Michael
Linear Mode
