gunrunnerjohn posted:Professor Chaos posted:The operator of a board is not supposed to be liable for damages at all if it did not have knowledge of the infringement, promptly responds to a takedown request from the copyright owner, and meets the other requirements of the DMCA safe harbor statute [17 USC 512(c)] . . . that law was enacted so that board operators would not be liable for copyrighted material posted by users.
But I'm sure the whole story was more complex.
Correct, that is why that perhaps understanding what unfolded would be useful. Obviously, without knowing the whole situation, we can never be sure of what actually happened, or why it escalated into what Alan describes.
So correct my mis-impression, but wouldn't it be sufficient for OGR to simply and promptly remove any graphic upon receiving the initial copyright complaint? If so, what made this particular situation blow up into such a big deal? I get the feeling we're killing flies with a sledgehammer.
FWIW, I see a TON of obviously copyrighted stuff on FaceBook, and they don't seem to be doing anything about it being posted. If that is a big problem, they're sure handling it under the radar, because I haven't heard anything about it.
John...your interpretation of what happened once again is based on you feeling of what should or should have happen...it is not reality. Again, I have explained several times in detail what happened and how it happened....do I need our attorneys to contact you and explain it? 
To make it as simple as I can: we were served without warning paperwork that demanded OGR to take down the pictures. We complied immediately. Included in the take down command was a demand for payment of damages to their client since the pictures had been up for years and their implication was that OGR benefited financially from those pictures. I handed this situation over to our legal representatives. They spent several months conversing with copyright experts at the Federal court level. The conclusion was that we could ask for a trial by jury and would likely win...and at the same time we would have to share the contact information of the two members that posted the pictures. You must understand what that would have meant. After consideration of the total cost to us for a Federal trial and the fact that all fees would not have been likely paid by the other side, it was less expensive to just write them a check rather than several more months of this process. Keep in mind that there could be future situations like this because you and many others here might have material posted that COULD be singled out as suspect. Those of you that have never gone through a situation like this may not realize that in many cases, the other side counts on the cost of settlement being less than the trial. They see that as a win for their side. Just watch all of the TV commercials from law firms that live off of cases like this. Most are settled out of court since they threaten to ask for damages a 100 times of what they offer in settlement....
This thread has run its course. Some of you don't get it and imply that either I am not telling the whole story or somehow OGR is wrong in sending the warnings/emails to the membership. If you don't want to, or can't, or simply don't like what is going on....then you certainly have the right to enjoy the hobby without the forum. Topic closed....
