Distribution of (potentially) copyrighted materials
Gary WhiteheadMember for 17 years 6 months
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Dear All,
There has been a few threads of late regarding sharing of software manuals etc.
this has provoked some discussion amongst the moderators regarding copyright infringement, potential consequences for Planning Planet, and appropriate response from moderators.
Below summarises the key points:
1) Moderators have no way of knowing if the relevant documents are copyright protected or not.
2) Even if they are, offering to email such a document, or posting a link to a file-sharing site is not strictly against the Forum rules as written
3) There is a potential exposure to Planning Planet of legal action similar to the copyright theft case brought against Pirate Bay recently.
4) Planning Planet exists to facilitate sharing of knowledge and experience, not to facilitate copyright theft.
5) No guidance from PP Admin to date
Based on this, I’m going to follow the below procedure as a temporary measure until PP Admin’s position is clarified:
-Any poster offering to distribute, or posting links to, potentially copyrighted material will be asked to confirm that no copyright infringement is occuring.
-If the poster is unwilling / unable to confirm this, the thread will be deleted.
I’m open to suggestions if people can think of a better way of dealing with this.
Cheers,
G
There has been a few threads of late regarding sharing of software manuals etc.
this has provoked some discussion amongst the moderators regarding copyright infringement, potential consequences for Planning Planet, and appropriate response from moderators.
Below summarises the key points:
1) Moderators have no way of knowing if the relevant documents are copyright protected or not.
2) Even if they are, offering to email such a document, or posting a link to a file-sharing site is not strictly against the Forum rules as written
3) There is a potential exposure to Planning Planet of legal action similar to the copyright theft case brought against Pirate Bay recently.
4) Planning Planet exists to facilitate sharing of knowledge and experience, not to facilitate copyright theft.
5) No guidance from PP Admin to date
Based on this, I’m going to follow the below procedure as a temporary measure until PP Admin’s position is clarified:
-Any poster offering to distribute, or posting links to, potentially copyrighted material will be asked to confirm that no copyright infringement is occuring.
-If the poster is unwilling / unable to confirm this, the thread will be deleted.
I’m open to suggestions if people can think of a better way of dealing with this.
Cheers,
G
2 replies
Oldest first- 0Mike Testro ·Hi Gary
This is going to be a constant problem - particularly with the new PP Wiki site - who is moderating that.
I think a good starting point is to jump on PP members asking for potential copyright material and then deleting their threads.
I had a run in with Charleston last year on this topic.
I am currently distributing a traing aid file to PP members which I classify as my own copyright. When I was away recently one impatient member asked another to forward his copy - I was pleased to note that his request was rejected.
Best regards
Mike Testro
PS - How do I get to be a Moderator - I have sent in two requests but no response. - 0Gary Whitehead ·Hi Mike,
I’m wary of deleting threads that are just ’potentialy’ breaching copyright as there is clearly a demand amongst the PP community for this stuff, and I don’t want to deprive people of it on a presumption of guilt. Ultimately an ’official’ policy is needed, but that’s down to PP Admin (who, as you’ve noticed, isn’t particularly active on the forums lately)
I don’t know who’s moderating the Wiki site. -We don’t have particular areas we look after, we just jump in whenever we see an issue. I personally don’t use the wiki site, so I won’t be doing much moderation there.
To be a moderator, I think you just hjave to patiently wait for James to get back to you. He was fairly quick to respond to me, but perhaps it’s not as high a priority for him now the forums are being moderated again.
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