3 ms·

Putting up a place on your website to receive DMCA takedown notices, having a policy in place, and responding swiftly seems like good practice for any app that

Putting up a place on your website to receive DMCA takedown notices, having a policy in place, and responding swiftly seems like good practice for any app that accepts user-generated content.

benologist 16y ago
Then where's HN's DMCA policy? Or are they just not worried that they'll turn into a link dump for tv shows and thus be targeted?
- Natsu 16y ago
  You can check if they have an agent registered by going here: http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/ http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/ It's a pain in the rear to find a given site because they give you PDFs and they're out of date, so I'm not going to look it up. You can find other hints on finding someone's registered agent here: http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2009/07/16/6-steps-to-find-a-hosts-dmca-contact/ http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2009/07/16/6-steps-to-find-a-... So I don't know whether or not YC has one, but you do not get safe harbor protection if you don't have one. That means you can be blamed for something your users do. Hopefully, HN's users won't make that into a problem, but as a pure business decision, it's unwise not to. Has anyone ever submitted news from the Las Vegas Review Journal? They're going around and suing people right now for that, looking in particular for people who don't have a registered DMCA agent and who can, therefore, be held liable for their users actions. HN links to tons of news sources. If that case pans out for them, I'd expect it to turn into a legal gold rush for enterprising lawyers. $105 to register your site is pretty cheap insurance. IANAL. This is not legal advice. Copyright lawsuits are very expensive, due to the high statutory damages. Talking with a lawyer is cheap in comparison, so be sure to get proper legal advice before taking any legal action.

3 ms·

Putting up a place on your website to receive DMCA takedown notices, having a policy in place, and responding swiftly seems like good practice for any app that

by cosgroveb 16y ago

Putting up a place on your website to receive DMCA takedown notices, having a policy in place, and responding swiftly seems like good practice for any app that accepts user-generated content.

benologist 16y ago
Then where's HN's DMCA policy? Or are they just not worried that they'll turn into a link dump for tv shows and thus be targeted?
- Natsu 16y ago
  You can check if they have an agent registered by going here: http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/ http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/ It's a pain in the rear to find a given site because they give you PDFs and they're out of date, so I'm not going to look it up. You can find other hints on finding someone's registered agent here: http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2009/07/16/6-steps-to-find-a-hosts-dmca-contact/ http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2009/07/16/6-steps-to-find-a-... So I don't know whether or not YC has one, but you do not get safe harbor protection if you don't have one. That means you can be blamed for something your users do. Hopefully, HN's users won't make that into a problem, but as a pure business decision, it's unwise not to. Has anyone ever submitted news from the Las Vegas Review Journal? They're going around and suing people right now for that, looking in particular for people who don't have a registered DMCA agent and who can, therefore, be held liable for their users actions. HN links to tons of news sources. If that case pans out for them, I'd expect it to turn into a legal gold rush for enterprising lawyers. $105 to register your site is pretty cheap insurance. IANAL. This is not legal advice. Copyright lawsuits are very expensive, due to the high statutory damages. Talking with a lawyer is cheap in comparison, so be sure to get proper legal advice before taking any legal action.