Posting © Copyright Protected Content

[jack10562 414]

Reminder:

Please review our posting rules regarding news and other stories found online and elsewhere.

http://www.emtbravo....ndpost&p=109123

Re-posting Copyright protected content in it's entirety can violate the source copyright restrictions, trademark and other proprietary rights Laws.

If you see the © Copyright symbol on the page you found your information, or in the source site Acceptable Use or Terms of Service links, then it falls under our posting rules.

Internet News stories and published materials other than official press releases, are almost always Copyright Protected © content.

Thanks!

Jack

[WAS967 97]

Is posting the link and a short "blurb" still acceptable?

EDIT: I noticed my post in EMS was deleted so I'm guessing not.

Edited November 20, 2010 by WAS967

[jack10562 414]

Is posting the link and a short "blurb" still acceptable?

EDIT: I noticed my post in EMS was deleted so I'm guessing not.

Is posting the link and a short "blurb" still acceptable?

Yes, absolutely.

EDIT: I noticed my post in EMS was deleted so I'm guessing not.

Can you PM me which topic that was? I can't see any of your recent posts which may have been taken offline.

[abaduck 123]

Yes... I meant to post about this a while ago. There's a very nasty copyright trolling law firm active at the moment. They recently sued an EMT website:

http://www.ems1.com/legislation-funding/articles/865819-NH-EMS-blogger-hit-with-lawsuit/

Their MO is, they trawl the internet looking for blog posts etc. quoting newspaper articles, then *buy a retrospective copyright* to the article so they can sue for ludicrous damages, out of all proportion to any actual losses. I have to say, a mugger or the mob is more honest in their villainy; very nasty pieces of work.

Some good news: they've recently suffered a serious setback, losing a case they actually brought to court:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101020/17471011517/righthaven-loses-first-lawsuit-judge-says-copying-was-fair-use.shtml

So hopefully EMTCity will be ok!

[IzzyEng4 427]

Having written a lesson plan on copyright violations form my fire service instructors exam, you need to make sure that you properly credit any article, photo or video when you post. Same thing with using handouts when teaching a class taken from any publication. By posting in a quote box the title, first sentence and the link, you are covered and are not posting without permission. Your are making the reader go to the actual article. It doesn't matter if a site is private, subscription or public, posting the whole article is in violation and you can be sued for copyright violations.

[jack10562 414]

Thanks for the added input, Mike and Joe.

With firms like these trolling the Net, there is no telling whose content they might lock on to in the future. And it sounds like once they have you in their sights, there will be no opportunity to apologize and remove the "offending content" to close the issue.

You will need a lawyer, and a prayer.

And a checkbook.

EMTBravo site staff will sometimes edit posts containing more than the first paragraph of a copied article, however we are under no obligation to edit these or monitor any post on the site for compliance. There is always a possibility offending content could remain unnoticed.

Posters are entirely responsible for the content in their messages posted on our forums.

If everyone follows the site posting rules there should be no problem.

[WAS967 97]

It was about the MLSS station in Poughkeepsie. Article in Pojo. Pretty sure it posted.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

Whoa this situation for that website is totally f****d. These lawyers went after the website owner. He's got a "legal fund" contribution tab and asking members for $150 for a lifetime membership. He's also stating in his legal updater that he's going to settle because his attorney fees are running up too quickly. Guess he couldn't get any help from a legal defense fund.

The amount of the legal fund is TEN GRAND. He's also stated that there will probably be stipulations in his agreement which will prevent him from discussing the case if he settles.

Now; that website is eerily similar to this one. They even have their own "rep points."

But; I was able to access the site and read the content. I haven't registered. I read one thread in patient care and was pretty much blown away by the sophistication of the discussion. STILL: like this site, you can't see any of the posts except the first one if you aren't registered, am I correct? Every computer I've gone on Bravo, I've had to sign in to read posts. I would suggest EMTCity do the same thing immediately, but the damage is already done.

They are going after THE OWNER of the site. I don't know if it was he who posted the infringed material.

One guy on the news blog called it when he said these attorneys were S*** B****. I couldn't agree more, but we've really got to start watching ourselves on here.

Another thing I would do; check out where there might be an "ACLU" for the internet. There's got to be some kind of legal help out there from somebody, you know that will take up the cause for the principle involved (there is a pun there).

Alright onward we go...........

[WAS967 97]

It's called the Electronic Freedom Foundation. EMTCity should look into contacting them.