interesting
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They snooze, they're sued

Do Internet Service Providers Really Have to Delete Copyrighted Material that Members of the Public Have Placed on Their Chat Boards?
QUESTION:

I work as a "board monitor" at a major Internet Service Provider. That means that I make sure that when members of the public post material on our online bulletin or "chat" board, it isn't offensive, illegal or against our company policies. Lately I've had to remove a lot of copyrighted articles that people post because they put up the whole thing, word for word, even the copyright logo. Sure, they sometimes add their own question at the end of the article, but isn't this still a copyright violation? What do I tell these people when they yell at me?

ANSWER:
Getting yelled at may be an uncomfortable experience, but it's probably not as bad as being sued. Yes, posting entire articles is a copyright violation, and you are definitely doing your job right by removing them.

Your company is no doubt trying to carefully follow the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA basically says that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can avoid copyright liability only if they get no financial benefit from copyrighted material, aren't initially aware of the infringement and remove or disable access to copyright-infringing material as soon as they find out it's on their website. An ISP that doesn't follow these rules could find itself sued directly by the owner of the copyright.

What to tell the folks yelling at you? Probably not the first thing that comes into your head. Instead, try appeasing them with the alternatives.
Ask them to summarize the article in their own language -- doing so is not an infringement
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Suing for use of a photo

Bad Hair Day on the Internet
QUESTION:

What rights does a person have if their picture was taken and then posted to an Internet website without their permission? Are they entitled to any profits of the website? Can they sue if the picture was uncomplimentary?

ANSWER:

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but not necessarily a thousand dollars in legal damages.

You can stop the use of your image at a website for three reasons: invasion of privacy, violation of right of publicity or defamation.

Invasion of privacy can occur if you are portrayed falsely and in a highly offensive manner -- for example, your photo was posted at "America's Most Wanted" website. And you are not Wanted -- in the Catch a Criminal sense. Your privacy may also be invaded if the photo was taken by someone who intruded on you in a situation in which you had a reasonable expectation of privacy -- for example, spying on you at home. It is not an invasion of privacy to photograph someone in a public place or at any event where the public is invited.

Another reason to stop the use is known as the right of publicity. This occurs if your image is used for commercial purposes such as to sell products or to imply that you endorse a product. If the photo is used in a commercial website -- that is, one sponsored by a business or that sells products or services -- the unauthorized use of your image would probably violate your right of publicity. The public must be able to identify you in the photograph.

You can also stop the website use if the photo defames you -- that is, it creates a false impression and injures your reputation. For example, it would be defamatory to doctor a photo to make it seem as if you were shoplifting. The fact that an unmodified photo is unflattering is not enough to claim defamation. The photo must falsely portray you and must cause people in the community to think less of you.
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Dog's bad hair day deserves reimbursement

Can I Sue a Groomer Who Burned My Dog's Tail?

QUESTION:
The dog groomer "burned" the underside of my dog's tail, but did not disclose the injury, which was noted by the vet later. I paid the groomer by check -- and also incurred expenses to heal the dog's tail. Can the grooming fee be recovered?

ANSWER:

If you have not done so, ask the groomer to reimburse you for your expenses. If the groomer caused the injury, he or she should cover your vet bill -- and refund what you paid for the grooming, if only as a good business measure.

If the groomer is not attuned to reimbursing you, consider putting his or her feet to the fire in small claims court. To succeed on your claim, you will need to have evidence -- perhaps a statement from the vet -- that careless grooming injured the dog. Embarrassing as it might be for Fido, it would also help your case if you could produce photos of the injured tail area.
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What to do after you've pulled in the Welcome mat

How Can I Keep Custody of My Daughter When Her Father Has a Criminal Record?

QUESTION:
My daughter is almost seven months old. Her father will soon be 20, but he acts like he is 12. He's used drugs, and has a criminal record (assaults). Since my daughter's birth, he has only visited her once a month and given her a total of $120. But now he says he wants custody! We haven't been to court yet, but we have a mediation coming up. How can I make sure I keep my child?

ANSWER:

Did you ever see that movie Erin Brockovich? It's about a single mom who digs up enough records about a utility company's toxic dumping to bring a major lawsuit against it. You might want to see it for inspiration, because you too will have to do some records-sleuthing.

The key to keeping custody of your child is: document, document, document. That is, get court, police and other records for as much of the father's misspent life as you can. You'll need these records whether you go to divorce court (you don't mention whether you married him or not) or a paternity court (which handles custody and support for unmarried parents).

Can you just waltz in and get a copy of someone's record? Not exactly. Police and courts have different requirements for giving someone in your position records of arrests and crimes. I suggest going to the places where you suspect this guy has been arrested or brought to court and find the records office. Try hanging out in the back of the lobby and watching the clerks until you figure out which one is the most sympathetic. Then explain your predicament and ask what they can give you to take to court. They might, um, bend a few rules for you

For criminal incidents where you can't find an official record, see if the victim will give you a handwritten note describing what happened. It doesn't need to be in fancy legal language, but should give as much detail as possible. Just above the victim's signature, he or she should write "I declare under penalty of perjury the foregoing is true and correct." Don't forget to add the date, too.

Now, how about the father's visitation and (lack of) support? Get a little pocket calendar and write down exactly when he visits and how much money he gives you. Give him a receipt for every payment just to show what a responsible bookkeeper you are.

After you've collected these various records, make several copies to leave with the agencies you may have to deal with. (But try to hang on to an original and/or certified copy for future use.) I'll bet that once you have these documents in your hands, you'll feel much stronger when you get to mediation or the court. After all, it won't just be your word against the father's

Interesting that the first issue here is copyright law, and what is posted appears to be copyrighted material without the benefit of a credit for the source. (LOL)

However, the information is also incorrect, where it pertains to a message board on the internet. What the ANSWER person DIDN'T address is Section 512 (C) of the DMCA, which specifically provides for limitations on liability for website or service providers, whose users are posting copyrighted material.

The Website owner/agent is NOT liable under copyright infringement if the Webmaster/Agent is AWARE of the infringement, and has received an objection to the infringement, and then removes the item. If the Webmaster/Agent has NOT been informed that the posted material is infringing on a copyright (by someone who has interest in the copyright) there is no obligation to assume that permission has NOT been granted and they are not required to remove the posted item/article.

The Section is a little bit more complicated than just that, but simply put, the website can assume permission has been granted for copyrighted material to be posted, unless notified otherwise. Once they ARE notified, their only obligation is to remove the offending post.

The rest seems to be in fairly good order, with the exception of the custody/visitation/support issue. Since that is a highly complicated matter, and not really related to the theme of this site, I won't bother to address it.