53
votes
Accepted
Why does Disney omit the year in their copyright notices?
For works released after 1989, Copyright notices don't have any legal consequences in the United States. They are just a friendly reminder of who created the work and that they take their copyrights ...
- 7,372
30
votes
Accepted
Are the Quotations in a Book of Quotations Copyrighted?
The copyright on the book of quotations protects the collection. That is, it protects the author's choice of which quotations to include, and of what order to list them in. It also covers any ...
- 114k
23
votes
If I have posted my own "homebrew" content on RPG.SE, and plan to publish it (after revising based on feedback), what credits am I required to give?
It's complicated
You still own your own posts
First off, you own everything that you originally created. Posting it on Stack Exchange doesn't affect your rights to your own content.
Incorporating ...
- 10.3k
22
votes
Accepted
What is the copyright status of a journal article written more than 70 years ago?
The article is public domain. The pictures aren’t
If this was first published in the British Empire (as it then was), then The UK is the place of first publication. What follows is its status under UK ...
- 215k
22
votes
Accepted
Someone is commercially using a feature of my (free) website. What can I do?
You would first have to find out if publishing a book was "for commercial purposes". I can write a book and publish it as a hobby.
Next you check if there is any copyright infringement. It ...
- 34.4k
21
votes
In which jurisdictions is publishing false statements a codified crime?
Several countries have laws against Holocaust denial. Such laws typically punish people who seriously minimise the scale of Nazi crimes, or entirely deny that generally accepted Nazi atrocities took ...
- 376
20
votes
Accepted
Does the DMCA takedown procedure apply if the original work is not online?
The relevant law requires only that the notice must provide "Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed" and "Identification of the material that is claimed ...
- 215k
18
votes
Accepted
Posthumous publishing
In the US, the right to publish is vested in the copyright holder, who is initially the author. That right can be transferred for example by a transfer agreement, and it can be inherited just as other ...
- 215k
16
votes
Accepted
Can a website incur liability for linking to a funding campaign for a lawsuit against it?
Yes
The directors of a company have a fiduciary duty to act within the law for the benefit of their shareholders - not to their customers, not to the government, not to the environment and not to the ...
- 215k
14
votes
Someone is commercially using a feature of my (free) website. What can I do?
Consider the following two usage scenarios:
Someone uses a web-based tool to produce a graphic layout that they end up selling.
Someone develops a web site that accepts input from paying clients, ...
- 721
14
votes
I was banned from an online forum. Which law would enable me to force admins to restore my account and issue an apology? (and pin my post to homepage)
Usually you have no remedy.
The terms of service of the online forum will usually reserve absolute discretion on the part of the forum administrators to ban you.
Free speech rights do not apply to the ...
- 224k
13
votes
Is Stack Exchange, Inc. a publisher or a public forum?
You really asked two different questions, so let's take them one at a time:
Publisher
Within the scope of 47 USC 230, Stack Exchange is defined as a provider of an "interactive computer service,&...
- 4,769
12
votes
Legality of online publishing of public records containing home addresses of large #'s of people?
Publishing government records is pretty classic First Amendment-protected activity. Keeping in mind that one can find a lawyer to sue for anything, I think that person would likely be operating well ...
- 60.8k
12
votes
Are Word-Frequency lists copyrightable?
The underlying text(s) may be subject to copyright protection, but the individual words are not -- they are usually independently existing words of the language (there are invented words like "...
- 215k
11
votes
I was banned from an online forum. Which law would enable me to force admins to restore my account and issue an apology? (and pin my post to homepage)
There is no such law.
Per xkcd:
- 2,953
9
votes
Accepted
Legality of online publishing of public records containing home addresses of large #'s of people?
As specified in the Public Records Act, under RCW 42.56.050 "invasion of privacy" (which is restricted by law) only arises when the content
(1) Would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and ...
- 215k
9
votes
Why does Disney omit the year in their copyright notices?
Just to be clear - Disney makes lots and lots of money off its characters, movies yes but its characters are the cash cow.
It is very very likely that one of Disney's strategies to not give up these ...
- 1,069
9
votes
In which jurisdictions is publishing false statements a codified crime?
To clarify the answer regarding the U.S.:
There is no Federal level statute for criminal defamation in the U.S. However, there are statutory laws in the U.S. that criminalize defamation in 23 states, ...
- 23k
8
votes
Are Word-Frequency lists copyrightable?
Data is not copyrightable, but databases (structured, organized data) might be. This depends on the jurisdiction, e.g. database rights are recognized in the EU. Whereas copyright protects creative ...
- 24k
8
votes
In which jurisdictions is publishing false statements a codified crime?
united-kingdom
In the UK, the Communications Act 2003 makes it illegal to lie over the internet in order to annoy someone.
(2) A person is guilty of an offence if, for the purpose of causing ...
- 181
7
votes
Legality of online publishing of public records containing home addresses of large #'s of people?
I would be careful that no records belong to EU citizens, as it would likely be illegal under GDPR to have their information without their specific permission, and giving them the right to have it ...
- 248
7
votes
If I have posted my own "homebrew" content on RPG.SE, and plan to publish it (after revising based on feedback), what credits am I required to give?
You must give appropriate credit
User content on stack exchange sites is licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Appropriate credit is:
If supplied, you must provide the name of the creator and ...
- 215k
7
votes
In which jurisdictions is publishing false statements a codified crime?
Many jurisdictions in the United States make it a crime to defame someone.
- 60.8k
7
votes
I was banned from an online forum. Which law would enable me to force admins to restore my account and issue an apology? (and pin my post to homepage)
You offer 3 ideas:
freedom of speech is fundamental human right
online forums are categorised as public spaces
there should be some statutory right to appeal the ban
Of the three, only ONE is true, ...
- 41.5k
7
votes
Does the DMCA takedown procedure apply if the original work is not online?
Yes.
Many works do not exist online. Like books. You can DMCA a book that only exists physically. It's a little more complicated than for a webpage or online available one, but it works.
- 41.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Can I commercially publish a chess book containing chess positions that were played by real people?
It is a fact that a particulate chess game was played on a particular date by certain specific players, who made specific moves. Facts are not protected by copyright. Anyone is free to report such a ...
- 114k
6
votes
Accepted
What is the legal status of publishing chess games played by real people? (update)
We cannot and will not try to answer "what should i do?" questions here.
Nothing in the linked page makes me think that the views expressed in the previous question here are any less correct....
- 114k
6
votes
Is citing research publications in a blog post enough, or are there additional rights one must obtain?
how would this differ between say ArXiv which is open access, and a
publication that is pay-only, like Elsevier or Nature?
It wouldn't.
But if the equation is the creation of the author of some ...
- 224k
5
votes
Accepted
Can I use whole poems from classic writers in my book?
The first copyright law dates from 1710, so it's not true that Chekhov wrote before any copyright laws. Any work prior to 1924 isn't necessarily safe to use (it depends on when the author died). It is ...
- 2,346
5
votes
Can I publish a book with hashes of common passwords?
Yes (in most jurisdictions), but why should you?
There might be some interests in publishing the 1,000 most common passwords, e.g. to support security awareness lectures (or to build rainbow tables ...
- 18.9k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible