Property Of....

[Patti Feinberg]

Hello...when people on here (and other net places) put up (okay...the montage, or Connie's delic. pics...what's the right phrase?)
When the pics are 'on here'...where do they come from?

We've discussed not using things w/o permission, but, where do the pics come from? And, wouldn't all permission have to be through DCP?

This goes in w/another question...I hear of these sites where you're 'allowed' to 'download' (never done this) songs...but, why would a label allow you to freely download instead of purchasing a song?

Thanks,

Patti...who's now going to push the below "Additional Options" button

Not allowed to upload bitmaps!!

WAAAAY KEWL...WITH THE NEW BUTTON...CHANGE COLOR!!!! WHOOSH!!!

[Midnite]

CHANGE COLOR!!!! WHOOSH!!!

I whooshed it to another because I couldn't read the purple text without highlighting it.

[Patti Feinberg]

....and I must have missed this, because hours after I posted this, I was allowed to modify it (and I subsequently changed it to yellow, now red!) Wheeee! [/color]

Patti

[victoriawinters]

Hello...when people on here (and other net places) put up (okay...the montage, or Connie's delic. pics...what's the right phrase?)
When the pics are 'on here'...where do they come from?

We've discussed not using things w/o permission, but, where do the pics come from? And, wouldn't all permission have to be through DCP?

You ask some interesting questions Patti.  As for the pictures I may post here, I'm guessing they are photos I have taken myself with my digital camera or created using PaintShop Pro or Adobe Photoshop Elements.  If they have a DS image from the show, it probably was a capture from the DVDs I own.  I have a DVD player with capture software on my computer.

Any newer pictures I may have done from say like Angel episodes of Alec Newman were done using my digital camera and capturing from the TV.  Not as good of a quality but I don't have the technology to hook up a video to my computer with capture software.

When they show up in a post, chances are really likely I've uploaded it to my web space and use the

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[img]tagMy signature, avatar and web banner at the bottom are examples of this.

Ultimately, it is probably a no no to take or use DS images without permission.   Should they choose to enforce that, there would probably not be too many web sites left on DS.  Let's face facts.  DCP does not even own the domain name, "darkshadows.com".  It's owned by Brian Samaritoni.

I did some "who is" searches on some popular DS domain names.  Not one of them is even owned by DCP including the DS Fest Site.  MPI owns the domain darkshadowsdvd.com.  This means that we fans pay for, create and maintain internet information for Dark Shadows.  As far as I can tell, DCP does nothing.  I would think then that it's not in their best interest to shut us all down.  They are getting loads of free publicity out of it without the cost of website maintainence.

It's my guess they will be more picky about broadcast of the episodes without paying a license fee because of broadcast right, DVD and videotape revenues.  That I'm sure, would be much bigger bucks to sweat over.

[MsCriseyde]

I did some "who is" searches on some popular DS domain names.  Not one of them is even owned by DCP including the DS Fest Site.  MPI owns the domain darkshadowsdvd.com.  This means that we fans pay for, create and maintain internet information for Dark Shadows.  As far as I can tell, DCP does nothing.  I would think then that it's not in their best interest to shut us all down.  They are getting loads of free publicity out of it without the cost of website maintainence.

I wouldn't put too much faith in a whois search on domain names as an indication of who ultimately controls or foots the bill for a site. In many instances, sites are registered in the name of webmasters and/or technical consultants and then billed back to the actual owners. Their names and addresses may never appear for a number of reasons including privacy issues and the fact that they wouldn't have the technical expertise to deal with any of the mail/e-mail related to the site.

Anyway, I wouldn't expect the Dark Shadows Festival site to be owned by DCP or MPI. Ostensibly, the Festival is a fan organization with members who work on a volunteer basis, not a corporate entity.

The "free publicity" argument ultimately doesn't carry any weight should someone decide to dispute your use of their copyrighted material. However, companies generally don't bother you if you're not interfering with their ability to turn a profit. Therefore, posting a screen grab isn't likely to cause problems. Posting so much of an episode that your presentation serves as a substitute for buying the actual item will get you into hot water.

If your site serves as a supplement to rather than a substitute for a product, then you usually don't have much to worry about, but that's certainly not a guarantee.

[victoriawinters]

In many instances, sites are registered in the name of webmasters and/or technical consultants and then billed back to the actual owners. Their names and addresses may never appear for a number of reasons including privacy issues and the fact that they wouldn't have the technical expertise to deal with any of the mail/e-mail related to the site...

EEE I got a promotion to technical consultant?  Are you one too? 

I wasn't arguing the validity of the publicity argument other then why would they really bother?  Truly, if it came to it, they'd be in the right legally speaking.  But, what money would they get from anyone is the other thing.  Would be a might hard to collect damages.  Most corporations, unless really nasty, don't bother with the chump stuff because they would pay more in attorneys' fees then they would get out of a lawsuit in a judgment.

[MsCriseyde]

I wasn't arguing the validity of the publicity argument other then why would they really bother?  Truly, if it came to it, they'd be in the right legally speaking.  But, what money would they get from anyone is the other thing.  Would be a might hard to collect damages.

Ah, but not every legal dispute ever makes it to court. Usually, the copyright owner begins by simply sending a letter, or, in some cases, an email message, to the webmaster asking them to cease and desist. In the case of fan web sites, usually the fear of ticking off the actor, director, etc., is enough to make them stop.

If they stupidly continue, there are other avenues to pursue long before it shows up in court. The copyright owner need only notify the entity that hosts the web site under guidelines laid out in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (aka the DMCA), and the entire site will usually be yanked for violating the host's Terms of Service.

As part of the web consulting work I do, I've been involved with situations where an email was sent to a webmaster about a copyright issue, and I've also been involved in a situation where a web host was contacted under the DMCA guidelines. Both are cheap, quick and relatively painless processes for the copyright owners.