I’m sorry for the confusion, we’re talking about two different situations though.

The question here is one of where the infringement is taking place. If the infringement is taking place on the community site, the administrator has a responsibility as per the DMCA to remove the material if they are properly notified. You can read more about that in the “Contacting the Host” page.

If the infringement is taking place on a site outside of the admin’s control, such as a spam blog, the administrator can not do anything since they do not hold the copyright to the material. The DMCA requires that either the copyright holder or a designated agent file the notice.

The DMCA does not require the site to make a determination of ownership. If the notice is proper, they have to act. However, there is a counter-notice provision to get falsely removed works restored and severe civil penalties offered to anyone who misuses the DMCA.

The law basically says that the admin does not have the responsibility to determine who owns a work, just one to respond to proper notices of infringement that take place on their servers. Yes, the system has been abused a few times (search this site for Michael Crook) but it almost never worked out well for the person misusing it.

Hope that clarifies the situation! Let me know if you have any further questions.

I’m sorry for the confusion, we’re talking about two different situations though.

The question here is one of where the infringement is taking place. If the infringement is taking place on the community site, the administrator has a responsibility as per the DMCA to remove the material if they are properly notified. You can read more about that in the “Contacting the Host” page.

If the infringement is taking place on a site outside of the admin’s control, such as a spam blog, the administrator can not do anything since they do not hold the copyright to the material. The DMCA requires that either the copyright holder or a designated agent file the notice.

The DMCA does not require the site to make a determination of ownership. If the notice is proper, they have to act. However, there is a counter-notice provision to get falsely removed works restored and severe civil penalties offered to anyone who misuses the DMCA.

The law basically says that the admin does not have the responsibility to determine who owns a work, just one to respond to proper notices of infringement that take place on their servers. Yes, the system has been abused a few times (search this site for Michael Crook) but it almost never worked out well for the person misusing it.

Hope that clarifies the situation! Let me know if you have any further questions.

In this article you’re suggesting that community managers don’t hold the copyright for the content posted by their users, and therefore cannot determine where it could be displayed.

So in a nutshell, if Wordpress received an email from you saying another Wordpress user had stolen your content, what should Wordpress do if they can’t determine where that content belongs?

Indeed, how could they even know if it’s your content or not? Maybe you’re just making some story up, they can’t tell, plus they have millions of users, it’s probably too time consuming to check each case individually.

In this article you’re suggesting that community managers don’t hold the copyright for the content posted by their users, and therefore cannot determine where it could be displayed.

So in a nutshell, if Wordpress received an email from you saying another Wordpress user had stolen your content, what should Wordpress do if they can’t determine where that content belongs?

Indeed, how could they even know if it’s your content or not? Maybe you’re just making some story up, they can’t tell, plus they have millions of users, it’s probably too time consuming to check each case individually.

Thanks for the heads up, I fixed the mistake. I’m not sure why I just now saw your comment in my inbox but I did. However, it has been fixed.

Perhaps with all of the running around I’ve neglected my comment inbox some. I am sorry.

Thanks for the heads up, I fixed the mistake. I’m not sure why I just now saw your comment in my inbox but I did. However, it has been fixed.

Perhaps with all of the running around I’ve neglected my comment inbox some. I am sorry.

This is not legal advice. Please seek competent counsel.