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Subject: Development of Creative Commons licenses

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  • From: "Todd A. Jacobs" <nospam AT codegnome.org>
  • To: cc-licenses AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: What to do in case of misuse
  • Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 07:29:20 -0800 (PST)

On Thu Feb 19 04:44:52 EST 2004, Douwe Osinga wrote:

> the content to world66. I am wondering what the best way is to do
> something about this.

If they are in the US, the easiest (but perhaps least friendly approach)
is to send a DMCA takedown notice to their ISP. If they are anywhere
else, ask a lawyer, but I imagine you'll need to send them a legal
demand for either removal of the infringing material and/or compliance
of the license.

> Of course we can send them an email, explaining the situation, but
> what if that doesn't work? Doesn't the fact that others can use my
> content for commercial purposes limit the damages I could have?

In the US, if they are in fact using it for commercial purposes, you can
usually sue for statutory and actual damages. If they are using it for
non-commercial use, you can probably only sue for statutory damages
unless you can show that the non-commercial use caused actual damages.
In either case, if you have registered your work with the copyright
office and included a copyright notice on the work, you can also sue for
punitive damages.

Consult with a lawyer to determine if the costs of litigation are worth
it. Personally, if it's a non-commercial infringment, I'd just send a
demand letter that they comply with the license or take down the
material, and only take further action if they don't comply.

--
Todd's "Customer Disservice Hall of Shame" currently contains:
- Charter Communications: Mislead their customers about service
levels, block normal Internet connectivity, and exhibit excessive
downtime.
- AT&T: Honoring the "checks" they send out to entice you to switch
long-distance providers is apparently optional.
- eFax: Receive (not send) 20 pages of *unsolicited* faxes, and lose
your account.



  • Re: What to do in case of misuse, Todd A. Jacobs, 02/20/2004

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