Dear Rich: Nolo’s Patent, Copyright & Trademark Blog

Dear Rich: My masters thesis was posted online (as a PDF document) without my permission. The thesis includes the copyright icon but was not registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Is the online posting of my thesis an infringement of copyright? If so, how can I have it removed? The short answer to your question is that yes, the unauthorized reproduction of your thesis is an infringement and yes, you are entitled to have it removed (regardless of whether you have registered the work). However, whether it will be removed depends on a few factors --  most notably the site where it is posted. 

Dear Rich: I have a question. If I license audio or video content, can I load an iPod with that licensed content and resell it? I'm so glad you asked. The short answer is that it depends what you mean by "licensed content." When you buy the Iron Man movie from the iTunes store, you're really licensing it, and you can't resell that type of "licensed content" on your iPod. But if you enter into a license agreement with the owners of Iron Man that specifically permits reproduction and resale on the iPod, then, yes, you can resell that type of licensed content. Similarly, if your band wanted to sell iPods pre-loaded with its music and videos, that shouldn't be an issue (assuming your band owns all rights to its content). But beware starting one of the many business that engage in selling pre-loaded iPods. According to the Dear Rich staff, this is one of the cloudier issues of copyright law and there is no case law that directly answers your question. Note that companies that rip user-owned DVDs to pre-loaded iPods have faced the wrath of the MPAA. Also, as we noted in a previous post, when reselling iPods, you should avoid any implication that you are a licensed Apple reseller or in any way affiliated with Apple.

Dear Rich: I set up a blog aggregator. I don't have ads or anything, it's just for me and a few friends to use. I include excerpts of articles, links to the original articles, and some of the full posts of the original articles. Somebody claimed that I violated their copyright, sent a DMCA complaint to my webhost, who then took my site down without any notification or chance for me to make a correction. My host is now claiming that they have to immediately take the entire website down, without notice, because of the 1998 DMCA. I read about the DMCA at the Copyright Office website.  It doesn't say that a website has to come down immediately (or even seem to be very clear on how much written material constitutes 'infringement'). I'm a little confused, as most of this is new to me. Could you offer some insight? I'm so glad you asked. As for the content at your site: According to the Dear Rich staff, there is no problem with the links in hypertext form. Reproducing full articles is probably an infringement; providing excerpts is disputable. We presume a copyright owner sent a take-down notice to your online service provider (OSP), who acted "expeditiously" and removed the infringing content. By removing the material, the OSP qualifies for a "safe harbor" from any liability. If you dispute the notice -- many are abusive -- and you're willing to risk a court battle, consider a counter notice. (Here are samples and more information.) If the complaining copyright owner fails to respond to your counter notice by filing a lawsuit (uh-oh!), the OSP may re-post your content. These rules and procedures are part of the news-friendly Digital Millennium Copyright Act.