Bobbsy Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I'm certainly not a lawyer but I'm sure I've read of lots of case law that indicates providing links to existing pages is completely legal. Once somebody has "published" material in the open on the Net, telling somebody of it's existence would be hard to criticise. It occurs that, unless this was the case, Google and other search engines would be on pretty dodgy ground since they make their living by providing links. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I suspect the dodgy element is where sources are not credited - and I guess a link is a good way of not hiding the fact it's somebody else's? Sometimes the source is obvious from the actual content. Where it gets messy is when user 3 gets the info from user 2, who didn't credit it - and user 2's site doesn't make it clear they don't own the material themselves. Then understandably the original writer, views user 3 with annoyance. I remember sitting in a college a few years ago looking at work doing some BTEC stuff - and I read a student's explanation of profiles and Fresnels - and I mentioned to the teacher that is was a shame they'd spelled Fresnel wrongly on the NEXT page. She looked confused, and I turned over to reveal Frensel! The entire piece, given a Distinction, I noted was something I wrote for a website long dead. Leaving aside the odds of stealing something and then having it verified by the person you stole it from, I've no idea how they found it - I tried Googling some sentences, but no luck. I've always treated anything I stick on youtube, vimeo or facebook as free for all. If you want ownership, forget it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wol Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I'm certainly not a lawyer but I'm sure I've read of lots of case law that indicates providing links to existing pages is completely legal. Once somebody has "published" material in the open on the Net, telling somebody of it's existence would be hard to criticise. The edfringe website did have a line in their terms and conditions about not linking to their website without prior permission from them. (see the PS in Email from one of the sysadmin guys at Soton Uni to them). Seems there are some other websites too which seem to follow that too. Shame really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modge Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 The edfringe website did have a line in their terms and conditions about not linking to their website without prior permission from them. The legal relevance of click through terms and conditions is something of a grey area in it's own right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainwave-generator Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I wouldn't worry, it's not like you're competing companies is it? Their biggest desk is a 24ch LX7, you have Digico & Yamaha digitals.Their biggest PA is a HK Elias, you have D&B Q-series.Their lighting console is a Z88 fat frog, you have Pearls.etc etc Feel sorry for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Hmmmm? (tm Ynot) That is surely the point whereby a smaller company can ride on the digital coat-tails of a larger or more well-known one thereby misrepresnting? Or am I being as dense about the Interweb as usual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 ...The entire piece, given a Distinction, I noted was something I wrote for a website long dead. Leaving aside the odds of stealing something and then having it verified by the person you stole it from, I've no idea how they found it - I tried Googling some sentences, but no luck... There's lots of very old website material (including schematics for Tecpro beltpacks!) to be found on the Wayback Archive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior8 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Hmmmm? (tm Ynot) That is surely the point whereby a smaller company can ride on the digital coat-tails of a larger or more well-known one thereby misrepresnting? Only if there was a real danger of the customer genuinely mistaking one for another. The problem with the copyright issue is that while the law is clear - except in very clear circumstances if you wrote it you own the rights - proving any loss is difficult. After all the intrinsic value of most of this stuff is trivial. So getting content taken down is the best you can hope for. As for linking well I can't see that it's any more than a dynamic bibliography. There is though an issue which some would well to take a tad more seriously and that is the fact that the ASA now has a remit over on-line marketing. This applies not only to company's own websites but to any marketing messages they place on Social Networking sites as well. Now as usual with the ASA it's almost impossible to sort out what is an is not included. But I have seen some sites mentioned on BR which contain claims about being able to provide this and that service which, shall we say, seem a tad unlikely and could give rise to a complaint. I am hoping that their first targets will be one or two of our biggest ticket agencies... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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