Copyright Question

[aaronus]

May I print fish species information and take it to work with me for the purpose of sharing with customers? I work at a place that sells tropical fish. I would be citing the forum on each page.

Thank you.

 

[rdd1952]

I'm not sure how something in the public domain like a forum is considered, whether it is owned by the forum, the writer or is truly public domain. I would think it would be up to each individual author but that is just a guess. I have only written one species profile for the forum and certainly wouldn't have any objection to you or anyone else using it in that sense.

 

[aaronus]

Thanks for your reply, rdd1952.
Are there any second opinions, or shall I go off of what he said?

 

[SuperColey1]

I think the info on here is uncopyrighted unless someone has already infringed a copyright by posting copyrighted material on the forum.

By that I mean if they have published information on here from a source that was copyrighted then they have already infringed the copyright of the original publisher. Therefore you shouldn't really take this sort of info further on than it has already gone as it shouldn't have been posted in the first place!!!

However people on here are freely giving advice and writings etc and therefore I would suggest they have already put their writing into the public domain therefore losing the right to copyright!!!

I'll have a quick look at the rules/T&Cs and edit this post to suit if I am wrong.

this is the only statement I can find which is a bit vague:
You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by this bulletin board

I can't see anything on here that clarifies which copyrights are owned by the board and therefore I can only assume that none are!!! for example if the name 'Tropical Fish Forums' is copyrighted it should have a © next to it or it should be clearly shown to be copyrighted. Also if the articles and threads were copyright of the board then there should be a clear message somewhere that will be seen easily that states this.

So as I say I don't think there can be many arguments over actual copyright owned by the board. Just material that shouldn't be here anyway as it was copyrighted by someone else and therefore not for the poster to publish in the first place. It would however be polite to ask the original poster of the info you want to publish, just as a matter of courtesy.

This however was William's (site owner) opinion on a thread last year:
It is my understanding that items posted on this site are the copyright of both the original author and also fishforums.net

I have found this statement though:
under UK law you do not have to have something copyrighted, everything you produce or write is your copyright automatically(be it a BASIC program, a hypothesis on antimatter as an energy source or a profile on a fish) unless you actively sign it away.

However it happens all the time. I would just suggest you pm the OP and ask.

AC

 

[andywg]

Anything you write on here is your copyright - none of the copyright belongs to William unless you have signed it away.

The fully correct way is to first PM the OP and ask them. The more common way on the internet with things that are posted to publicly available sites such as this (so you are not having to pay merely to view the information) is to post the stuff and link back to the original place you found it or properly accredit who created it.

 

[modaz]

Anything you write on here is your copyright - none of the copyright belongs to William unless you have signed it away.

The fully correct way is to first PM the OP and ask them. The more common way on the internet with things that are posted to publicly available sites such as this (so you are not having to pay merely to view the information) is to post the stuff and link back to the original place you found it or properly accredit who created it.

For the first time ever, I have to agree with andywg , copyright stands alone and secure once it is listed anywhere on the interent and has a name and date attatched to it.

e.g I here by state that this new strain of fish was created by ******** on **/**/** and is called **********

now thats all thats needed for a copyright to be valid. Even better when its on a forum as its dated automatically from the start. Always best to capture the screen shot as well just in case you need the proof at a later date if the website,forum or whatever no longer exists.

 

[MHunt]

May I print fish species information and take it to work with me for the purpose of sharing with customers? I work at a place that sells tropical fish. I would be citing the forum on each page.

Thank you.

In the words of the fast show - 'even better than that' why not point them in the direction of this forum then they can find all the information and get as much advice as they need! By all means use the species information to help your customers, but what could be better than pointing them towards this forum.

 

[rdd1952]

I doubt any member would have a problem with you printing their species profile as long as you referenced them. For those members still active, a simple PM asking permission would be good.

 

[raptorrex]

I doubt any member would have a problem with you printing their species profile as long as you referenced them. For those members still active, a simple PM asking permission would be good.

if the members are like me, i post and help with profiles, hoping as many people as possible will see them. but things like, diy and hardware ideas, some members put an awful lot of work into, so it would only be fair to ask before posting them!

 

[Schmill]

How bizarre would it be to wander into your LFS, start looking at the tanks and then have a helpful staff member (unusual enough in itself ), wander up and offer you some information on the fish you are looking at, only to find it was your own write-up about the species
Sorry, that thought just hit me

 

[andywg]

For the first time ever, I have to agree with andywg

How does it feel to be right for once

 

[aaronus]

How bizarre would it be to wander into your LFS, start looking at the tanks and then have a helpful staff member (unusual enough in itself ), wander up and offer you some information on the fish you are looking at, only to find it was your own write-up about the species
Sorry, that thought just hit me

Haha! If I happen to hand you the information that you wrote, let me know! It would be fun to meet you

 

[rocknurworld2006]

as far as i was aware it was owned by the forum and not the member writing it.

as i remember in tropical fish magazine this forum was used by usng the questions in it, and was then answered by tropical fish.?

 

[raptorrex]

as far as i was aware it was owned by the forum and not the member writing it.

as i remember in tropical fish magazine this forum was used by usng the questions in it, and was then answered by tropical fish.?

I'm sure the forum has the right to use posts made on it. but if payment were involved, that would be made to the member not the forum. Recently Goggle got burnt with Chrome. their terms and conditions meant that anything you did, using Chrome, was automatically the copyright of Goggle. it was pointed out it was both, illegal and immoral to do so, and the offending section was removed.

 

[andywg]

as far as i was aware it was owned by the forum and not the member writing it.

Nope.

Read the points above about everything you write being your copyright unless you actively sign it away. There is no such signing provision that I have seen in the rules and as such it remains your copyrighted material that you have chosen to place on the forum.