In article <491367df$0$17069$6e1ede2f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
High Plains Thumper <highplainsthumper@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Ah the pleasures of Google in removing amnesia for a discussion
> that occurred 30 months ago:
>
> http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.linux.advocacy/msg/5c4fb6d75517c9f7
>
> Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
> From: High Plains Thumper <h...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2006 09:58:35 +0000 (UTC)
> Subject: Re: Roy Schestowitz - Pirate
>
> [QUOTE]
> Erik Funkenbusch wrote:
> > So, it appears that Roy is using images on his blog that he
> > has wholesale copied from the authors without permission.
> >
> > I noticed this on this article:
> >
> > http://schestowitz.com/Weblog/archives/2006/03/03/scoble-giv
> > en-up/
> >
> > Interesting that he credits the image author (for that one),
> > but he neglected to actually get the authors permission to
> > copy it. I was supsicious that this might be the case and
> > emailed the author to find out. He confirmed that it was
> > copyright infringement.
> >
> > If he had merely linked to the image, it would have been more
> > acceptable, since he wouldn't have actually copied the image.
> > However, that would beg the bandwidth stealing argument of
> > linking to images on other peoples sites.
> >
> > In any event, I have to wonder how many other images on his
> > site have been similarly misappropriated. Many of them have
> > no credits at all.
> >
> > Bummer for you Roy.
>
> I am not so sure it is crackers for Roy. After going to his
> root webpage and clicking on "Gallery" on
>
> http://www.schestowitz.com/Gallery/
>
> shows this:
>
> : Home Visit in Spring
> : Photos are low in resolution (Web cam)
> : Last changed on 05/18/05. This album contains 17 items
> : This album has been viewed 929 times since 05/16/05.
> :
> : KDE Screenshots
> : Dual-head, SuSE Linux, 2003-2005
> : Last changed on 11/03/05. This album contains 10 items
> : This album has been viewed 1278 times since 04/04/05.
> :
> : Room view on December 16th, 2004
> : View from the room -- Photos by Lital Schestowitz
> : Last changed on 05/30/05. This album contains 16 items
> : This album has been viewed 1000 times since 01/01/05.
> :
> : The Sunnegga on December 16th, 2004
> : Assorted photos from the astounding hills -- Photos by Lital
> : Schestowitz
> : Last changed on 08/19/05. This album contains 16 items
> : This album has been viewed 866 times since 01/01/05.
> :
> : Around the village on December 16th, 2004
> : Pictures from the streets of Zermatt -- Photos by Lital
> : Schestowitz
> : Last changed on 05/30/05. This album contains 12 items
> : This album has been viewed 990 times since 01/01/05.
>
> A casual browse of his website shows mostly text with very
> little graphics. What limited graphics exist appear generic and
> iconish.
>
> He used WordPress, an open source publishing software:
>
> http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress
>
> /quote/
> We are proud to offer you a freely distributed, standards-
> compliant, fast, light and free personal publishing platform,
> with sensible default settings and features, and an extremely
> customizable core.
>
> License and Platform
>
> * License : WordPress is licensed under the GPL
> (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html)./-quote/
>
> I do not think use of WordPress images with the application are
> considered illegal.
>
> Furthermore, alternate webpage with images at
>
> http://schestowitz.com/Art/Schestowitz/images.html
>
> has 12 images limited to textual reference to his website name.
>
> IMHO, Fare Use clause in British copyright law allows the use of
> an image downloaded from the internet for personal use and
> research, provided credit is given to the owner/author. Being a
> graduate student, Mr. Schestowitz is a researcher.
>
> Did Mr. Schestowitz defame the author? I think not.
>
> Did he stretch the Fare Use clause in British copyright law by
> posting this only image on the net? Perhaps.
>
> However, would the American author consider it worthwhile to go
> after a college student, seeking compensation on British soil
> for a personal non-profit blog site with limited content and low
> volume hits? That would be ridiculous.
> [/QUOTE]
So, 30 months ago, you had no idea what Erik was talking about, and so
posted a bunch of random blather. Why do you think that is relevant now?
Hint: Erik is not talking about WordPress images. In an article Roy
published, Roy wanted a caricature the famous person he was writing
about. He went to the site of a commercial caricature artist, where he
found such a caricature of the famous person for sale. Roy ignored the
text on the page that gave instruction on how to contact the author to
license that artwork, and copied it to his site.
And no, this is not fair use. It was a blatant, and highly unethical,
violation of the artists rights. It was particularly rude, because it
was the kind of use that would diminish the value of the work. The
artist licenses his work to magazines and newspapers. If a particular
caricature is pirated on the web, magazines and newspapers will be less
likely to want to license it.
--
--Tim Smith
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