Copyright Infringement......

[Badger]

Hello ……

I wanted to post a general reminder about copyright infringement …

I've just finished deleting for a second time in the last 24 hours, posts by a member which publicly made available a copyrighted book.

The first post contained a link to an illegally created PDF electronic file version that was placed in a public drop box folder, while the second post contained a direct link to a thread in the CSP forums, where apparently this book has been available for download for several weeks.

The book in question is The Lee-Enfield Rifle by Martin Pegler (Amazon Link).

I sent the member an email notifying him that posting content that was still copyrighted without permission was exposing us to litigation. His reply was that CSP members said it was fine to post links to copyrighted material and the practice was endorsed by the Culvers and their moderators.

Well, I can't speak to what CSP condones, but unless I'm not aware of a recent change in its public domain status, Martin's book is currently copyrighted and posting illegal copies in electronic format for free download on the Internet clearly violates his copyright under the law. The result is that web site owners who permit the practice may be held liable for financial penalties and damages if condoned by them, plus their records may be subpoenaed to obtain information about who received illegally copyrighted material from their site.

For greater clarity, to re-state our policy here, which reflects Canadian copyright information:

As per the Copyright Act, copyright in a work exists for the life of the author/creator, the remainder of the calendar year in which he is deceased, plus fifty years after the end of that calendar year.

For Crown copyrighted works, there is a slight difference. Section 12 of the Copyright Act stipulates:

“12. Without prejudice to any rights or privileges of the Crown, where any work is, or has been, prepared or published by or under the direction or control of Her Majesty or any government department, the copyright in the work shall, subject to any agreement with the author, belong to Her Majesty and in that case shall continue for the remainder of the calendar year of the first publication of the work and for a period of fifty years following the end of that calendar year. [S.C. 1993, c. 44, s. 60(1)]”

So, I ask everyone to think before you post direct links to books, movies and other material that may currently be under a valid copyright status.



Thanks for listening …..

Regards,
Doug