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.
--
HPT
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