MacGyverMagic/Mgm wrote:
There's a lot of stuff that *IS* copyrighted. And even if the submitter owned that material they may not be knowing what they are giving up. Creating some polite template to use for such deletions may help pages get proper sources and educate people about copyright at the same time.
I think just speedying text from commericial content providers is not enough. IMDB is not commericial, but they clearly state they're material is copyrighted and they do not wish it to be duplicated and I'm sure there's enough webmasters who think the same. Keeping such material is blatant violation of copyright. We need to protect people from their copyright being violated not only by others, but also by themselves (without knowing what they are doing).
Deleting the material would actually be a favor in some cases.
There are two sides to that story. A lot of time a copyright notice is posted without thinking when the author really doesn't give a damn. IMDB is a good example. I have added a few bits to it in the past, but copyright was the furthest thing from my mind when I did so. I'm sure that if I looked at those pages I would find the routine copyright notice whether I want it or not. Is there anything in the IMDB terms of use that says that you give up copyrights to anything you contribute to them?
The thought that anyone would sue himself for copyright infringement strikes me as a little offbeat.
Ec