- Wed May 14, 2008 9:51 am
#325
There's a legal case currently pending in the UK that all of us should be aware of and watching closely, because it could change the way that fan sites operate.
In fact, it could force many sites (just like SG1Props) to remove all content.
The full BBC News story is here, but in a nutshell here's what it's about:
A fan of the BBC TV series Doctor Who put patterns on her website for fans to print out and make their own puppets of characters from the show. Well the BBC claims that other people downloaded the patterns, and used them to make puppets that they then sold on eBay. So, they made the woman who created the patterns take them down.
If the BBC wins their case then any website that has tutorials, downloads, desktops, avatars, photos, screencaps, fan films (ANY fan created content) could be forced to remove it if the studios (BBC, MGM, Paramount, Sony) believes that somebody else has downloaded them and made a profit in some way.
The case would set a legal precedent which could mean the end of fan created content on the Internet. (A bit extreme I know, but at least some fan sites could be put into danger.)
The bottom line is that it would be an easy case for them to prove that photos from a website are being used for profit, because there are thousands of photos and fan made items made from photos for sale on eBay and other websites.
While this may not spell doom for fan sites, it's something we all should watch closely.
Feel free to post this link on other websites![Exclamation :!:](./images/smilies/icon_exclaim.gif)
In fact, it could force many sites (just like SG1Props) to remove all content.
The full BBC News story is here, but in a nutshell here's what it's about:
A fan of the BBC TV series Doctor Who put patterns on her website for fans to print out and make their own puppets of characters from the show. Well the BBC claims that other people downloaded the patterns, and used them to make puppets that they then sold on eBay. So, they made the woman who created the patterns take them down.
If the BBC wins their case then any website that has tutorials, downloads, desktops, avatars, photos, screencaps, fan films (ANY fan created content) could be forced to remove it if the studios (BBC, MGM, Paramount, Sony) believes that somebody else has downloaded them and made a profit in some way.
The case would set a legal precedent which could mean the end of fan created content on the Internet. (A bit extreme I know, but at least some fan sites could be put into danger.)
The bottom line is that it would be an easy case for them to prove that photos from a website are being used for profit, because there are thousands of photos and fan made items made from photos for sale on eBay and other websites.
While this may not spell doom for fan sites, it's something we all should watch closely.
Feel free to post this link on other websites
![Exclamation :!:](./images/smilies/icon_exclaim.gif)
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