[thelist] Copywrite question.....

[Keith]

> Well, it seems that there are a few members on her list that are
> posting her listings on our forums.  This is against her site policies
> and she claims her copyright.

> claiming we are violating her copyright.  This is not exclusive
> contests just for her people to enter.  We are talking about contests
> from sites like Sony, GM and other big name companies.  I would think
> that the information she is publishing about these companies' contests
> are copyrighted by these companies if anyone at all.

If she's copying phrases used by Sony, GM etc then she probably
has a copyright problem with those people. But, if she is using
different phrases, phrases that she thinks are unique and more
effective, then she has some claim of intellectual property rights to
those phrases.

I sympathize with your situation so I'm just trying to look at it from her
view point (play devil's advocate). If I ran an advertising campaign
and called a product a "wooper dooper ice pick" and the public
responded to that better than calling it a "super dooper ice pick" I'd
expect to have established a unique and useful phrase and expect
to have some intellectual rights to it. If you had done the same, you
too might expect the same rights. Phraseology IS important.

It's not just a legal matter. If she believes that her unique wording is
worth paying for, and if she has people paying for it, then she's
right, and has a legitimate gripe about seeing her creative effort
being pirated. At least that's how it seems at 5:07 on a Sunday
afternoon. Of course this all hinges on if she's using "unique"
phrasing instead of copying from others.

If the two of you are in direct competition, either by design or by
happenstance, I'd say you have a problem, to which I can offer no
solutions off the top of a tired head other than tagging your posters
with a cookie and then banning anyone from viewing and/or posting
who violates your site's policy on this issue.. But if you are not really
in competition, could you offer her a referal link or free banner
advertising to compensate. You don't want the situation anymore
than she does, is there a way to turn the problem into an
opportunity??

keith