Copyright Guidelines!

Why worry about copyright law?

Well, aside from respecting the rights of writers, artists and publishers, and complying with federal law, there is another reason.. keeping Callahan’s open.

According to Delphi’s Terms of Service agreement, Delphi Forums has the right to close any forum that violates any local, state, federal or international law.

This includes federal and international copyright law.

What it means for us here at Callahan’s is that we must be careful not to jeopardize our community. We adhere to copyright law in several ways:

Removing posts from view until a link can be provided to replace the post, or permission to post can be obtained. Permanently removing posts from view. Editing posts that violate copyright. We try to notify the poster and allow them to edit their own post, but the fact remains that copyright violations cannot remain on the message board. On rare ocassions, deleting posts.

Please do not post copyrighted material in Callahans. If you’re not sure about the copyright status of something, it is best to assume you don't have the right to copy it.

All of the following are copyright violations if done without permission:

Posting newspaper or magazine articles, whether copied from an online source or re-typed from a printed source. Posting poems, song lyrics, short stories unless they are in public domain. Posting or attaching images, photos, graphics, etc. Even signature graphics, if copied and used without permission. Calling images from another server without permission. This is a copyright violation and bandwidth theft. Posting messages from another forum. Posting other’s email messages.

There are sources that allow free use of their text or images, usually requiring only attribution or a link back to their site.
Permission to copy can also be obtained from some sources merely by requesting it.
In these cases, please include the permission in your post.. otherwise the post may have to be moved from view until its copyright status can be determined.

There are some acceptable, and legal, alternatives:

Use brief quotes or excerpts. "Fair use" allows portions of text to be copied in many circumstances. Provide a link to a site where the material can be found.

Overall, US copyright law is cumbersome and confusing, and changing. If you didn't write it, you should assume you don't have the right to copy it.

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The following links to more information were provided by Chad:

U.S. Copyright Law, Title 17

The Copyright Website

Walt Howe’s Copyright Guidelines for the Web

10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained

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