Dear Ellen,

Just to add a few comments ...

I agree with Kriss, particularly since taking legal action in another
country might be expensive. ISPs have been held liable for illegal content,
although not always. Either way an ISP might not wanted to be associated
with illegal content. Much depends on the circumstances. Still if the site
is that dodgy it would be worth taking action to avoid damage to reputation

Most countries are signatories to the Berne Convention, which has
effectively been updated (I think) for the Internet by recent WIPO (World
Intellectual Property Organisation) treaties (1996 I believe). Others belong
to the UCC as Kriss says and some to both. There are however some countries
or jurisdictions that belong to neither.

Under the above conventions, copyright legislation is generally reciprocal
as I understand, that is your copyright exists and can be defended in
another country and theirs can be defended in the UK. However copyright law
does vary from place to place despite harmonisation efforts, particularly in
the EU.

The Internet often makes it difficult to physically locate where information
actually is and lawyers are discussing issues of jurisdiction. For example
the material might be on a server in country X, copied by someone in country
Y by sending instructions to a computer in country Z. Where is a potential
offence committed?

If the people you mention are linking to your site, not copying from it,
adapting it and claiming it is their own, things are more difficult. Linking
is not technically copying, although there have been cases in the USA which
came close to suggesting it might be an infringement of some sort if done
without permission. (The recent case in Utah for example where one party
were ordered to remove links to another site). For this reason it might be
useful to have a statement on what procedures, if any, those wishing to link
to your site should go through. E.g. should they ask permission first.

Hope this helps

Regards

Ralph
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Ralph Weedon
Internet Copyright Officer
Centre for Educational Systems
University of Strathclyde
Alexander Turnbull Building
155 George Street, Glasgow. G1 1RD
Scotland

Tel. 0141-548-3744
Fax. 0141-548-4216
Email. [log in to unmask]
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----- Original Message -----
From: Pawley, E.L. <[log in to unmask]>
To: Website-Info-Mgt (E-mail) <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2000 2:55 PM
Subject: What would you do?


> Whilst looking through the list of referrers to your site you come across
an
> address which looks quite interesting, and you're curious to know which
part
> of your site they are interested in. You particularly want to know how its
> being used on their site to see if you can use it to demonstrate how
> worthwhile all the hours of toil on Web pages can be. Unfortunately you
> discover that it is seriously dodgy, and whilst you don't know if its
> actually breaking any laws, you suspect it could be, whether in your
country
> or its country of origin .... and its using material from your site ...
> that's legitimate in a learning and research environment .. to add extra
> value (note this site is very sick). What would you do?
>
> All advice appreciated.
>
> Ellen
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
> Ellen Pawley
> CWIS Officer
> University of Leicester
>
>



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