This is a reponse to the blog posting
"Screwed by Scribd," posted by Alejandro Revilla at jPOS.org. I normally don't take up space in this blog to respond to Internet postings, but this issue is an important one, and Mr. Revilla has courageously disabled comments. So, here goes:
Alejandro Revilla said:
For your amusement, here is basically [emphasis added] their response to our request to remove the pirated content:
Thanks for contacting us and I sincerely regret that one of our users posted your content to Scribd without your authorization. Your email was very clear, but it’s missing verbiage that would allow me to accept it as an “authorized statement” under specific legal criteria established by the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA)…
I’m not hiring a lawyer to fight this, so I’m basically screwed.
Mr. Revilla then goes on to further bemoan his situation.
I was waiting for something like this to happen, but I thought that I would get to see a pirate copy from a pirate user from an underdeveloped country (like mine) posted in some obscure file sharing network, but not from a well established company with such a great technology like this.
Unfortunately, Mr. Revilla is only telling 1/4th of the story. The full text of our response to him was:
Thanks for contacting us and I sincerely regret that one of our users posted your content to Scribd without your authorization. Your email was very clear, but it's missing verbiage that would allow me to accept it as an "authorized statement" under specific legal criteria established by the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA). To avoid making this any more tedious than it has to be, I've attached a template below. Simply substitute everything in [brackets] with the necessary information, send it back to me, and I'll remove the content as soon as possible.
In order for this form to be valid legally, it must include the direct links to the documents in question, as well as your FULL mailing address and phone number along with an email address. We are unable to remove content based on email addresses alone, even if the domain names are a 'match.'
Thanks for your understanding, Please contact me if you have any further questions.
Jason Bentley
jason@scribd.com
***
========== BEGIN SAMPLE DMCA TAKEDOWN NOTICE ==========
Attn: Jason Bentley, Scribd.com,
Pursuant to 17 USC 512(c)(3)(A), this communication serves as a
statement that:
(1). I am [the exclusive rights holder | the duly authorized
representative of the exclusive rights holder] for [title
of copyrighted material being infringed upon, along with any
identifying material such as ISBNs, publication dates, etc --
or, if the material is a web page, the URL];
(2). These exclusive rights are being violated by material
available upon your site at the following URL(s):
[URLs of infringing material];
(3) I have a good faith belief that the use of this material in
such a fashion is not authorized by the copyright holder, the
copyright holder's agent, or the law;
(4) Under penalty of perjury in a United States court of law,
I state that the information contained in this notification
is accurate, and that I am authorized to act on the behalf of
the exclusive rights holder for the material in question;
(5) I may be contacted by the following methods (include all):
[physical address, telephone number, and email address];
I hereby request that you remove or disable access to this material
as it appears on your service in as expedient a fashion as possible.
Thank you for your kind cooperation.
Regards,
[your full legal name]
========== END SAMPLE DMCA TAKEDOWN NOTICE ==========
As you can see there's is no requirement for a lawyer, no requirements that someone "from an underdeveloped country" would find onerous. Alas, while using lies and half-truths in an attempt to elicit sympathy and court publicity is nothing new, its still not very cool. For this to come from an OpenSource leader like jPOS.org is deeply disheartening.
Scribd must comply with United States law, which requires that we demand the information in the form before we honor a request to remove a document. Scribd will not break the law at anyone's request.
May 27th, 2008
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