“Switcher Saturday” has MOVED to another Forum!

I always look on the right side to see what is and has been Posted. That way I don't miss anything 

Lew

Rich has stepped down from the control tower in the yard. The rest of us switcher crazy fellows will do our best to keep the flame alive. Please feel free to post on the new thread.

yes it moved to a different forum due to TOS issues.

Dave- shoot me an email, address is in my profile. 

Bob

For those who didn’t see Alan Arnold’s message, photos of prototype trains should no longer be posted in the 3-rail forum. That’s why Switcher Saturday is now in Photo Albums.

Also, Alan’s message also warned of the expensive consequences for posting photos that are copyright protected by someone else and lifted off the internet by a forum member unaware of copyright laws.

So if you didn’t take the photo yourself or haven’t formally acquired the copyright through a legal transaction,you could be sued by the copyright owner. Plainly stated, don’t post a photo you simply found through a Google search.

I have been kindly updated on this situation and frankly find the whole affair sad.

We are a bunch of guys having fun trading information on trains - real and model - on the weekend. So along comes someone (unnamed) who protests that somebody on our thread posted a photo without permission which was copyrighted. They then threaten legal action against OGR if the photo(s) isn’t deleted.

So Publisher Allen is forced to comply and we all lose this very fun thread.

My problem is not with OGR but with whoever would raise a legal fuss over something so little and benign. I imagine they feel smug about having done it.

Now Rich Murnane has given up and left and I don’t blame him, but why was this necessary at all? 

As I said, it’s all sad. Unnecessary, troubling, and sad.

Jim R. posted:

For those who didn’t see Alan Arnold’s message, photos of prototype trains should no longer be posted in the 3-rail forum. That’s why Switcher Saturday is now in Photo Albums.

Also, Alan’s message also warned of the expensive consequences for posting photos that are copyright protected by someone else and lifted off the internet by a forum member unaware of copyright laws.

So if you didn’t take the photo yourself or haven’t formally acquired the copyright through a legal transaction,you could be sued by the copyright owner. Plainly stated, don’t post a photo you simply found through a Google search.

Jim R. brings up a good point that I have some thoughts on.  Copyright laws have been around for a long time, way before the invention of the internet.  The laws needs to be updated to reflect modern technology.

Until that happens, a good interim law could be that if any photo posted on a free website does NOT have "Copyrighted" electronically embedded across the front of it, then it is considered as part of the public domain and therefor free from any copyright claims that the owner may have on it.

That would cut down on a lot of the copyright kra pola that's so prevalent these days.

Just my opinion, yours may vary. 

There has been some confusion here and there about "copyrighting", anyway. Just taking a photo does not "copyright" it. Copyrighting is a legal process, and unless you have gone through the process, it's not your photo even if you took it, except artistically. No permission is required. The very word "copyright" says it all: the "copy right" for a work of art, literature, advertising, etc.

99% of us know this, but I do occasionally see some less-informed comments. 

"Customary usage" - not sure of the legal term - can also be used to claim copyright status if a thing has existed for so long that it is intimately associated with a design, group, etc.

(Chrysler sued GM years ago over the Hummer grille, which did indeed have the same look and origin as the Jeep signature grille, as both Jeep and Hummer were ultimately American Motors products before AMC was sold for parts. Chrysler lost, however - that's what judges are for, I guess.)

I had mentioned this on another thread with photos of actual locomotives. Other modeling forums are allowing train photos from the internet.  Even ones that clearly show they are copyrighted'.  If they are on Google, and other websites, they are in the public domain.  As long as a profit is not being made by the posting of a copyrighted photo it is not a problem.

If proprietary information, or copyrighted material is used for commercial use without the consent of the owner , then it is a problem'..  If this has changed, I am not aware of the changes'...

OK guys....I am going to say this AGAIN and then close this thread.  Any other threads that are created from this point forward by members that intend to discuss and thwart our intent and policies about copyright, will be deleted along with that member's account!  NONE of you with the exception of two members on this forum have any idea what OGR has had to go through the past several months concerning copyright. 

First let me share with all of you what the US government has to say about copyright:

When is my work protected?

Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

Do I have to register with your office to be protected?

No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.”

So...the info in several of the posts above is absolutely wrong!  While there may be other forums using photos that are copyrighted, they may be doing so against the law and it may be a matter of time before they find themselves in a situation that will cost thousands of dollars.  I can tell you that the two checks I wrote this past Friday damaged OGR significantly and from this point forward, we will take steps to recover those damages from anyone that decides they are going to break the law and the TOS on our site.  In the next few days you will see some changes on this site that will require acknowledgement from every member.  In the meantime, you had better educate yourself on copyright and don't rely on "opinion".....