Watchtower Society copyright activity

by Ultimate Axiom 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Ultimate Axiom

  I have heard that the Watchtower Society occasionally takes action under copyright law to either close down a website, or get it to remove the offending material.

  Some websites (like jwfacts.com, quotes-watchtower.co.uk, and even in some threads here) include a host of images taken from Watchtower publications that depict (among other things) Armageddon. Are these websites infringing Watchtower Society copyright by displaying their images?

  If yes, has the Watchtower Society attempted to have these sites either closed down or the images removed?

  If no, would using these images in a book (with the appropriate source reference) be OK? Curious, that’s all.
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  notsurewheretogo

  Cedars Blog website got a letter from WT lawyers stating to remove an elders letter he posted online...
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  BluesBrother

  "and even in some threads here"

  I gather that the laws on copyright are far from clear, and a certain amount of leeway is allowed by law in terms of quotations by small users. I am sure that there are others who can explain in more detail
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  Londo111

  This falls under Fair Use.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
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  Bangalore

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/181554/1/Watchtower-Sends-Legal-Notice-To-Website-Regarding-Coyright-Infringement#.UvxgZM7zu1s

  Bangalore
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  Ultimate Axiom

  notsurewheretogo – this was this case I had in mind – the letter I believe was to the BOE regarding how to deal with child molesters.

  Londo111 – that’s an interesting item on wkipedia, but it makes me wonder why the Society took no action (as far as I know) to prevent the publishers of Ray Franz’s books from reproducing their internal letters in full, but did against JWsurvey.org.

  Bangalore – thanks for that link – I clearly should have done a search on this website before starting this thread, that one just about covers it all.
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  WTWizard

  The pictures might fall under fair use. But, when the washtowel rips off pictures from regular publications and places it on their littera-trash without giving credit to the original source, that does not. And, when they rip off Vangelis' Chariots of Fire and alter the lyrics, making Old Kingdumb Malady 42 and do not give Vangelis any credit for the melody, that is not under fair use. Why Vangelis didn't sue the crap out of the washtowel for that, we will never know.

  By the way, that song was a big hit early spring 1982. The original was recorded late in 1981 and released in January 1982, becoming a Number One pop hit. The ripped off version was nowhere near as good.
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  Nathan Natas

  It isn't so much that Copyright Law is unclear - the problem is that the law changes over time and the law applies to publications written while a particular version of the law was in effect.

  Most Watchtower publications printed before 1970 were printed WITHOUT a copyright notice and under the law then in effect, those publications went automatically into the Public Domain. I believe this apparent "oversight" on the part of the Watchtower was likely due to the Watchtower believing their own "end of the world" hogwash.

  After approximately 1970, the Society "lawyered up" and began looking to protect their vulnerable areas - and NOTHING hurts the WTB&TS more than their old publications.

  The current copyright law was altered by Senator Sonny Bono and others in the entertainment industry to provide much longer protection (about a century, if memory serves). The WTB&TS is VERY happy to take advantage of Caesar's protection.

  Many apostates believe that information about the WTB&TS should be free, so they take advantage of the copyright law's "fair use" provision and sometimes defy the law in the interest of human freedom.