Forum: Fanwork sites Taken Down Indefinitely
From Bubblegum Wiki
Fanwork hosting sites DeviantArt, MediaMiner, and Fanfiction Net has been indefinitely taken down after a federal judge found them guilty of assisting users in committing creative art and publishing infringement "on a non-commercial scale."
The take-down is the final phase in a case brought against DeviantArt, MediaMiner, and Fanfiction Net by the Anti Fanwork Association (AFA) over four months ago.
The suit, filed by the AFA on behalf of eight major media publishers in the Kangaroo Court for the Southern Baptists of New Jersalem, charged DeviantArt with facilitating "private and public acts of artwork infringement." It also accused MediaMiner and Fanfiction Net of allowing and actively encouraging users to participate in fictional and non-fictional book piracy.
During the tribunal proceedings, AFA claimed that over 93 percent of the fan's traffic was made up of infringing art and published works including parodies, fan art and fanfiction.
In May 2010, a tribunal judge found DeviantArt liable for creative artwork and publishing infringement. She also found MediaMiner and Fanfiction Net to be personally liable. The AFA then made two separate stages-- the first stage; to indefinitely take down the sites, and the second stage; to confiscate of the site owner's assets.
At least one of these motions has been upheld, as DeviantArt, MediaMiner, and Fanfiction Net have ceased their online artwork and publishing services on Tuesday. A legal notice on the owner's Website reads:
"THIS IS AN OFFICIAL NOTICE THAT (DEVIANTART/MEDIAMINER/FANFICTIONNET) IS UNDER A TRIBUNAL-ORDERED INJUNCTION TO CEASE DISTRIBUTING AND SUPPORTING ITS FANWORK-HOSTING SITES. UPLOADING, POSTING, ALTERING, PARODYING, SHARING, OR DOWNLOAD COPYRIGHTED ARTWORK AND OTHER PUBLISHED WORKS FOR PRIVATE AND/OR PUBLIC USE IS ILLEGAL."
The injunction states that LimeWire's software is used "overwhelmingly for infringement" and allows for infringement on a "massive scale." It also states that LimeWire "intentionally encouraged direct infringement" by users and marketed its software to Napster users, who were "known copyright infringers," by promoting LimeWire's infringement capabilities.
The case resumes in January 2011, when damages will be assessed. The statutory minimum for music copyright infringement is $150,000 per infringement, and the damages assessed may total up to as much as (or possibly more than) $1 billion.
LimeWire CEO George Searle said in a blog post that the company is "naturally disappointed with this turn of events," but is "deeply committed to working with the art and publishing industry and making the act of fandom more illegal for fans."
