Hello there. I have a question that I’d like to ask.
Although I speak, read and write English for quite a while a few years now, I’m using LingQ to enhance my vocabulary and practice (my English is a little rusty). I have recently started to use the “import” feature of LingQ. I added a tale by Edgar Allan Poe “The fall of the house of Usher” that I have always loved.
The thing is that I have a mp3 file that I got in the Internet and I have no idea nor who the reader is, nor if it has copyright. I like it a lot, is so well read and I have it since I was a student. I uploaded into three lessons and they are private for now. How can I know to whom it belongs? Can I keep it as private even if it has copyright?
@Lba- You can certainly keep anything in your account as long as you like if it’s private. You only have to worry about copyright if you want to share lessons. If you are unable to figure out who to approach for copyright, I think you are also fine to share the lesson. I don’t know the law but it’s really not a problem to take the lesson down if the copyright holder complains.
There are a number of duplicate Poe stores in the Library already. People might want to do a search before they upload stuff. (I didn’t find The Fall of the House of Usher, though.)
Mark wrote: " I don’t know the law but it’s really not a problem to take the lesson down if the copyright holder complains." I cannot agree with this advice.
I don’t know the law for all countries but in Germany you have not only to delete it. You have to pay a lot of money if you’ve used content without permission.
I would never share something without knowing the source and checking the policy rules or getting the permission of the owner.
The practical reality is different. Look at youtube, there are tonnes of copyrighted stuff on there. When it is found it is taken down. End of story. I don’t think there are enough resources for people to actually prosecute every case. That would be like police chasing after every jaywalker, or every kid looking to take a shortcut through private property.
Nowadays it’s impossible to share something on the Internet. There’ll always be someone who will prosecute you for having used a picture he took, a recording he did etc… When you take a picture of a monument and some bystander passing unwillingly by your camera, make sure not to release this picture on the internet without their agreement! I’m fed up with all these guys who try to make money in chasing millions of users of contents on the Internet. Next time I brake a wind in the street, I will watch over those who smell it without my permission :-)))
Sorry Edward, but in Germany we had bad lawyers who are keen on looking for copyright issues and taking advantage if someone uses copyrighted material. We have something called “Abmahnung”, and if you get one you have to pay 2,000 Euros or more by getting a single letter from a lawyer. Your glad if the rules in your country are different but you shouldn’t say that it is no problem at all. It differs from country to country. I dislike this law a lot. But it is like it is.
I’m interested in this €2000 fine you have to pay for copyright infringement. Any chance you link me to an article (in German or English) about it? Is there a more specific name for it than Abmahnung?
on the German wikipedia is an article about it: Abmahnung – Wikipedia
but it is a law subject and not easy to understand.
Use www.google.de (German version of google!) and search for “Abmahnung” and “Urheberrecht” to find more information. In Germany we have the “Urheberrecht” which is close to the copyright (but it is not the same!)
In short words: The intention of the “Abmahnung” was to avoid processes. Someone can send a writing to people who did something that is not correct a writing. In this writing is said “Don’t do … any longer.” Then there is something like “I will not do … any longer. Otherwise I have to pay 50000 Euros.” And for this writing (a single letter!) you have to pay a fee for the lawyer that send you the writing. The usual fee is 1000 to 2000 Euros depending on the “Streitwert”, the worth of the case (fictional).
Sorry for my poor explanation. The subject is difficult to explain in German, and its much more difficult for me doing this in English.
