

Web Directory Of Attorneys Upsets D.C. Bar - justinweiss
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/08/AR2009030801530.html

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gills
Dear Random Gatekeepers,

We don't need you between us and our information anymore. Thanks for all the
fish.

Sincerely, The World

~~~
brandnewlow
Dear entrepreneurs,

Don't be surprised when you get sued for using someone else's data without
their permission to jump start your startup.

Sincerely,

Content Creators

~~~
frig
Try to read faster than your knee can jerk. quoted from page 2 of the article:

The Client Protection Fund of the Bar of Maryland, the state's legal licensing
body, provides Avvo with information for 34,000 lawyers, including the name,
address and date of admittance to practice in the state. Avvo pays a standard
fee for the agency to produce the list. So far, none of Maryland's members
have complained, according to the bar's administrator.

A shiny virtual nickel to someone who shows me how to quote text on this
website.

Edit: it's unclear how the directory of DC Bar (as opposed to Maryland bar)
was obtained and what specific claim the DC Bar is alleging.

As a general rule within the USA there's no copyright in raw facts
(themselves), though there is in any presentation of said facts.

Thus if AVVO got a printed copy of the DC Bar's printed members' directory and
then hired some people to type it up, they'd be fine.

Where they might not be fine is if the DC Bar had some kind of terms-of-use on
their site that says "you can't use this site except for personal use" and
then the DC Bar could show that Avvo obtained the information via the website.

The first point seems to be true: <http://www.dcbar.org/copyright.cfm>

(for background:
[http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.dcbar.org/copyright....](http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.dcbar.org/copyright.cfm)
)

The second point -- whether or not the Avvo obtained their listings via the
site or not -- is clearly a point of contention.

Given the previous willingness to legally obtain the listing (even paying
actual money) I'd be surprised if the Avvo founders haven't dotted their i's
and crossed their t's on this one.

~~~
kirubakaran
_A shiny virtual nickel to someone who shows me how to quote text on this
website._

<http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc>

~~~
frig
5¢

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phillian
Wouldn't publicly available information (e.g. the kind you would have found in
a phone book 20 years ago) be allowable under the laws of Fair Use?

The only reason I can see a directory being disadvantageous is because it
undermines all the money-spent-on-education/ years-spent-ass-kissing to get
into "the network" of good-old Washingtonites and the referrals they bring.

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mhb
It would also be nice if the bar associations didn't use the dues that lawyers
are required to pay for their own political agenda.

