Ask HN: I received a DMCA claim against a Tweet, advice sought

[ohashi]

I have a twitter account which automatically tweets available jobs. One of the tweets got a DMCA takedown notification today because it linked to a site that they are claiming is violating their copyright. The job in question was looking to create a clone of a site that allegedly violates copyright.

They also sent me a list of all the other tweets that these people filed against. They appear to have filed against anyone who tweeted the same URL regardless of context.

My natural instinct says this is BS. It seems absurd that you can file a DMCA against a link to a URL. I would like any advice/experience people have with dealing with this sort of issue.

[Theory5]

Standard Disclaimer:I am not a laywer, nor am I handsome enough to play one on TV. My advice is not legal advice, nor is it particularly good advice. Consult a lawyer ASAP.

According to a quick google search: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/...

A normal link is considered fair use, but the law is sort of murkey. Many websites have policies about linking. If your linking directly counters the websites policy then it is considered infringement.

Personally I would consider a link to my site a compliment, unless it is from a post directly attacking my site. ---- I do know that if your feed is automated you should have a policy on your site that clearly outlines the fact that you have no control over said tweets/postings; and are not responsible for the content of the job posts. Such a policy may go on to say that you will remove any posts in violation of copyright, but that is probably up to you and/or applicable laws in your area.

Cloning sites probably does violate copyright law, but once again if you didn't post the actual job, then you may not be responsible (though you may be required to remove the actual job post). I think as long as your site doesn't advocate the cloning or abuse of copyrighted material you have a chance to fight this.

Good luck!

[eksith]

The DMCA is broad enough that posting a link may be considered "aiding" copyright infringement (that's a stretch, but since they hold the weapons, your shields need to be stronger). If all you do is post links to sites, then you have a legitimate claim that all you're doing is providing examples (and this is covered under fair use).

But if you do intend on fighting it calling it BS, your alternative is to file a counter-claim. Going against BS takes effort, as they say.

[ohashi → eksith]

So the text was along the lines of 'I need a clone of website.com <actual_link_to_job>' Twitter turned the text website.com into a link. The intent of the tweet is to communicate what someone is looking to hire for and a link to the job posting.

Fighting BS takes effort, I am wondering what sort of effort/risk? Has anyone done it before and can share their experience?

[eksith → ohashi]

It's entirely possible the claims were somehow automated or involved some drone in an office blindly filing DMCAs with links to the site (just a step above automated). A counter-claim is enough of a red flag that they'll stop to take notice of what exactly is going on and who they're filing against. If this is the case, they're more likely to drop it since pursuing Tweets isn't as effective as going after the actual site itself.

Either way, if you do decide to fight it, you need some legal counseling unfortunately, hence the effort bit.

If you prefix your Tweets with "Job Listing: " or just "Listing: ", that may deflect responsibility more in the future. Also on the Twitter description maybe an added disclaimer is warranted.

[alexholehouse → ohashi]

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. Not even once.

If I remember correctly (from reading about this, not experiencing it!), if you counter-claim they will either

> drop it

> sue you (must occur within 2 weeks of the counter claim)

I have no idea about how this would proceed, but if they do sue you you'll need all the fun that entails, which may be a whole load of work.

Frankly it does sound like complete BS, but the question is do you want to be the one to fight it, and could a good lawyer on their side make it stick? I feel like the law is still very much struggling with this whole internet thing, so if I were you I'd be apprehensive about assuming rational through would prevail.

[jcr]

I submitted the following a week or two ago:

Consequences of Filing a False DMCA Takedown Request (aaronkellylaw.com)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5356163

Fighting BS can be troublesome, but it can also be profitable!

[gesman]

Tell them it's a twitter's problem. Let them DMCA twitter.