I send this as testament to what a bunch of creeps Lycos is.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "william robb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 12:55 PM
Subject: Re: Lycos Photocenter (KMM6850779C0KM)
> Hello,
>
> Thank you for writing to Lycos.
>
> Lycos maintains a catalog of Internet sites, analogous to the
white
> pages of a phone book. We provide this catalog to the public
as a free
> information service and research tool. Due to the size and
nature of
> our catalog, it's not possible for us to remove individual
results. As
> with any Web search, Lycos claims no right to these files and
directs
> our users to contact the administrator of the Web site in
question for
> more information on the use of copyrighted photographs.
>
> The Lycos Multimedia Search engine employs spiders that scour
the
> internet for rich media content, much like a regular search
engine
> would. My understanding is that because we are not publishing
your
> photos, rather we link off to your site, this is not an
illegal
> practice. You can find more information at:
>
> http://www.lycos.com/lycosinc/legal.html
>
> To prohibit spiders from any server from accessing your site,
you must
> make use of the robots.txt standard. What is robots.txt? This
small text
> file is like a traffic cop that tells our software which parts
of your
> site can be examined and indexed. Ask your Web hosting company
if your
> site already employs this file. If not, it is a fairly simple
matter to
> create your own robots.txt file.
>
> You will find further information about robots.txt files at
the
> following sites.
>
> http://www.lycos.com/help/robots.html
>
> http://www.kollar.com/robots.html
>
> You may also wish to read the following article regarding an
image
> copyright case:
>
>
> Ditto.com wins image copyright case
> Ruling may have sweeping implications for search engines
> By Elliot Zaret <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> MSNBC
>
> SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 17 - In a case that may have sweeping
implications
> for search engines of all kinds, a federal judge in California
has ruled
> that a "visual search engine" did not violate copyright laws
by
> collecting thumbnail images of photographs from the Web and
displaying
> them on its site. The necessity of searching the Internet
outweighed any
> other factor in determining whether a copyright was violated,
the judge
> said.
>
> IN JANUARY, a California photographer sued Ditto.com
> <http://www.ditto.com>, then known as the Arriba Vista Image
Searcher,
> for violating her copyright by collecting and displaying 35 of
her
> copyrighted images on its site as search results. The Ditto
search
> engine works by "spidering" the Web - having a computer
program collect
> some two million images from any site on the Internet it can
find them -
> then shrinking each image down to a thumbnail image that is
displayed in
> the search result. The photographer argued that an image is an
image and
> displaying her copyrighted photographs without her
permission - and
> making money in the process - was effectively stealing. The
U.S.
> District Court judge in Santa Ana, Calif. ruled that Ditto
wasn't
> stealing the images. But the 15-page decision, handed down
late
> Thursday, was somewhat more complicated - with the judge
effectively
> giving a split decision on many of the relevant issues.
However the
> judge said that the crucial role search engines serve for
users of the
> Internet outweighs the other factors and makes Ditto's
thumbnails "fair
> use" of the images. "(The photographer's) images were swept up
along
> with two million others available on the Internet, as part of
(Ditto's)
> efforts to provide its users with a better way to find images
on the
> Internet," wrote the judge. "(Ditto's) purposes were and are
inherently
> transformative, even if its realization of those purposes was
at times
> imperfect. Where, as here, a new use and new technology are
evolving,
> the broad transformative purpose of the use weighs more
heavily than the
> inevitable flaws in its early stages of development." The
judge also
> said that thumbnails themselves - though an exact replica of
the
> original photos - had to be considered different from the
originals
> because they served an entirely different purpose. "The
character of the
> thumbnail index is not esthetic, but functional; it's purpose
is not to
> be artistic, but to be comprehensive," the judge wrote.
Ditto.com's
> attorney Judy Jennison, who heads the Silicon Valley
Intellectual
> Property Litigation Practice of Perkins Coie, said the
decision
> validates the importance of navigation tools like search
engines on the
> Internet. "Generally speaking, the court has realized that the
Internet
> is important to all of us, and helping people navigate the
Internet is
> an important thing," said Jennison. "It's clearly the right
decision for
> the Internet."
>
> SWEEPING RAMIFICATIONS?
>
> Rich Gray, an intellectual property attorney and founding
partner of
> Outside General Counsel Silicon Valley, said the case may have
sweeping
> ramifications for the industry. "It's very pro-fair use in the
Internet
> context, which has implications in all kinds of things ranging
from
> search engines to deep linking to framing," Gray said. For
instance, the
> case seems to support the right of a music search engine to
play clips
> of songs sold on MP3 sites, Gray said. And the case may come
into play
> in a case filed this week by online auction giant eBay, which
claimed
> that Bidder's Edge effectively stole eBay information by
searching eBay
> listings with its auction search engine. However Gray warned
that it's
> only one ruling in the nascent field of law and cyberspace -
and until
> more cases are decided, every case will be looked at
differently. "It
> wouldn't shock me if a similar case was brought in a different
district
> court and a different result happened," Gray said. "This could
have gone
> either way."
>
>
> Farah
>
> Lycos Customer Service
> ----------------------
> Lycos.com - Part of the Lycos Network
> http://www.lycos.com
>
>
>
________________________________________________________________
________
>
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>
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>
________________________________________________________________
________
>
>
>
>
> Original message follows:
> -------------------------
>
>
> Message from WilliamRobb:
> The following URL is in violation of copyright
>
>
http://www.multimedia.lycos.com/default.asp?component=MorePictur
es&query
> =william+robb&ff=0
> and
>
>
http://www.multimedia.lycos.com/default.asp?query=william+robb&f
irst=10&
> component=MorePictures&ff=0
>
> Remove my images from your site immediately.
> William Robb
> ID :
> ( PARTNER ) :
> ( PTNR ) :
> Platform : Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.5; Windows 98)
> RE :
>
http://www.multimedia.lycos.com/default.asp?component=MorePictur
es&query
> =william+robb&ff=0
>
>
>
>
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