Is there a lawyer in the house?

[blade]

Assistance needed. For further details please email me. Basically someone created a well known site then I believe last year he let a company have control of his site while he still remained as editor and he was the only one who kept a particular part of this site updated. Now the new controller has forced out the sites creator but he's now made his own site and intends to make another site similar to what he originally had. Don't want to mention any names yet.

This part of the site is very important to most who are online and they depend on the info supplied. So, can he import the old info that HE created and made to his new site, even if the other company owns his old site? He did everything to it, they never did anything with it, ever. Just doesn't make sense to me why he can't but I do know since they do won it now maybe he can't use the info. Frankly I'd import the info I made and to hell with em, but that's me. He is aware of any legal implications so he's not doing anything yet. Any ideas or thoughts are appreciated.

 

[kranky]

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, just my own opinion.

Whoever owns the site owns the content, not the person who created it. It makes perfect sense. If someone could take the content they created, then what would be the point of owning a website and paying someone to create content?

 

[Jzero]

It's called "Works for hire." You do the work, but unless there is a specific stipulation in the contract saying you retain ownership of it or rights to use it, it is officially the company's property. If he just goes ahead and imports the info, he could find himself staring down the barrel of a losing lawsuit.

OTOH, if there is no written contract or agreement between he and whoever took over the site, he may haev some wiggle room.....

 

[dman]

FreeAdvice Forums, not bad for generic legal advice. I think you were better off posting here for the "technology" based legal issue, but, others may find the FA forums useful.

 

[Brandens]

the website and the domain are different.

my company is in court over that issue now

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<< I got banned with my other account..... sorry, i'll be good. Won't even debate wether i think I was wrong or not. >>

We will not debate it, either. You were banned as TonTo for posting racist remarks. You are still banned. Go be good elsewhere.

AnandTech Moderator

 

[Hooobi]

"work for hire" doctrine applies only to employer/employee relationships, here, just because someone else was controlling the site on which he worked, that's probably not enough to establish such a relationship... you have to look to other factors such as whether he received a salary/benefits from them or whether there was a contract to produce the work on their behalf

unless it is a work for hire situation, typically the creator of a creative work (or even compilation if that's what it is) will have the copyrights in it. if he does still retain such rights, he may be able to keep them from copying/distributing his work...

also, I don't think that a sale of a website (basically a domain name) would include rights in the works thereon unless the contract stipulates otherwise or unless these works were created as a "work for hire"

of course, my copyright law might be a lil rusty & I'm not (yet) a lawyer so... take it w/a big grain of salt

H

 

[jjones]

i'm no lawyer and i'm clueless about the content but if the content is not proprietary, why not just "import" as you say and make appropriate modifications to make it unique?

 

[Entity]

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