Former Righthaven Defendant Creates How-To Guide for Bloggers and Forum Board Operators

Michael Nystrom of DailyPaul.com

In a recent blog post, "Attn: Bloggers! Why You Need a DMCA Disclaimer & Copyright Registration," Michael Nystrom, the founder of DailyPaul.com and former Righthaven victim, explains the steps that bloggers and forum board operators should take in order to avoid a lawsuit from Righthaven and future copyright trolls. As Nystrom points out, though Righthaven is currently on the ropes, "someone else will come along and tighten up and improve on Righthaven's arguments and procedures."

Attn: Bloggers! Why You Need a DMCA Disclaimer & Copyright Registration

By Michael Nystrom
So, you've set up your blog or forum and it is totally awesome! You've created a platform for yourself, and/or a community where like-minded individuals can interact. You've spent uncounted hours researching the best software platform for your project, how to get your domain name, where to host your site, how to get traffic -- and keep it! Not to mention everything that goes into maintaining a community, and if you're lucky, how to monetize your efforts. Congratulations! Lots of people dream about hosting a website of their own - you've actually gone and done it. You've made a great contribution to this vast expanse of information known as the Internet, as well as to everyone who is touched by your website or community.
So don't let it all be threatened by neglecting a minor detail. Register it with the U.S. Copyright Office and put a DMCA disclaimer on your site. This is something I wish I knew before I got sued.

On Getting Sued
You do not ever want to get sued. Trust me. And even if your risk is small, it is something that you need to be aware of so that you can manage that risk properly. The purpose of this short article is to introduce you to some information that I wish someone had told me.

See: Blog post in full | See: Blog post after Nystrom's case was dismissed

We encourage forum board operators to a post a link to Nystrom's How-to Guide within the rules section of your forum so that readers and moderators can learn how to avoid a copyright infringement lawsuit. An additional step might be to educate new users -- in the New User Registration Agreement -- about how to correctly link to a news article. The Democratic Underground, also a former Righthaven defendant with exceptional legal help, uses the following language in their agreement:

Copyrights: Do not copy-and-paste entire articles onto this discussion forum. When referencing copyrighted work, post a short excerpt (not exceeding 4 paragraphs) with a link back to the original.

A special thanks to Michael Nystrom and DailyPaul.com for sharing this critical prevention guide and the Daily Paul's DMCA site disclaimer (two super fantastic freebies!). 

Webmaster Alert: Start Following the U.S. Copyright Public Catalog to Search & Scrub

A fantastic tip came in today from American Justice Dot Org. Webmasters who are concerned about past and recently purchased copyrights by Righthaven can search the U.S. Copyright Public Catalog.

1. View the Public Catalog page
2. Type "Righthaven" into the Search box
3. Select "Keyword" in Search By
4. Choose "100 Records Per Page" to show in the drop down menu.
5. Click "Begin Search"

The results display all copyrights that Righthaven has purchased to date. As of February 17, 2011 there are 151. With this information, you can search and scrub your domains of infringing content.

Now, if there was only automated software to do all of this for you...

Wired Writes About Preventing a Righthaven Lawsuit -- The $105 Fix

The $105 Fix That Could Protect You From Copyright-Troll Lawsuits

Call it ingenious, call it evil or call it a little of both: Copyright troll Righthaven is exploiting a loophole in intellectual property law, suing websites that might have avoided any trace of civil liability had they spent a mere $105.
That’s the fee for a blog or other website to register a DMCA takedown agent with the U.S. Copyright Office, an obscure bureaucratic prerequisite to enjoying a legal “safe harbor” from copyright lawsuits over third-party posts, such as reader comments.
There’s no better time to become acquainted with that requirement.

See: Article in Full

Webmasters who have NOT done this yet, MUST do so. 
Instructions are in the "Avoid a Lawsuit" area of this website.