Intellectual Property Policy

ABOUTUS.ORG INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY POLICY

(LAST REVISED: NOVEMBER 12, 2006)


1. Generally

AboutUs absolutely respects the intellectual property rights of third parties. It will never engage in acts which constitute copyright or trademark infringement. AboutUs is intended for the Internet community to promote the free flow of information about domain names and related websites. Here, you will find information about Web sites which is intended to be (though is not always) informative, educational, critical, and accurate. We publish a limited amount of text and images from third party sites for the purpose of providing information about the site from which such content is available. We cannot accurately provide complete information about a site without tracking a small amount of information from the site itself.

2. Why AboutUs is Entitled to Post the Content it Does


Users of the AboutUs site post content in accordance with AboutUs’s terms and conditions of use for this site. Pursuant to that agreement, users grant to AboutUs a non-exclusive license to reproduce and display the content you see here. Additionally, AboutUs provides information which may not be entitled to copyright protection in the first instance. To the extent it does, AboutUs's display of reduced thumbnail-size images and of publicly available text falls under "fair use". Both copyright and trademark law contain exceptions for "fair use". Fair use is a statutorily recognized exception to copyright law, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 107. Trademark law fair use principles generally track copyright law fair use. United States courts employ a four factor test to determine whether a use constitutes "fair use" under copyright law. Under this test, AboutUs's use constitutes fair use. First, AboutUs's use of the information is transformatively different from the original expressive purpose of the information. AboutUs has gathered this information in one place in a central editable directory format for the purpose of providing knowledge about domain names and web sites, open to user editing. Second, AboutUs does not exploit the expressive value of text or images we make available, but rather we use the text and images to educate and inform users about the domain names and website at which the complete text and full images may be found. Third, the reduced or truncated use of the images and information is consistent with AboutUs's transformative purpose. Finally, AboutUs does not harm the market for the underlying information. By reproducing information about your website we are merely increasing potential exposure for your website. This will enlarge your "market" rather than harm it. AboutUs's use of the information thus constitutes fair use under application of the fair use test.

3. Removing Information About Your Site


If you would prefer we do not include information from your site, please see the instructions on our No Bot Policy page.

4. Infringement Notices


Due to the open nature of this Site, it is possible users may post content that is infringing. If you become aware of any infringing content, please notify AboutUs. AboutUs responds to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other applicable intellectual property laws, which may include removing or disabling access to material claimed to be the subject of infringing activity. To file a notice of infringement with AboutUs (an "Infringement Notice"), you must provide a written communication (by fax or regular mail -- not by email, except by prior agreement) that sets forth the items specified below.

To expedite our ability to process an Infringement Notice, please provide the following information:

(a) Identify in sufficient detail the location of the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed (e.g., www.AboutUs.org/example_url);
(b) Identify the material that you claim is infringing the copyrighted work listed in subsection (a) above;
(c) Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit AboutUs contact you (email address is preferred);
(d) Provide information, if possible, sufficient to permit AboutUs to notify the owner/administrator of the web page that allegedly contains infringing material (email address is preferred);
(e) Include the following statement (if you are not the copyright owner): "I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described in this Infringement Notice on the allegedly infringing web pages is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law."; and
(f) Include the following statement (if you are the copyright owner): "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in this Infringement Notice is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed."

Sign the Infringement Notice and send the written communication to Derek A. Newman, Newman & Newman, Attorneys at Law LLP, 505 Fifth Avenue South, Suite 610, Seattle, WA 98104, Fax: (206) 274-2801.



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