DLsite.com English Copyright statement

[ooofest]

Hi Folks,
Having registered to DLsite.com after their new English-language redesign, one glaringly obvious item was thrown at me as condition of the registration: acceptance of their English Copyright and Unauthorized Use (http://eng.dlsite.com/guide/copy) policy.

This policy may have been in effect prior to their site upgrade, but there was no similar User Registration capability on the English side until now (i.e., they only supported subscription to New Product emails). So, perhaps one could claim that they never saw the Copyright statements before - not so, now.

Note some of the interesting items they spell out:



Copyright on DLsite.com
All information and expressions contained in DLsite.com belongs to DLsite.com or to circles contracted with DLsite.com.
Therefore, it is strictly prohibited by laws and regulations to copy, modify, use or distribute any of the contents on this website.

. . .

Reselling of Products Purchased at DLsite.com
You are not allowed to resell or redistribute any of products purchased at DLsite.com without permission of the production circle.
. . . If judged as unpermitted reselling or redistributing, it will be reported to the production circle and the police immediately.

. . .


It's not as if torrents being shared via communications at Hongfire have ever been completely innocent with respect to copyright, but more a technical reading of who is enforcing which copyrights in whatever region, it seems. Perhaps I'm generalizing a bit much, but my tone is not meant as critical, merely speculative: the above statements could still relate to consequences contained within the sphere of DLsite's physical business location or neighboring countries. However, consider that DLsite has noted that they are also considering the inclusion of other geographic sources (e.g., US) for future sales through their site, which could have interesting implications for the intended scope of their copyright-related actions mentioned above.

Thoughts welcome on if or how this might affect torrent policy at Hongfire, going forward. I'm just attempting to start discussion and learn a bit more about how HF handles this type of issue - not pointing fingers at all.

- ooofest

[Dreamerdgh]

If the products they distribute is licensed in the USA, it cannot be torrented or uploaded on Hongfire. Anything else will be considered on a case by case discussion with the staff and admin.

[Atachi]

i also would say that redistibution of stuff from dlsite would really hurt the artist.

they may live from the money they earn there. there aren't big companies backing them.


but that's only a moral i as delevoper expect others to respect with my own stuff in reverse, too ^^

[ooofest]

Atachi: I would tend to agree, and have decided to abide by DLsite's English copyright agreement with respect to my future purchases.

Dreamerdgh: Does Hongfire differentiate USA-listed merchandise from others (with exceptions) due to ownership for this site being out of the USA, possibly? I really don't know, just curious. If there's another thread I should research on this (I checked the FAQ), please let me know.

I'm not against sharing, but it's now becoming a case-by-case basis on deciding TO share for me, rather than a case-by-case decision NOT to share something. Slightly different emphasis.

- ooofest

[Skizzem]

I agree with Dreamer on this one. But, I doubt any of the products being sold on the DLSite are actually "licensed" in the familiar sense. I think of DLSite as merely some sort of marketplace; a place just to sell the products but not having any "rights" (quote-on-quote) to them. Can't really explain it well but hopefully you get my point. :o

[ooofest]

. . . I think of DLSite as merely some sort of marketplace; a place just to sell the products but not having any "rights" (quote-on-quote) to them. . .

Which is why they note that either DLSite or the Circle involved own the copyright :) .

Somebody will have the rights to any item sold there: the conditions under which HF chooses to formally recognize that fact is what Dreamerdgh helpfully summarized. I'm now questioning why that's the semi-official policy, though (just out of curiosity).

- ooofest

[Shii]

But, I doubt any of the products being sold on the DLSite are actually "licensed" in the familiar sense.

li·cense (lī'səns) tr.v., -censed, -cens·ing, -cens·es. 1. To give or yield permission to or for. 2. To grant a license to or for; authorize.

So, you're saying that the author didn't grant permission for American distribution? DLSite is a bootleg scam! Someone tell the Japanese!

don't post huge images.