Oh Oh. I did bad. Warning! Warning! BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU POST

[cellboy]

And I don't remember in which community it's in or when I posted it. All that pops up from the link is the pic. An art pic, and I had the artists name next to it :o( I removed it from my "Unassorted Gallery". Hope that worked. Even though you have the artist name next to the photo, it can still be a no no to post. OY!
Here's what I received:

Dear LiveJournal user cellboy,

We have received a report, properly formatted under the provisions set forth by United States law, indicating that your image located at [http://pics.livejournal.com/cellboy/pic/0007y1p3] violates the copyright of another. As such, we hereby direct you to delete all copies of this image and cease using the material on LiveJournal as soon as possible, but no later than 12:01 (one minute after midnight) on Friday, December 07, 2007, to avoid further action against your account.

If you feel that this report is in error or that your use of the material falls under one of the categories permitted under copyright law, you are entitled to file a counter-notification, also under the provisions of US law; please contact us for information on how to do this. Filing a counter-notification indicates that you are willing to defend yourself in court against a charge of copyright infringement, and you may be bound by civil and possibly criminal penalties if you are found liable.

Regards,
Annika
LiveJournal Abuse Prevention Team

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

That's a DMCA "takeown notice". According to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) a copyright holder can order a service provider to delete a copy of his work immediately, with no paperwork, no court order, no establishing documentation. All he has to do is email the provider and tell them to do it. If they're not really the copyright owner you can complain and have them fined, but it's rare for that to happen. The law is often abused; a lot of people (myself included) think it's a terrible idea. It's actually nice of LJ to let you know about it first... it would be perfectly legal for them to delete it without even telling you.

Anyhow, the point is, just because you give the artist credit doesn't mean you have the right to use the picture. The artist decides that, as well as how much he'll charge for it (if anything), and he's completely within his rights to tell you to stop. In general, if you post a copyrighted picture (and all pictures are copyrighted until many years after the author's death) without the explicit permission of the author you're breaking the law. Yes, that means that almost all the pics you see on LJ and elsewhere are illegal. There are exceptions... if you see a logo for a Creative Commons (CC) license, for example, the author may have given specific permission to reporduce the work. There's also the concept of "fair use" which states that you can reproduce a work (usually just excerpts and small portions) for educational and critical purposes.

The good news is that you're not in trouble. If you comply with a takedown notice you have nothing more to worry about.