[HP4GU-FAQ] Yahoo...& legal sensitivity

[heidi]

Yet more lawyerly debate : )
Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer wrote:

> "Tandy, Heidi" wrote:
>
>> Penny - would you like to put something in the "Intro" to the club
>> section which says "If You Join You Grant The Founders the
>> royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive and fully
>> sublicensable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt,
>> publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute,
>> perform and display such Content (in whole or part) worldwide and/or
>> to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology
>> now known or later developed."
>
> I think that's very appropriate.  I'm not entirely sure *where* to put
> it though.  Wouldn't it legally be most effective if this license
> language were spelled out right before the person hit "join"?  Also,
> how do we cover existing members?  I'm not sure putting it in the Club
> FAQs helps us much from a legal perspective, does it?  I'm not very up
> on cyberspace law, which is completely developing.  You haven't really
> put someone on notice that you're taking their thoughts &
> incorporating them into another forum unless they know this up-front,
> before they join -- have you?

I've only put people on notice when I've drafted terms of service
agreements for commercial and noncommercial-but-professional websites
like The New York Times and http://www.marsmusic.com : )
It would be best if it was spelled out before people hit JOIN, but as a
matter of law, given the current industry standard, you could also add
it into the Founder's Message. Here's what I would add:

"This club is for  grown-ups to discuss the Harry Potter books. Our
discussions of this wonderful series are in-depth, thought-provoking and
fun. While there is no age requirement to join  the Club, please note
that most of our members are adults (18 or older). If you post to the
Club, you grant the Founders the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable,
non-exclusive and fully sublicensable right and license to, for
noncommercial purposes,  use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish,
translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display
such Content (in whole or part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in
other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later
developed. You've already granted the same license to Yahoo, and by
granting it to the Founders too, you enable us to maintain our FAQ and
create a searchable archive of messages."
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://archive.hpfgu.org/pipermail/hp4gu-faq/attachments/20000823/3e074198/attachment.html>