Jehovah’s Witnesses threaten Irish blogger with damages (avoidjw.org)

by Not_Culty 31 Replies latest watchtower scandals

  • steve2
    steve2

    He could argue fair and proper use of copyrighted material, but he may have an uphill battle if his use of copyrighted material is arguably in excess of what is fair and proper.

    Some youtube ex-JW activists have been able to successfully argue that the copyrighted material in their videos is essential to their critique.

  • Simon
    Simon

    Yes, fair use falls when you just have a download page for full copies vs quotes for discussion.

  • stillMS
    stillMS

    I'm not sure how severe the punishment is for such a 'crime' - hopefully not too much - but anyway it would be nice to make this court case as public as possible - to get a 100% confirmation for the WT docs on that website are authentic and copyrighted by BORG, and maybe gain attention of some PIMI.

  • steve2
    steve2

    Or he could just lawfully decide to limit his use of copyrighted material to what is fair and proper for the purposes of his critique.

    As others have shown, they can still engage in a helpful outreach by refraining from downloading entire copies of JW organization's literature.

    This is not a cause celebre.

  • fred1
    fred1

    I just visited the AvoidJW site and couldn't access any of the materials. Windows diagnostics couldn't figure out the "problem". Maybe it's only my computer, I don't know. Could anyone else try it?

  • steve2
    steve2

    I've just accessed AvoidJW's site and, frankly, I am astonished that JW organization hasn't taken action sooner. He blatantly - and prominently - features complete stand-alone copies of copyrighted JW literature. Talk about defiance of copyright regulations. fred1 is correct: You cannot now access downloads of JW literature.

    No one can claim that JW organization is trying to shut him up - they are trying to stop him replicating their copyrighted literature. He could not possibly argue "fair and proper use" for the purpose of critique.

    I defy anyone here who would stand by and watch another website copy their copyrighted materials and not do anything about it.

    Meanwhile, several other ex-JW websites continue untroubled by legal threats by JW organization simply because they have limited their use of JW literature to "fair and proper use".

  • Sliced
    Sliced

    Steve2

    Did you read the article? If you can't access here, go to reddit and see the actual newspaper clip. It may help clarify why it wasn't taken down as fast... and why it won't be going away anytime soon.

  • sneekyapostate
    sneekyapostate

    To be honest I know what he did was unlawful but I feel indebted to him because his website was like poetic justice. The Watchtower breached my confidence so many times I lost count so for me he’s a hero lol.

    I think Watchtower (unsurprisingly) are demonstrating double-standards again because they are the biggest criminals on the planet.

  • Sliced
    Sliced

    To be honest I know what he did was unlawful but I feel indebted to him because his website was like poetic justice. The Watchtower breached my confidence so many times I lost count so for me he’s a hero lol.

    I think Watchtower (unsurprisingly) are demonstrating double-standards again because they are the biggest criminals on the planet.

    I feel the same, glad someone else recognizes that the WT has broken so many of the very laws they are now crying out to for protection from... No, I do not advocate breaking copyright laws, but seriously--- how many other sites have all the same material on them??? Why has this one gone under such scrutiny?? Read the article and the ending will answer that!

  • steve2
    steve2

    I cannot access the actual newspaper article and cannot access reddit from my work place so will endeavour to access it when I am back home.

    I acknowledge that JW organization is not operating out of "pure" motives and seeks to shut down any access to its confidential (secret) documents. Interestingly, other websites which have reproduced excerpts from these documents - in contrast to the entire documents - have not been slapped with legal action.

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