Legal status of Grateful Dead file hosting?

March 8, 2008 6:24 AM

DMCA takedown for the Grateful Dead? I recently received a pseudo-DMCA notice about a website hosting exclusively Grateful Dead music. I have a few questions about how to proceed.

I'll try to hit the main points here:

The site is on dreamhost, and hosted by a family member on one of the many domains that come with the plan. I have nothing to do with the day to day operation of the site, but I did register the domain a few years back.

The site hosts exclusively music of the Grateful Dead. I'm not a fan myself, but to my knowledge everything is free on the site and the site is very much a part of the traditional taping culture.

A day or so ago I received a form letter that appeared to be a DMCA takedown notice. The form letter reads in part "THIS SITE EXISTS ONLY TO ILLEGALLY POST BOOTLEG AND PIRATED MATERIAL IN CONNECTION WITH THE GRATEFUL DEAD AND HAS NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED BY RHINO ENTERTAINMENT, WARNER MUSIC GROUP OR GRATEFUL DEAD PRODUCTIONS TO POST SUCH MATERIAL" (shouting not mine)

On further read, the notice specifically says "Finally, notwithstanding our use of the required notice form, we believe that [domain's] activities and services fall outside the scope of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). Our use of this form, as required by law, is meant to facilitate [domain's] removal of the infringing product listed above and is not meant to suggest or imply that [domain's] activities and services are within the scope of the DMCA."

I have a few specific questions, but I'm interested in any feedback you might have.

1) What is the current IP position of Rhino records on the Grateful Dead's collection? Does it vary based on the type and source of the material?

2) Is there any specific meaning to the form looking like a DMCA notice but specifically saying that there is NO violation of the DMCA?

3) What is my exposure here? I don't administer the site, monitor, or control content. I don't even have a log-in to the site proper. I bought the domain name and pay for the plan since it hosts my other sites.

4) Since I assume the answer to the above question is "lots of exposure" I am hoping to transfer full billing and ownership of the site to the actual owner. Other than that, what steps should I take?

Thanks in advance - I know very little about this and any clarity you can provide would be great. I know you may be a lawyer, but you are not my lawyer. Also I should probably contact a lawyer. But other than that...?

posted by anonymous to law & government (4 comments total)

See the Internet Archive page of Grateful Dead tunes and their statement about IP rights, and you might find that this DMCA claim is phony. If it is, alert your hosting service immediately, since they can be skittish and susceptible to fake claims.
posted by tmcw at 6:50 AM on March 8, 2008

I would also ask the person running the site to make sure s/he isn't hosting any material that has been officially released. It's possible they have some shows up that were also part of a Dick's Pick or a Rhino box set.

And please post a link to the site, so us Deadheads can help by independently researching this situation...
posted by mosk at 9:45 AM on March 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

As mosk suggests, the first thing you'll want to determine is whether or not anything posted on the site has been released by the GD/Rhino. Check out the GD Discography on Wikipedia; pay special attention to the Dick's Picks series and the Digital Download series. Also note that they've just released two volumes of a new "Road Trips" series; each volume contains various selections from Fall 1979 (Vol. 1) and Oct. 1977 (Vol. 2) - it's possible that your friend's site offers shows that are excerpted on the new releases. Rhino has only recently started to ramp up their Grateful Dead releases, so it wouldn't be surprising if they've started to scrub the web for unauthorized downloads of stuff they're selling (or possibly even shows they *expect* to sell).

Beyond that, I'm not aware of any new crackdown on their part. As mosk said, it would be helpful to see the site in question - you can e-mail/MeFi Mail me the link (check my profile) and I'd be glad to scan it for questionable material.
posted by Banky_Edwards at 10:34 AM on March 8, 2008

Chilling Effects can provide you with resources to help and may be able to give you more specific information about your issue. Consider submitting the letter here. You can opt to have your information remain private and to not display the information from the sender.
posted by MLIS at 10:36 AM on March 8, 2008