{ASSD} ASSTR submits to spurious DMCA notice from mrdouble.com

[otakuman]

The Loliwood Studios site that is located at ASSTR was taken down by
the ASSTR admins, due to a DMCA takedown notice (see below) that is on
the behalf of www.mrdouble.com

I think this is something that may eventually effect many erotic
writers, as it appears that mrdouble is claiming copyrights on various
works, even though I believe their own website says the authors retain
all copyrights.

Even if you don't post stories at mrdouble, maybe your stories are
hosted on an ASSTR sub-site, like Kirsten's Archive. Judging from the
way that ASSTR reacted to this notice, they might just as abruptly
suspend Kirsten's Archive, or one of the other large collections of
stories.

First, my imperfect understanding is that mrdouble had an agreement
with the authors that the stories could only be posted at mrdouble,
ONLY if the authors wanted to be included in the money pool that was
divided among the most viewed authors. This agreement may have only
been for a period of the firstf 30 days, but I can't even find any
mention of such an agreement on mrdouble's site.

Second, it was the authors themselves who posted their stories to
Loliwood Studios, who accepted those stories in good faith.
Evidently, many of those authors have their stories posted elsewhere
around ASSTR as well. This would be a breach of faith* between those
authors and mrdouble (and would result in those stories being
withdrawn from the money pool, as I understand it.) This SHOULDN'T be
a copyright violation, particularly one that would shut down the
website where those authors submitted their own stories.

*Dammit Jim, I'm a writer, not a lawyer!

Third, the DMCA doesn't even list specific stories, it just lists
authors. To me, that suggests that mrdouble thinks that the author
can't post ANY stories using that pen name, even if those stories
aren't available at the mrdouble website (or aren't included in the
money pool.)

Arin (the webmaster for Loliwood Studios) raised another point,
although I wonder if it was just added automatically when the takedown
e-mail was forwarded. Arin points out that the "from" box shows the
lawyers that issued the takedown notice to have ASSTR.org e-mails.

Here is the text of the takedown notice, as posted on the Loliwood
Studios forum:

From: ASSTR Administration
Subject: ELECTRONIC COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT NOTICE (fwd)
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: MULTIPART/MIXED;
BOUNDARY="-1463811581-654126001-1344445756=:26684"
X-Truedomain-Domain: asstr.org
X-Truedomain-SPF: Pass
X-Truedomain-DKIM: No Signature
X-Truedomain-ID: 56410253B6A8B4E3E846E3C3A9ACA1A6
X-Truedomain: Neutral

---1463811581-654126001-1344445756=:26684
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=X-UNKNOWN; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE

We have suspended the Loliwood Studios ASSTR-hoted site in response to
the
below allegations pending a response from you.

- Rey del Sexo

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2012 21:54:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: Lawr...@asstr.org, G.Wa...@asstr.org, Esq.
To: ad...@asstr.org
Subject: ELECTRONIC COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT NOTICE


ELECTRONIC COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT NOTICE RE: WWW.ASSTR.ORG

TO: Loliwood Studios

FROM:
Lawrence G. Walters, Esq.
Walters Law Group
105 W. Pine Ave.
Longwood, FL 32750

August 6, 2012

VIA EMAIL ONLY
Loliwood Studios

RE: DMCA NOTICE =96 www.asstr.org/~LS

To Whom It May Concern,

The following statement is made under the penalty of perjury:

I represent the operator of MrDouble.com, and am authorized to act on
his behalf in generating this notice of copyright infringement in
accordance with the provisions of A7512(c)(3), the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA). This correspondence shall constitute a formal
notice pursuant to the DMCA. I have a good faith belief that the
website www.asstr.org contains infringing material which violates our
company's copyright. The following pages contain the material that
illegally infringes on our company's copyrights demand is hereby made
that you remove or disable all of the infringing material located
below pursuant to federal law:

:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/aaa.html#xactjc
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/aaa.html#xalleneblake
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/aaa.html#xamanda
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/aaa.html#xambergold
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/bbb.html#xbemused
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/bbb.html#xbennythejetter
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/bbb.html#xbigdaddy
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/bbb.html#xblackhawk
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/bbb.html#xborge
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/stories/bbb.html#xblackpanther
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/bbb.html#xbyteman2000
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ccc.html#xcarrolllewis
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ccc.html#xcharlesdodgson
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ccc.html#xchrislee
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ccc.html#xclayton
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ccc.html#xconure
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ccc.html#xcornerghost
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ccc.html#xcraver
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ccc.html#xcujo
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ccc.html#xcuriouscat
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ccc.html#xcurt
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ddd.html#xdaddydoright
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ddd.html#xdesade
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ddd.html#xdoublesecretauthor
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/eee.html#xeros
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/eee.html#xeuphoria
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/fff.html#xfiercerabbit
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/fff.html#xfrosty
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ggg.html#xgeoffroyperrault
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ggg.html#xgpc
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ggg.html#xguillaume
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/hhh.html#xhgrant
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/jjj.html#xjaz1701
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/kkk.html#xk2koala
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/kkk.html#xkeyman
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/kkk.html#xkingmayonaise
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/lll.html#xladybug
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/lll.html#xlilspurt
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/lll.html#xlisacohn
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/lll.html#xlittlegirlwatcher
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/lll.html#xlolitot
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/mmm.html#xmadhatter113
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/mmm.html#xmaxamm
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/nnn.html#xnatsherman
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/nnn.html#xnetwanderer
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ooo.html#xoldfart
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ppp.html#xpedomanit
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/rrr.html#xremi
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/rrr.html#xrenpet
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/rrr.html#xronsworld
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/rrr.html#xrufusfugit
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/sss.html#xsamtsleaze
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/sss.html#xsergdriver
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/sss.html#xsisterlove
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/sss.html#xsnam
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/sss.html#xstu
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ttt.html#xtakahike
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ttt.html#xtc
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ttt.html#xtheoldmedic
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ttt.html#xthewatcherawakens
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/ttt.html#xtonynfriends
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/uuu.html#xunclemike
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/vvv.html#xvulgus
:>http://www.asstr.org/~LS/authors/xxx.html#xximena

If you fail to promptly disable/remove the infringing content, your
will beliable as a contributory infringer under the DMCA.

I hereby declare under the penalties of perjury pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
A7 1746, that:

1) I have the authority to act on behalf of the copyright owner;
2) I have a good faith belief that the above-referenced material
appearing on www.asstr.org infringe on our copyright(s); and,
3) the factual representations in this correspondence are true and
correct.

I also agree that this transaction is governed by the Electronic
Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign Act), 15 U.S.C.
A77000, et seq., and adopt the mark below as my electronic signature
for purposes of this correspondence.

Your prompt attention to this matter is appreciated.
Sincerely,


Lawrence G. Walters, Esq.
La...@FirstAmendment.com
Walters Law Group
195 W. Pine Ave.
Longwood, FL 32750-4104
Voice: 407-975-9150
Fax: 407-774-6150

[Evil_...@hotmail.co.uk]

I'm no fan of Loliwood Studios and the cynical way they flooded ASSTR's 'new files' list day after day, and I used to think that mrdouble were good guys, standing up to bully-boys who tried to censor contentious literature, but your research is in-line with the opinions I had formed, and mrdouble are the bad guys here.

I don't know who Lawrence G Walters is but either he hasn't bothered to research the situation or he's cynically out to make money from the suppression of free speech by people with less resources. If certain authors are violating their agreements with mrdouble, the first avenue should have been to take it up with the authors themselves. I'm very concerned that he has a couple of ASSTR mailboxes when he's out to impose unwarranted censorship.

I'm very grateful I didn't sign up with mrdouble.

Evil Nigel

[otakuman]

On Aug 10, 5:06 am, Evil_Ni...@hotmail.co.uk wrote:
> I'm no fan of Loliwood Studios and the cynical way they flooded ASSTR's 'new files' list day after day, and I used to think that mrdouble were good guys, standing up to bully-boys who tried to censor contentious literature, but your research is in-line with the opinions I had formed, and mrdouble are the bad guys here.
>
> I don't know who Lawrence G Walters is but either he hasn't bothered to research the situation or he's cynically out to make money from the suppression of free speech by people with less resources. If certain authors are violating their agreements with mrdouble, the first avenue should have been to take it up with the authors themselves. I'm very concerned that he has a couple of ASSTR mailboxes when he's out to impose unwarranted censorship.
>
> I'm very grateful I didn't sign up with mrdouble.
>
> Evil Nigel

I'm not sure on the ASSTR mailboxes, it could be that when the ASSTR
admin forwarded the email to Arin, their email software automatically
(and erroneously) added @asstr.org to the names in the "From" box.
E.g., Lawrence G.Walters became Lawr...@asstr.org
G.Wa...@asstr.org

[thebigg...@gmail.com]

I cannot stand Mrdouble, he is a power hungry asshole. That being said I am fairly confident that a vast sum of the stories posted on Loliwood were not posted by the original author. Too many times I saw stories posted there from authors who haven't been seen in ages, with no new content.

On the other hand it is ludicrous for Mrdouble to claim copyright over any of the stories posted on his site. the only thing he owns is the site itself not the stories. In fact it is my understanding that if an author requests it Mrdouble will take down any story posted by that author usually in the same day. So it would seem Mrdouble acknowledges that the author holds the copyright to their individual stories.

Also, it didn't seem that any new content was spreading from the Mrdouble site over to Loliwood. most of the stories shared from MrDs were several years old some over a decade.

While I would like to b believe that Arin had permission from the "original" author to post every story that was on his site, that just doesn't seem plausible. However it's a mystery how anyone could actually prove they wrote any story I have ever read on the internet.

I guess to sum it up my point is, where the fuck is your proof MrD. I could say I have the copyright to my girlfriends nude pics that she "let" me post on the net. But just because the pics are on my site doesn't mean I hold the copyright to her image.

Anyway Dick move Mr.D, Dick Move. There was a lot of fresh content coming in from Loliwood. Looks like you effectively killed the competition.

[otakuman]

Charles Dodgson posted a message on the Loliwood Studios forum, he is
one of the authors listed in the DMCA notice. He said that A: he's
NEVER been paid by Mr. Double, and B: that Mr. Double said, "They are
your stories, you can do what you want with them." You can read his
message about 5-6 down (at the time this post was written,) on the
Loliwood Studios forum: http://books.dreambook.com/lolstu/chat.html

Arin takes the reasonable assumption that if someone calls themselves
"Otakuman" and posts one of my stories, then that person is the actual
writer of those stories. He is quick to remove stories that are
proven to be plagiarized. There may be some cases of people posting
other's works, but they post them under the original author's name
(and presumably the stories were originally permitted to be shared on
not-for-profit websites.) Arin doesn't make any money from his
website, as it is hosted on ASSTR and there are no subscription fees,
ads, etc.

[thebigg...@gmail.com]

> Arin takes the reasonable assumption that if someone calls themselves
>
> "Otakuman" and posts one of my stories, then that person is the actual
>
> writer of those stories. He is quick to remove stories that are
>
> proven to be plagiarized. There may be some cases of people posting
>
> other's works, but they post them under the original author's name
>
> (and presumably the stories were originally permitted to be shared on
>
> not-for-profit websites.) Arin doesn't make any money from his
>
> website, as it is hosted on ASSTR and there are no subscription fees,
>
> ads, etc.

From what I've seen, what you say is completely true. I've posted stories on MrDoubles site and I know first hand that I didn't enter into any contract giving him ownership of my work. His posting process does however ask if your stories are, or will be posted on other sites. (If they are Mrdouble exclusive they can be considered for some time of compensation, usually free membership, if I understand correctly.) However as I said this is defensively not a binding contract by any means.

Does anyone know what Arin intends to do, if anything? I spent most of the day trying to reconstruct a loliwood story database, it's a very time consuming process, just the AAA authors took me 8 hours I'm just getting started on BBB. It's not much fun but it would be a shame to loose such a great story archive as we did with sites like blackspectre and pervertsrus.

MrDouble if your out there please eat a dick. I remember when your site was free and you posted most of your stories on alt.sex.stories when did you get to be such and arrogant prick?

[otakuman]

From what I understand, Arin and Rey del Sexo are awaiting a response
from Mr. Double's lawyer, and if he doesn't respond by August 18th,
the site should be back up.

[thebigg...@gmail.com]

Looks like the sites back up now. while I'm happy looks like the way I spent the last day & a seem quite a waste. Anyway thanks for the info Otaku.