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[BruceWayne]

I'm thinking of making a fan website for an on going TV show?
The show has few dvd seasons out and I plan to capture screen grabs from each episode and provide a link to either a forum thread or comments people can post.

I was wondering what are the copyrights regarding such fan sites?

I remember stargate site being raided by FBI before.

Do I have to worry about anything?

 

[bjork]

I once had a customer come in and tell me about how he had a Charmed website, and he gave proper credit for everything, but still faces a lawsuit from WB and had to shut it down.

But then, this guy also says he has a 70-inch plasma monitor for his computer, so I dunno...

 

[MaverickX9]

I'd probably email somebody first. Maybe make a few phonecalls.

At the least, I'd put some sort of disclaimer that says that the are copyrighted and used without permission - then mention that nobody associated with this website makes any profit. That kind of stuff.

I doubt you would get in any trouble, though. You might get an email asking you to remove the pictures, but I doubt anybody would take any legal action unless you are distributing illegal ripped episodes or something along those lines.

 

[BruceWayne]

There won't be any illegal materials on the site.

Anyway in the worst possible case the TV producer decide to shut down the site, will they just email me first to shut it down or bring a lawsuit?

The show already has an official site which is very poorly kept and the forum barely has anything going on.

 

[MaverickX9]

They usually send you an email from their lawyer asking for such and such to be removed. They always warn you before they take any action...at least in every case I've seen they have.

Shutting down a site would be a worst case scenario - I doubt that would ever happen to a fan site.

I've never actually heard of anybody actually going to court or having pay a settlement over a fansite, so you don't have to worry about anything like that.