Is that legal?

ID:278068
 
Feb 16 2009, 5:05 pm
I could be among the last to discover this site, or among the first. Whichever one, I'm mentioning it xD

http://encyclopediadramatica.com/BYOND

Is it legal to make a "wiki wannabe" page just to flame BYOND/BYONDers?
Feb 16 2009, 5:31 pm
ED is hardly a wannabe of Wikipedia (say "Wikipedia" as wiki is a general term, which can aptly describe thousands of sites). As well, it probably is hosted in the US, where it falls under fair use, meaning it's perfectly legal.
Feb 16 2009, 6:26 pm
Pretty much everything on Encyclopedia Dramatica is legal because there's an explicit exception in copyright law for parody and criticism, the two things in which E.D. specializes. So even if they use the BYOND logo or a derivative of it, screenshots from people's games, or other copyrighted materials, they are on safe legal ground.

For what it's worth, I love their entry on BYOND and think it suits the community very well. What does it say about us if we can't laugh at ourselves?
Feb 16 2009, 11:04 pm
In response to PirateHead
I'd say stuff like this would fall more under freedom of speech than right to parody. A parody is usually mocking something outright, not insulting it directly.
Feb 16 2009, 11:09 pm
In response to PirateHead
considering a large chunk of the content is just repeating various swear words, that sort of limited creativity is hardly funny. trolling or being insulting because they got slapped by the community somehow, at some point in the past, is not the same as actually being funny.

but i agree that we should not take ourselves *too* seriously.
Feb 16 2009, 11:33 pm
In response to digitalmouse
Looking through the history, most of what Xx Dark Wizard xX and Jeffrey S. originally wrote has been scrapped and the article was largely rewritten.
Feb 17 2009, 2:25 am
In response to PirateHead
Actually, there is some legal grounds for use of the logos being misuse, as they fall under trademarks as much as copyright. Any sort of legal pursuit would be pointless, however. ED would fall hide under the DMCA, and would just remove the logos, but it wouldn't really do any good for BYOND. It would be a pointless effort.

People like those that created the ED article on BYOND are just looking for BYOND to get in a huff about it. They know there is practically no way for BYOND to retaliate, so they figure if BYOND is offended by it, it would be a worthwhile venture to take it a step further.