RationalWiki copyright infringement

_{William Dembski
November 15, 2009

Legal

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RationalWiki is reprinting large portions of an article I did with Robert Marks that far exceeds anything permissible under “fair use” copyright protections. I was getting ready to contact my attorney about having them remove our article from their website (go here — I’ve saved this page in case it changes as a consequence of this post), but couldn’t find any contact information on the site.

Question: Who is running this site and how to contact them?

Comments

Hi Bill, I am the "owner" of RationalWiki, though it not ownership in the traditional sense. Anyway, fair use is a complex issue, and more than a few cases have up held the full copying of a work, though other cases have found infringement with just a few sentences. Issues to consider, we are a non-profit, educational resource. The copied portioned are copied for the purposes of criticism. Much like the use of "Imagine" in "Expelled." Also IEEE is the primary copy right holder I believe. And the fact that this is an "academic" publication should all be weighed in your decision about how you want to pursue this. I am curious why this is a battle you are so eager to fight? Anyway, the best contact for me is to e-mail me at: ttoulouse@gmail.com or touloutm@mcmater.ca For the record, the site is hosted on a private server that I own and operate.Trent_{November 15, 2009
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In all fairness: UD's and your personal handling of copyright is not really consistent. Copying of complete articles is not really uncommon. E.g., your post on ID in NATUREosteonectin_{November 15, 2009
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johnnyb: Where are you getting that adding commentary somehow absolves people from copying vast portions of text? If I tried that with C. S. Lewis's writings, his estate would be on me in a heartbeat. Do you have a reference to copyright law?William Dembski_{November 15, 2009
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Although they have reproduced large portions of it, it seems to all be intermixed with commentary. This, I thought, put it in the bounds of fair use. The only exception to this is section 1, which is copied but no commentary is made.johnnyb_{November 15, 2009
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Hi Bill, You can enter a domain name in at the following address: http://www.whois.com/ Then follow the WhoIs link that is provided. You get different contact addresses (one in Canada, the other in New Mexico) for the .com and the .net, but they are under the same name, same phone number, same email address and same domain name provider. The phone number is a New Mexico exchange. You can probably contact the provider if you need more information. Registration Service Provided By: ServInt Domains (servint.com).Mung_{November 15, 2009
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Dr Dembski, Try this contact: RationalWiki Trent Toulouse (rationalwiki(at)gmail.com)Nakashima_{November 15, 2009
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Dr Dembski, I followed the money, clicked the "donate" button. I get the following web address: http://rationalwiki.com/wiki/RationalWiki:Site_support Which states their mailing address to be: Trent Toulouse Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour McMaster University 1280 Main St. W Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4K1 Even though you are now dealing with an international boundary, I don't think McMaster University will be too interested in being named in a copyright infringement charge.bFast_{November 15, 2009
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Domain registration information is public and may be of help. There are various "whois" services such as the following: http://www.whois.net/whois/rationalwiki.com RationalWiki Trent Toulouse (rationalwiki@gmail.com) +1.5052502814 Fax: - 9 Ward Av Hamilton, Ontario L8S2E4 CADaveW_{November 15, 2009
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