SOPA Author Violates Copyright of the Day: The congressman who authored the Stop Online Privacy Act, which creates severe penalties for website owners accused of copyright violations, is a copyright violator himself, according to Vice.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tx.) used a photo by DJ Schulte as a background image on his website earlier this year. Vice got in contact with Schulte to see if he had given Smith permission to use the image, and it turns out that he hadn’t.
That wouldn’t be a violation in and of itself, because Schulte has released the photo under a Creative Commons license that doesn’t require permission for use. However, it does require anyone who uses the image to attribute it to Schulte, which Smith did not do.
“My conclusion would be that Lamar Smith’s organization did improperly use my image. So according to the SOPA bill, should it pass, maybe I could petition the court to take action against www.texansforlamarsmith.com,” Schulte said.
Vice plans to check the websites of the 31 other SOPA cosigners for similar violations.
[vice]
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