Blackout on htmlcomics.com

[Ebel 1911]

I just learned about the site from the boards a couple days ago so of course I was annoyed when I couldn't get on earlier.

 

I've been able to find a few stories (old World's Finest, Justice League and Superboy/Legion) that I loved as a kid but had no idea which issues had the stories that I remembered. I even tried asking people in the Bronze Age Justice League thread if they had any ideas of the fragments I remembered and there was no luck. So I'm thrilled that I can use the site to find these issues and then buy what I'm looking for without buying a bunch of others that I don't want. Being able to read additional issues is certainly a nice benefit too...

[RockMyAmadeus]

yeah, that looks like a cease-and-desist to me but i ain't no law-talking dude

 

We need a fancy man of lawyering to decipher it.

[iggy]

Back. But sloooow loading again.

[font:Arial Black] ARGHHHH!!!! [/font]

 

Still slow but at least not lights out!

[mschmidt]

Half this stuff is in public domain now so I don`t see this site going away for awhile, Marvel should have a site like this instead of the clunky version they offer us for 4.99 a month.

 

The vast majority of the stuff on the site is not in the public domain (thumbs u

[HouseofComics.Com]

Is there any way to tell is this is a Canadian company?

[mschmidt]

Is there any way to tell is this is a Canadian company?

 

If you do a reverse look-up on the phone number of the company that manages the website, they're based in Tampa, Florida.

 

I personally find their "oh, we're a library, so copyright law doesn't apply to us"-statement hilarious - they're completely missing the fact that libraries pay for their items

[HouseofComics.Com]

I saw that the web designers were in Florida but wasn't sure if that meant the company was. I sold comics about six years ago to a Canadian who was planning something big and needed every comic. Hadn't heard from him for a few years (he was going to donate them to a local school which would showcase them all) and then HTML comics showed up which made me wonder if it was the guy.

[Davenport]

A Newsarama blogger blasted htmlcomics and outed the developer way back in Jan. of '09. First the blogger got a bit scorched by the public, plus the htmlcomics developer blasted back toward the end.

 

It's a fascinating read: Attn: Marvel and DC Legal Departments

[HouseofComics.Com]

Excellent link, thanks.

[ComicConnoisseur]

Half this stuff is in public domain now so I don`t see this site going away for awhile, Marvel should have a site like this instead of the clunky version they offer us for 4.99 a month.

 

The vast majority of the stuff on the site is not in the public domain (thumbs u

You would be surprised how much stuff falls into public domain, the majority of comics in the 1940`s to early 1960`s have fallen into pubic domain now including timelys/dc stuff, even Superman has been effected, an example is the Superman radio show from the 1940`s is in public domain as well as those Max Flesher Superman cartoons. People will really start to become interested in public domain at the end of this decade when at the end of this decade parts of the Marvel copyrights begin to expire giving the Jack Kirby estate at partial ownership of the Fantastic Four in 2017, while the Hulk would come up in 2018 and X-Men in 2019. The best thing that ever happened to Marvel if your a marvel universe fan was that Disney bought Marvel, Disney is notorious for keeping thier characters out of public domain.

[Mr. Zipper]

I personally find their "oh, we're a library, so copyright law doesn't apply to us"-statement hilarious - they're completely missing the fact that libraries pay for their items

 

Libraries pay for their books and receive donated books.

 

Presuming the person running the site paid for some books, and received others as donations, how is it any different?

[NewtSamson]

I personally find their "oh, we're a library, so copyright law doesn't apply to us"-statement hilarious - they're completely missing the fact that libraries pay for their items

 

Libraries pay for their books and receive donated books.

 

Presuming the person running the site paid for some books, and received others as donations, how is it any different?

 

 

I dunno. But, he is scanning and posting copyrighted material without permission.

Google does have an online library of books that have been scanned, but most the stuff in thier "library" - the copyright has expired or they have permission.

 

The fact is this comic online "library has no permission to post the material.

 

 

Maybe the laws will start to change as our culture becomes more computer based.

I see a time where more copyrighted literal matterial will be for rent or purchase digitally kind of like streamable netflix.

 

But when an individual who doesnt own the copyright posts the material...sounds kind of fishy law-wise to me.

 

[mschmidt]

I personally find their "oh, we're a library, so copyright law doesn't apply to us"-statement hilarious - they're completely missing the fact that libraries pay for their items

 

Libraries pay for their books and receive donated books.

 

Presuming the person running the site paid for some books, and received others as donations, how is it any different?

 

I see nothing on the site to support that assumption at all - as a matter of fact, if you compare the files on the website to various torrents that have been around for a while, it's pretty obvious that he just downloaded these files from other sources :shrug:

 

It doesn't really matter where he got the books, though - because it still doesn't change the fact that libraries aren't allowed to make copies of the books they've purchased (or received as donations) without the explicit approval of the copyright holder.

[fantastic_four]

I personally find their "oh, we're a library, so copyright law doesn't apply to us"-statement hilarious - they're completely missing the fact that libraries pay for their items

 

Libraries pay for their books and receive donated books.

 

Presuming the person running the site paid for some books, and received others as donations, how is it any different?

 

For the exact same reason that libraries don't make copyrighted works available online themselves--because it's illegal.

[Lebowski]

[Davenport]

I personally find their "oh, we're a library, so copyright law doesn't apply to us"-statement hilarious - they're completely missing the fact that libraries pay for their items

 

Libraries pay for their books and receive donated books.

 

Presuming the person running the site paid for some books, and received others as donations, how is it any different?

In that long Newsarama exchange is this:

 

"Since the creation of our library, we have been bombarded by the vendors and publishers of the comic books (i.e. … DC Comics, Marvel Comics, …) which make claim that our Library is an infringement of copyright laws, and must be taken down. We have resisted, and have expressed our position to them.

 

In an effort to reach fair and reasonable agreement, we have sent to their legal departments a letter..."

 

Knowing how aggressive DC/Marvel is, it says something that the website is still around. It may be yanked at sometime, but so far there's some kind of leg and he's standing on it. Otherwise he'd have been toasted immediately,

[ComicConnoisseur]

I personally find their "oh, we're a library, so copyright law doesn't apply to us"-statement hilarious - they're completely missing the fact that libraries pay for their items

 

Libraries pay for their books and receive donated books.

 

Presuming the person running the site paid for some books, and received others as donations, how is it any different?

In that long Newsarama exchange is this:

 

"Since the creation of our library, we have been bombarded by the vendors and publishers of the comic books (i.e. … DC Comics, Marvel Comics, …) which make claim that our Library is an infringement of copyright laws, and must be taken down. We have resisted, and have expressed our position to them.

 

In an effort to reach fair and reasonable agreement, we have sent to their legal departments a letter..."

 

Knowing how aggressive DC/Marvel is, it says something that the website is still around. It may be yanked at sometime, but so far there's some kind of leg and he's standing on it. Otherwise he'd have been toasted immediately,

He also waits a year before he posts stuff, example the latest issues of Spiderman/Batman will not be posted on there.

[Fireboy]

I personally find their "oh, we're a library, so copyright law doesn't apply to us"-statement hilarious - they're completely missing the fact that libraries pay for their items

 

Libraries pay for their books and receive donated books.

 

Presuming the person running the site paid for some books, and received others as donations, how is it any different?

In that long Newsarama exchange is this:

 

"Since the creation of our library, we have been bombarded by the vendors and publishers of the comic books (i.e. … DC Comics, Marvel Comics, …) which make claim that our Library is an infringement of copyright laws, and must be taken down. We have resisted, and have expressed our position to them.

 

In an effort to reach fair and reasonable agreement, we have sent to their legal departments a letter..."

 

Knowing how aggressive DC/Marvel is, it says something that the website is still around. It may be yanked at sometime, but so far there's some kind of leg and he's standing on it. Otherwise he'd have been toasted immediately,

He also waits a year before he posts stuff, example the latest issues of Spiderman/Batman will not be posted on there.

Oh look, green lantern 46, flash rebirth 5, invincible 61,

 

the guy is a liar

 

[InvstmntComcSuply]

He actually says "For most series, htmlComics will lag behind by about one year of the most recent release"

[thirdgreenham]

It's back o thank G-d it's back

 

It was only a matter of time.