Hosting a Fansite?

#1 11-03-2007, 10:34 PM

Is hostgator okay with hosting a fansite? I'm planning to build a fansite and I've read their TOS about copyright materials, but I'd like to know how strict are they with this... I am planning to have an image gallery of the celebrity up as well as a disclaimer saying that I don't own the images and they are credited to their original owners... is this allowed or would I get in trouble for it.... I'm sure most would say that I should not post things that does not belong to me unless I have permission from the owner, but like most fansites, we can't always ask for permission...so, will this be okay with me?

GvilleRick · #2 11-03-2007, 11:00 PM

There are other fansites hosted and one user with a 24 fansite is a regular poster here so he may be able to provide advice. It is against the Terms of Service to have copyrighted material up if you do not own the copyright or have permission to post it. If HG gets a letter from the celebrity's lawyer you would probably see what the suspension page looks like.

#3 11-04-2007, 10:07 AM

Here's a good place to start:

http://www.garage.com/resources/refe..._tentips.shtml

There are more links at the bottom of the article.

There are some artists that will grant free permission for fan sites. Good luck. I would suggest that the best course is get permission first, them you won't have any problems, or lawsuits, later down the road.

Eric · #4 11-04-2007, 01:41 PM

I'm the one with the 24 fan site, 24fans.net. Basically I had the same problems starting out about permission to use stuff. I basically just ignored everyone's advice to get permission first and went ahead and posted stuff anyway. Later on down the road when the site got big, someone from Fox contacted me regarding trailers for the show, they sent me exclusive clips from the show to post on the site and also gave me some updates on news about the show as well.

I think what it comes down to is that they see that I'm promoting the show for them. Now if I started to sell t-shirts with 24 logos on it, they would probably sue me because I would be making profits on their logos.

I'm not saying you should just go ahead and not get permission, but you have to be a little careful and at least try.

#5 11-04-2007, 04:51 PM

Thank you everyone for the suggestions, and Thank you very much Eric! Both of your sites looked great! I think I'm going to try like you said, because it's very hard to get permission directly from the owners (photographers, directors, etc.) so I'll just do what other fan sites does then, just give proper credit