TV show fansite and the DMCA

[LeandroTLZ]

Hello there,

I've had a Futurama fansite since 1999. It was originally called The Leela Zone, now Futurama Madhouse. We're currently hosted in a server in Argentina (where I live) but we're looking for a new host in order to do a "relaunch" of the site when Futurama starts its next season (updating the look, improving navigation. Site's not changed much since 1999, so it's really showing its age).

The thing is, I am wary of moving into a US based host due to the DMCA. We don't host episodes or anything like that, but we have a TON of derivative works, such as Fan Art (people drawing their own images based on the show, or tracing over frames from episodes); Fan Fiction (people writing their own stories); SHORT sound clips from the show (around 10 seconds each, to be used as ringtones or Windows sounds); Fans' Comics (pretty much fan art with speech bubbles), and so on.

Considering the nature of the site's content (MOST of the content is like that, derivative works submitted by visitors to show it off), am I at risk of having a DMCA takedown kill my site if I host it in HostGator?

[fusionx22]

I think your best option is to contact Comedy Partners directly and ask them. Comedy Partners is the parent company for Comedy Central.

http://www.comedycentral.com/help/questionsCC.jhtml

In general, should Comedy Partners find that you are violating their copyright(s), they certainly could file a DMCA removal request with HostGator.

A quick Google search did turn up several copyright violation claims from other Comedy Central shows involving fan sites.

I would definitely ask the people at Comedy Partners to give you the guidelines on what they find to be appropriate or fair use.

(PS - I'm not a lawyer).