Website Legality?

[Mr. Blonde]

Hey dudes. This is a post askin for a bit of advice.

As some of you may know, about 2 months ago I started up a site called blackoutkorea.com , which catalogs the ridiculous amount of Koreans who get absolutely shithammered and pass out in public. It happens more here than any other place i've ever seen in my life, and I happen to find it quite funny. So I started the site with just my pictures I had taken, and people kept sending theirs in. I haven't put up a picture of my own in weeks now, the recent submissions have all been from other people.

Last week, it made it onto some of the really popular Ex-Pat Korean blogs, namely these two:

Korean Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Blacking out in korea

Brian in Jeollanam-do: Appreciating the Korean blackout.

For the most part it seems like most people like the idea and think it's funny, but you're always going to have some naysayers and that's where the problem comes in; I've had websites for years but they're always just small little dinky ones that nobody really reads. This one is getting pretty big; nothing near what, say, some of UB's sites have traffic wise, but way more than i'm used to. The Facebook page already has 350 fans and i've heard it's been circulated all over facebook.

I'm already getting some legal threats, but i'm not really worried about it...yet. The second above link near the bottom talks about the legality of what i'm doing by mentioning another blog, but i'm waiting for more information on that one. This post contains the only one i've seen so far, I almost commented on how ridiculous it would be for a serious lawyer to place a threat in a comment box, but refrained. I think just not posting a comment ever is probably the best option to take, in other cases, the readers seem to be having it out with each other, which is mostly amusing: Black Out Korea: Marmite Blackout

Anyways, i'm not TOO worried, but I really don't know how a lot of this stuff works. I just put the site up for fun and am not really looking to make a profit or do this as my full time job or anything like that, but I also really have no idea what kind of legal trouble I could potentially get into for this. Honestly, with the amount of people following it currently, it's only a matter of time before Korean nationals become aware of the site and I have a shitload of angry Koreans emailing me.

I'd like to think the laws that govern most modern nations apply here (which is why what the paparazzi does is legal as well as sites like The Dirty can exist), but I really have no idea. I was hoping some of you who are more experienced with running big websites (Orgazmo and UB) or perhaps some of you with legal experience (Stabmaster, Angry Pancake, and TBE) had any advice to offer on the subject.

[Orgazmo]

I mean...wtf are they going to do? Unless the person that took the picture doesn't want it on the site, I don't see what the issue would be. Looks like you have privacy on your domain so your whois doesn't show (so you won't get fake legal threats from clever bastards)...so I'd just roll with it. I like your "no comment" strategy too. Keep yourself out of the petty shit.

So yeah, stay anonymous and legal. Don't post pictures of anything illegal going on (obviously), and I don't see it being an issue. Stab, do you see any legal issues with something like that?

[f3lix]

Sell it. You make money, don't have to worry about the legal hassle, and can watch your baby bloom without worry.

[Dent]

I've seen a couple episodes of dragons den, so I know what i'm talking about when I say that it wouldn't sell for anything, and definitely not worth to effort to sell it.
Unless you get a patent on passed out gooks?


Is there anything stopping someone buying that domain and copying the pictures?
Also POGS is a lot more catchy than BOK or w/e

[Orgazmo]

I'd like to see some sort of rating system integrated too.

So, let's outline your future:
1.) Move site to passedoutgooks.com
2.) Implement a rating system
3.) $$$

[Mr. Blonde]

lol. rating system is a good idea. i'll look into it when i get some free time.

[DDTempest]

1). Post a disclaimer stating that by sending pictures to you that the person submitting them is the sole owner of the images and you retain the right to do X Y and Z with them, up to and including slapping the picture on a clever t-shirt and selling it.

1.5). If you take a picture of something, you are immediately copyright protected. So you taking a picture = you can do whatever the fuck you want with it (would advise against taking pictures of blacked out naked children).

2). If someone requests for a particular picture that is not yours down, take it down. Its not worth any expenditure of effort to even attempt to fight any threats of legal action.

3). Feed your calf until its a fat cow then fucking butcher it. You know what's worth $$$? A big ass healthy cow that looks fucking delicious. You know what is not worth shit? A disease ridden bovine corpse in the middle of a field. If you are in a position to cash out, do so when the site is at its peak. Example: Maddox - at the peak of his site he said he was going to write a book and probably sold quite a few, would you buy the same book from him now that his site has lost all relevance?

4)? Wouldn't hosting the website through American providers essentially put it in U.S. jurisdiction legally? So use your best judgment in regards to U.S. legality of any actions.

4.2). If so, make sure you file any taxes from profits accordingly.

[Beebs]

Essentially if you are in a public place you have no expectation of privacy, at least in the civilized world.

[Mr. Blonde]

lol

Black Out Korea: PEPERO BLACKOUT!!!

[Ugly Bastard]

Stick with current domain.