Why were Belloflostsouls and Natfka’s Faeit212 taken down by GW

CMBlog.jpgOn the last day of April.  Google removed both the natfka.blogspot.co.uk blog and Belloflostsouls.net from their blog network. Google host both these sites so have ultimate responsibility for them. Games workshop issued their take down notice sighting

“unreleased ‘White Dwarf’ magazine (ISSN: 0265-8712) produced by Games
Workshop Limited and due for release on 27th April 2013.”

You can see the take down notice from Games Workshop here.

http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512c/notice.cgi?NoticeID=928410

Allegedly Natfka’s blog has been issued with four previous notices of copyright infringements by Games Workshop.

Natfka appears to have taken this rather well. His last posts stating.

“The screams filled the night, . There were no alarms, no warnings for what befell us. The still night had erupted in terror, and there was nothing and no one that could save us. I had been wounded in the initial strike, the burning toxins ravaging my body. As I lay there in the darkness being consumed from the inside, only the screams were able to break through my delirium. Soon my body had broken, the screams that were my own subsided. I felt warm, the cool breeze of the open air on my face. At last I had found the respite of my own death, and I deftly welcomed it”

While ChapterMasters.com doesn’t use Google to host it’s site. Our sponsor has asked up to to remove any content that could be considered copyright infringement. While we have never hosted any copyrighted material and have not posted anything that couldn’t be considered fair us of material, we do not have the resource get caught up in legal arguments and don’t want to do anything to upset our sponsors so have complied with this request.

Jon

Update: Belloflostsouls.net is back up. They haven’t explained how they managed this but did make it clear they got caught up in Google’s removal of Natfka’s blog.

Natfka appears to be enjoying the Wargamming conference he is attending this week and is still posting video’s on youtube.

The internet is full of debate about if Natfka’s blog has overstepped the bounds of fair use. There is clearly a point were reporting news become just republishing someone else’s content. Natfka was publishing pictures and videos containing Games Workshop material. He was not redistributing Games Workshop publications. Games Workshop do not have any court injunctions preventing people from publishing pictures of their works. They work is very much in the public domain. They sight Natfka had publish unreleased content, but if Natfka can prove this content came from a source who had paid for the work. Then he has not done this. I do wonder if this is what GW are aiming for, getting hold of Natfka’s source; in case they are internal. Natfka has made no secret of the fact he has a source inside GW. Or maybe GW just want to make sure we have to visit their website to see these photo’s. Who knows we might just go and buy something while we are there.

I doubt there will be a court case to resolve this, so we will probably never know what the truth was.

Ben