Proving the legality of art obtained online

[emre]

This is not strictly about photography (music actually), but the same question

applies for all art forms. What if I use a piece of art obtained online that has

a Creative Commons license and the creator of said artwork later revokes the

license? I assume that it would not affect me since our agreement is sealed. The

question is, how would I prove it without a paper trail?

[frank_skomial]

Purchased a violin on eBay for US$500 - as is - only good quality pictures of the violin were provided, and nothing promissed. I took it for appraisal, and it turned out a 10X the value I paid. It was most likely stolen, since the usual luthier marks inside the violin were scraped off in an unprofessional manner. There was no way to trace it to the original owner, or maker, the seller could not tell anything - he bought it off hands of a street vendor, I was told. It has the best sound of all my violins. Well, I have mixed feelings about it, but enjoy the instrument very much.

[john_h.1]

It is extremely unwise to seek legal advice online. You should consult with an attorney who is actually qualified to advise you on such issues.

[keith turrill]

As an entirely anecdotal circumstance, a now banned blogger was stealing images from several P/N members and posting them on his own website claiming full ownership. In the dispute that ensued, he changed his website to "Creative Commons."

 

The dilemma that I see is that so much work gets stolen and re-posted on a variety of websites that the "Creative Commons" license may not even be valid if their is no real consent from the author. Future problems with "Orphaned Works" would be similar if pending US legislation passed into law.

[emre]

I posed this question to the lawyers at Creative Commons and got a response saying they would look into addressing it in their FAQ. Fingers crossed...