Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Washington
Is this in the public domain?
I'm a collector of XYZ cars. I'm running a web site to track how many XYZs exist out of the original production.
This website allows people who aren't owners of XYZs to record information they've gathered at car shows, in their travels, etc. It does NOT allow them to record who the owner is unless they themselves are the owner and can prove it.
Users of the web site see if an XYZ still exists, what its serial number is, what color it is, etc. At no time can they see who the owner is. A hacker would be unable to learn anything about the owner, since even if it exists the info consists solely of an encrypted name/email address.
All of the info on the site is gathered at locations where said info is available to any member of the public. Some is from car shows, some from published ads which feature the XYZ's serial number, etc.
If the owner of a XYZ says ''remove the serial # information from the site or be sued,'' do they have a leg to stand on? Is the gathered info in the public domain? Assuming the law is on the web site's side, will the courts be likely to throw such a suit out before costly legal remedies are needed?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Is this in the public domain?
Information as to existence and nature of antiques that does not include personal data of the owner is permissible. The complaint of an owner of an antique is likely to be that you are putting them in jeopardy of the antique being stolen by identify to the world who owns it. The solution is to keep the name and address of the owner off the internet unless the owner has authorized it to be there. Encrypted name and address information should probably not be put there, as encryption can be broken. I do not see how any judge would deny a summary judgment motion against the owner and in favor of such a list provider. Similar lists of many antiques are produced, for example on antique Winchester guns, although there the information is public information due to obligations of firearms manufacturers and retailers to keep records so guns used in crimes can be traced.
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