Originally Posted by Hisaki

Whatever you spend the money you make off of the website is irrelevant; you're still making money off of the work of others. It's like hanging a copy of the Mona Lisa in a museum, claiming it's yours, and not paying the honorary fees to heritage trusts; you'll be sued and thoroughly bankrupted with no hesitation.

Yet you accuse me of knowing nothing on the issue of copyright; very well then, the burden of proof in any legal matter is on the accuser. Show me where I'm wrong. I'm waiting. Go ahead. Reference a legal document showing that copyright law works just as you state it, or cease your childish prattle.

I also have no idea what "websites like elo" are, but to give you an example of how these things work:

http://www.lolbase.net/

Look at the bottom there. See the bits where credit is duly given? Also, a request had to be filed with Riot to establish such a site. In both cases, you haven't done what they've done; namely, given credit and asked for permission to open such a site.

The excuse that nobody has time to find the original owners is also not an excuse for property theft. If you stole a car on the side of the road that you've seen sitting there for six months, and then the police knock on your door to reclaim the car and arrest you for theft for stealing someone's property, do you think that "I didn't have time to look for the owner!" is going to work as an excuse? No, it won't, but again, feel free to cite a copyright law to shush me.

As for figuring out who made a meme or a comic, usually, the authors of said meme or comic are printed straight on the image or on the site it's hosted on. It's not difficult to figure out who the creator is. Unless it's on your site, oddly enough.

And if you can't see how the original creators would be upset, you're clearly not even acknowledging the fact that you're stealing their content to make money off of it. I've spoken to some of the artist you've stolen from, and they're less than happy with the news. I'd imagine you'll hear from a few in a bit.

And no, I won't draw this to Skype. Your vivisection should be complete and quite visible. Again, point me to a copyright law that states that I am wrong, and I will gladly bow my head in shame and admit I've been a fool this whole time. I don't believe you'll do any such thing, though.

Originally Posted by Hisaki

Just so you know...

http://elohell.net/chill/artists

See their artists section? Each person that created the images on their site is credited there. Your argument is just digging yourself further into a hole by referencing sites that DO handle this matter correctly, which further shows how yours DOESN'T.

But if you'd like to stop replying, that's fine, too. You aren't capable of anything besides ad hominem, and you continually refuse to prove how you're not doing something incorrect with your site. As is the case, you're essentially admitting you have no grounds for your argument, and you're quite correct; you have no logical basis for your statements, and you're quite guilty of theft.

Originally Posted by Hisaki

Fair enough. Still, the importance of ownership is something that must be acknowledged; it is no exaggeration to say that the site could face legal action, should one of the content holders see how their works have been handled. Whether it happens or not is a matter of how upset the original artist may be.

The artist in question in the specific case I posted is my roommate and best friend, and it understandably angers me to see his work used without credit, moreso because it's been done several times in the past and, in some instances, with flat-out impersonation of his online persona. After all of that, seeing someone lifting his work provokes a response that may be a bit heavyhanded, but I believe it's best to hammer the point home when dealing with legal issues.

In any case, I'd advise taking care of the credit issue as soon as possible; perhaps requiring credit from uploaders and running that through a verification process would be a good first step. I'm not sure what sort of validation your site uses, but some adjustments could be beneficial for both you and the authors.