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Dealing With a Copyright Takedown Request?
George Maschke writes "I recently received a takedown notice from a corporate lawyer demanding that I remove a post on my Web site's message board. It purportedly lists the first 75 of 567 questions on the MMPI-2 paper-and-pencil psychological test. It seems to me that such posting of a limited amount copyrighted material for discussion purposes on a public-interest, non-profit Web site falls within the scope of the fair use exemption of US copyright law. I have thus declined to remove the post. I believe that the corporation in question is seeking to chill public discussion of its test, which applicants for employment with many governmental agencies are required to complete. I would be interested in this community's thoughts on the matter."
Hi, I'm not a lawyer nor are many people you're likely to see posting here.
But that percentage sounds like it may just cross the line for fair use, or perhaps even editorial comment. If you are going to go against the wishes of a larger entity, be sure of the percentage that might cross a line and trim to that. It may not be necessary to remove if you can editorialize.
Otherwise, I hope you run the website through an LLC.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Was it certified? Can they prove they sent it?
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Peer1.com seems to be under the impression that once a DMCA takedown notice is received, the material mentioned in the notice must be removed for a period of 14 days, after which, if the complainant does not provide notification that it has sought a court order, the material may be restored. However, my understanding is that the material may be placed back on-line (PDF) promptly upon the service provider's receipt of a counter-claim (which I have already sent), that is, there is no need to wait 14 days.
It's also worth noting that Pearson, the copyright holder of the MMPI-2, filed a takedown notice for the very same post in 2007. We promptly filed a counter-notice, Pearson took no further action, and we thought the matter resolved. Has anyone had a problem with a copyright holder filing repeated DMCA takedown notices to one's service provider for the same material?
George W. Maschke
AntiPolygraph.org
I don't think you can copyright voodoo (MMPI2).
While IANAL and I can't locate the reference, I seem to remember that 10% was a magic figure in Australia.
Maybe 56 questions (rather than 75) should have been the limit, or even better in the response to the lawyer ask them as to how many questions they view as fair use, and specify that you will await their response before actioning any take-down.
My $0.02 worth.
Not quite, it's these questions: 1. I like mechanics magazines. 2. I have a good appetite. 3. I wake up fresh and rested most mornings. 4. I think I would enjoy the work of a librarian. 5. I am easily awakened by noise. 6. My father is a good man (or if your father is dead) my father was a good man. 7. I like to read newspaper articles on crime. 8. My hands and feet are usually warm enough. 9. My daily life is full of things that keep me interested. 10. I am about as able to work as I ever was. 11. There seems to be a lump in my throat much of the time. 12. My sex life is satisfactory. 13. People should try to understand their dreams and be guided by or take warning from them. 14. I enjoy detective or mystery stories. 15. I work under a great deal of tension. 16. Once in a while I think of things too bad to talk about. 17. I am sure I get a raw deal from life. 18. I am troubled by attacks of nausea and vomiting. 19. When I take a new job, I like to find out whom it is important to be nice to. 20. I am very seldom bothered by constipation. 21. At times I have very much wanted to leave home. 22. No one seems to understand me. 23. At times I have fits of laughing and crying that I cannot control. 24. Evil spirits possess me at times. 25. I would like to be a singer. 26. I feel that it is certainly best to keep my mouth shut when I am in trouble. 27. When people do me wrong, I feel I should pay them back, just for the principle of the thing. 28. I am bothered by an upset stomach several times a week. 29. At times I feel like swearing. 30. I have nightmares every few nights. 31. I find it hard to keep my mind on a task or job. 32. I have had very peculiar and strange experiences. 33. I seldom worry about my health. 34. I have never been in trouble because of my sexual behavior. 35. Sometimes when I was young I stole things. 36. I have a cough most of the time. 37. At times I feel like smashing things. 38. I have had periods of days, weeks, or months when I couldnâ(TM)t take care of things because I couldnâ(TM)t âoeget goingâ. 39. My sleep is fitful and disturbed. 40. Much of the time, my head seems to hurt all over. 41. I do not always tell the truth. 42. If people had not had it in for me, I would have been much more successful. 43. My judgment is better than it ever was. 44. Once a week (or more often) I suddenly feel hot all over, for no reason. 45. I am in just as good physical health as most of my friends. 46. I prefer to pass by school friends, or people I know but have not seen for a long time, unless they speak to me first. 47. I am almost never bothered by pains over my heart or in my chest. 48. Most anytime I would rather sit and daydream than do anything else. 49. I am a very sociable person. 50. I have often had to take orders from someone who did not know as much as I did. 51. I do not read every editorial in the newspaper every day. 52. I have not lived the right kind of life. 53. Parts of my body often have feelings like burning, tingling, crawling, or like âoegoing to sleepâ. 54. My family does not like the work I have chosen (or the work I intend to choose for my lifework). 55. I sometimes keep on at a thing until others lose their patience with me. 56. I wish I could be as happy as others seem to be. 57. I hardly ever feel pain in the back of my neck. 58. I think a great many people exaggerate their misfortunes in order to gain the sympathy and help of others. 59. I am troubled by discomfort in the pit of my stomach every few days or so. 60. When I am with people I am bothered by hearing very strange things. 61. I am an important person. 62. I have often wished I were a girl. (or if you are a girl) I have never been sorry that I am a girl. 63. My feelings are not easily hurt. 64. I enjoy reading love stories. 65. Most of the time I feel blue. 66. It would be better if almost all laws were thrown away. 67. I like poetry. 68. I sometimes tease animals. 69. I think I would like the kind of work a forest ranger does. 70. I am easily downed in an argument. 71. These days I find it h
Test makers are notoriously vicious in the defense of their property. Psychological tests especially, since it cost them a lot of money to create those items and test their reliability and validity, and they will have to replace those items if they are disclosed to enough people.
Granted, projective tests like the MMPI are generally garbage that don't tell you anything you can't figure out yourself with a little introspection, but publicly airing their items directly costs them money. Anyone that was awake in psych 101 knows how "useful" a person's MMPI personality type is, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the most popular go-to personality assessments.
Pearson in particular is a very large test maker with very hungry lawyers. They WILL sue you for this. They'll sue you for selling any of their products on ebay, too... even if it's just a xeroxed BLANK assessment protocol (the paper that the taker writes answers on). They'll sue you for talking about their items in a way that reveals items. They'll sue you at the drop of a hat.
Disclaimer: As a School Psychology student myself, most of our texts don't even use actual items from tests as examples. Tests themselves (and the protocols that go with them) are kept under lock and key, and cost a fortune.
More options:
- Give to Wikileaks (If it's actually important but they seem to have a low standard)
- Host in another country (Preferably some country which doesn't give a shit) and link to it
- Host on various free services and cycle the links when ever they remove it from somewhere
- Torrents (annoying but hey, it would work)
I could go on and on and on.
Such a test would be rather illegal in the UK, and probably much of the EU.
20.My sex life is satisfactory
69.I am very strongly attracted by members of my own sex
Both questions could count as sexual harassment. (Aside from the fact, most sane people would tell the questioner to fuck off and mind there own business)
14.I have diarrhea once a month or more
Surely questions about your health that are not job releted are illegal?
58.Everything is turning out just like the prophets of the Bible said it would
LOL ! Don't get me started on the legality of this one!
I'm honestly amazed these questions are considered acceptable.
Here, they WOULD bring the law crashing down on you.
Anyone quoted by a reporter knows how little they understand
Don't believe what you read is the truth.
1.) It's copyright by the University of Minnesota. Uptight Wankers !
2.) If it's a pre-requisite for a federal job, it should be issued by the Fed, and therefore in the public domain.
3.)You're foolish for not obeying the take-down notice.
4.)You're even more foolish if you don't immediately publish the entire document on Wikileaks.
Thanks for listening.
Just as a note, if you are ever incarcerated do not take the test.
There, fixed it for you.
I'm just making some educated guessing
Not so much. They rarely look at individual answers on (real, not one of the fake made-up HR) personality inventories like the MMPI, unless there is some specific reason to do so. The test is scored, and certain questions combine to form a score for a particular category - honesty, outlook (are you happy, morose, depressed?), self-control, etc. They're also looking at your beliefs about things like how much you control the outcome of a situation - is it all deterministic (your actions are 100% responsible) or luck (you can't change the outcome of anything). The same question can and is asked in different ways - this is where they try to get at honesty, or if you're paying attention to what you're doing. Non-sensical scores might cause the evaulator to look at individual questions to see if something is wrong (ie did you mark A,B,C,D,E in that order all the way down the test)
While this type of battery could be performed by HR I suppose, being that it is a psychological test, it is generally administered and evaluated by a trained professional, or agency. Because of this, it is also generally covered by human subjects rules.
Answering the "wrong way" to one or two questions (out of over 500) isn't going to flag you as a crazy anarchist. Now, if the HR dept sees the Ron Paul bumper sticker on your car...
* I have a psychology degree, but it has been a while so I've forgotten a few things.
There is very little future in being right when your boss is wrong.
You realize that the MMPI doesn't have different versions. I've administered it a couple of times, both in a classroom and at work. If you post it and people choose to study up on it, they could effectively skew their test scores thus ruining the validity of the test. While I dislike C&D orders as much as the next cat on /. I can understand this one. You're also not taking money from a big nameless corporation... if you look at the box the exam comes in (you DID purchase it first, right?) it lists the names of the researchers who have put their blood, sweat, and tears into creating that test. In theory you're not taking money, however if just 7 or 8 people post 75 questions each... you suddenly have the entire test out there. Thus the test is ruined, the researchers lose their income, and millions of scores are suddenly worthless.
By plugging the text of #66 and #67 into Goggle using quotes to get phrase matches:
1-75 plus some bogus ones
370 questsions of another version
1-75 plus 1-130 of the 370 version
(PDF) contains a sampling of about 100 randomly ordered questions
1-75
1-566 as VB .asp program source (!) and possibly with "preferred" answers
Enjoy your Streisand Effect!
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
The sad thing is that people who lie on the test (and are consistent about it) are the ones that are going to get hired.
I posted a story about these types of tests in January. One comment stood out:
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
This is/was false. Years ago, two minimum wage jobs I had both gave me MMPI tests before hiring. Neither was dealing with national secrets, but one did require high levels of trust in me (in my position, shoplifting would have been easy). Not having done minimum wage since then, I don't know if they still use it.
Interpret all medical questions as variations on "Are you feeling so stressed about something that it's negatively impacting your health?" (typically bowel or gastrointestinal system questions), or "Are you a hypochondriac" (typically random things like hot flashes or feeling hot/cold). In most cases, the correct answer is going to be "no".
The one about "I do not read every editorial in the newspaper everyday" is a lie detector. Questions with words like "every" or "never" are looking for people who are lying. Nobody (except a fanatic :) reads every editorial in the newspaper, every day. The correct answer here is "yes", "Yes, you skip some of the editorials some of the time, because you're not one of those crazy obsessive freaks who reads every comment on /. at -1, just in case you missed something."
I have taken personality tests for several jobs that I applied for. I was not offered an interview at any of these jobs. I do not know if the test had anything to do with it. However, at one of them a friend of mine was offered a job. I know that he has no qualms about stealing from his employer. He has always had a justification for stealing from every employer that he worked for, but he passed the tests.
Additionally, I was a store manager for a company that decided to introduce personality tests into the hiring process. My boss as part of the roll out, had the existing employees take the test to give HR a baseline. All of the store managers but one failed. The one who passed was one they were trying to get rid of for poor performance. They did away with the tests shortly after they fired her for stealing from the company.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
Nobody's stated the obvious:
- ignore it
The Supreme Court has ruled that a law contrary to the Constitution is as if the law never existed. I think the same applies to DMCA takedown notices. Since the poster only listed a "fair use" portion of the test, not the whole thing, and copyright law protects fair use, the DMCA notice is contrary to existing copyright laws, and therefore it is as if it never existed. It has no force of law.
The only time I would pay any attention to such a notice is if I was drug into court, and then I'd hire a small gaggle of lawyers to defend me. Otherwise I'd just file it away and forget about it.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall