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BBC and FACT Shut Down Doctor Who Fansite

Posted by timothy on from the you're-gonna-need-a-bigger-tardis dept.

An anonymous reader writes with this report from Torrentfreak, excerpting: In just a few hours time the brand new season of Doctor Who will premiere, kicking off with the first episode 'Deep Breath'. There's been a huge build up in the media, but for fans who prefer to socialize and obtain news via a dedicated community, today brings bad news. Doctor Who Media (DWM) was a site created in 2010 and during the ensuing four and a half years it amassed around 25,000 dedicated members. A source close to the site told TF that since nothing like it existed officially, DWM's core focus was to provide a central location and community for everything in the 'Whoniverse,' from reconstructions of missing episodes to the latest episodes, and whatever lay between. But yesterday, following a visit by representatives from the BBC and Federation Against Copyright Theft, the site's operator took the decision to shut down the site for good.

4 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Daleks did it? by slickepott · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hmm.. Sounded something like this?

    EX-TER-MI-NATE!

  2. Anyone know what, exactly, was the issue? by Zocalo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    FACT was involved, so my first guess was that they were hosting full episodes, or perhaps links to torrents, but according to TFA DWM had refused to carry any of the leaked episodes from the new series which seems unlikely for a site turning a blind eye to copyright, yet further up is the following quote: "Often times, having watched stuff there led to me purchasing the exact same content on iTunes as well as all the various other content available for Doctor Who", which implies they were hosting episodes, or at least extensive clips.

    So, is this a case of major fansite being shutdown for using a more copyrighted material than the BBC was prepared to stomach (in which case where was the friendly letter asking them to "tone it down a bit, please"), a copyright infringement portal being shuttered for hosting/linking to aired episodes and other content, some kind of trademark issue, or just a domain grab by the BBC ("doctorwhomedia.co.uk" is a fairly nice domain name, afterall)?

    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    1. Re:Anyone know what, exactly, was the issue? by 91degrees · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No. It doesn't work like that.

      The BBC itself is publicly owned, so in that sense, it is public property, but we don't have the right to individual assets any more than a shareholder in Sony can start making copies of Spiderman DVDs.

      Also it's paid for by a licence fee rather than taxes. You can call them taxes if you like, but it doesn't go into or come out of central taxation.

  3. Re:So much for fair use by 91degrees · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes it does. It's called fair dealing. But it doesn't allow you to offer complete episodes of a TV show.