So, basically, it would be a waste of good money to file the forum then, if they can still come after you?

Well, again I'm not a lawyer, but - I think the DMCA says that if you are a "service provider" and you follow the rules (including, apparently, registering so you can receive take-down notices), then you can't be held liable for copyright infringement by your subscribers or users. Of course that doesn't stop someone from suing you for it, but it's supposed to stop them from winning.

But if your point is that they could try to force you in to settling because you don't want to pay for defending yourself, then yeah, I guess in that way registering doesn't protect you. But IIRC (I'm not going back to reread this thread), someone was suggesting that maybe the guy was only going after sites that hadn't registered and therefore had no defense under the DMCA.


And now I officially wish I had stayed out of this because I probably haven't followed the discussion well enough...

Correct. Unless you post infringing content on your own site.... but clever online aliases can mask this. ;)

Yes.... post 12.

One thing that hasn't been pointed out -- if you, as the forum owner, keep your forum clear of infringing content to start with, then you shouldn't ever be served with a takedown notice or a copyright suit. (Alternately.... throw any potential "cut and pastes" into a members only area, where Google and Guests can't see them.)