Crocels CMG CYF

The Institute of Life Sciences, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP Tel: 0845 4786390 Fax: 07092 1072123 Web: www.crocels.net Email: info@crocels.net

29 November 2012 Scribd, Inc. Attn: Jason Bentley, Copyright Agent 539 Bryant St, Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94107 Dear Mr. Bentley, Re: Thomas John, 57 Dapdune Road, Guildford, GU1 4NZ UK - Trollface This letter is a formal response to a claim of copyright infringement against one of the documents that we have uploaded and published on Scribd.com, which is referred to in Appendix I. We believe the claims of copyright infringement in relation to our use of the mark in Appendix II are inaccurate and should be rejected as follows. Our use of the material is legally protected because it falls within the "fair use" provision of the copyright regulations, as defined in 17 USC 107 to which you refer and Section 30 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). As we and the complainant are based in England and Wales then the latter legislation should have supremacy. Also, this Act is a transposition of EU Council Directive 87/54/EEC of 16 December 1986. As Scribd, Inc. is providing services to the European Union then it must abide by EU law when operating in the EU, as Microsoft has had to. We are not willing to subject ourselves to any legal system outside the European Union. Any refusal by Scribd to abide by EU law will result in a complaint to the European Commission. Our use of the Trollface mark by John Thomas is also permitted by the Trademarks Act 1994 which transposed EU Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 into UK law. The Trollface mark is a customary sign in the trade of Internet trolling, so not trademarkable under this Act. Equally, it is not trademarkable because John Thomas designed it for the 4chan.orgs /v/ board in a way contrary to public policy. It was uploaded on September 19th, 2008. Trolling, as done by the users of 4chan is often contrary to Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988. As it is often used in a deceitful way it is also not protected as a trademark. The claimant, Thomas John, refers to the troll face, as in Appendix II, as the copyrighted material being challenged. The image in question is used under the terms of fair use for the purpose to which it is intended, which is to signify trolling, as is explained on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trollface.svg

By allowing this mark to be used to signify trolling, by not using it commercially, and by not challenging its use for not-for-profit educational purposes in the past, as we and Wikipedia use it for, Thomas John has given up his rights to it in both copyrightable and trademark form when it is used for this purpose. Thomas John is happy for this mark to be referred to as a meme, which means it is reproducible http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/trollface-coolface-problem http://www.chacha.com/question/who-invented-the-troll-face-meme http://whynne.deviantart.com/art/Comic-Trolls-98357844 If Thomas John disagrees that this is fair use, within the meaning of EU and the laws of England and Wales then Thomas John must work directly with us, though legally viable channels, to resolve the dispute. Scribd and its employees under no obligation to settle this dispute between Thomas John and us, nor to take any action to restrict our speech at the behest of this complainant. This communication may be treated by you as a DMCA counter notification letter as defined in 17 USC 512(g)(3), but again we are not willing to subject ourselves to any jurisdiction outside of the European Union in relation to our dispute with Thomas John, who is based in the UK and EU like us. Even so, we declare, under penalty of perjury, that we have a good faith belief that the complaint of copyright violation by Thomas John for our use of the Trollface (in Appendix II) is based on mistaken information, misidentification of the material in question, or deliberate misreading of the law by Thomas John, who is of 57 Dapdune Road, Guildford, GU1 4NZ UK. We ask that Scribd, upon receipt of this counter-notification, restore the material in dispute, which uses the Trollface mark shown in Appendix II, unless the complainant files suit against us within ten 10 days, pursuant Chapter 6 of Part 1 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, which is the UK equivalent of 17 USC 512(g)(2)(B), based on a transposition of Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004. Our name, address and telephone number is at the top of this letter. We agree to accept service of process from the complainant, Thomas John, who authored the Trollface as a meme as opposed to for commercial purposes. Best regards,

Jonathan Bishop LLM Director, Crocels CMG CYF

Appendix I Take-down Notice

Attn: Copyright Agent, Scribd, Inc. Pursuant to 17 USC 512(c)(3)(A), this communication serves as a statement that: I am the duly authorized representative of the exclusive rights holder for "Comic Trolls" (http://whynne.deviantart.com/art/Comic-Trolls98357844);

These exclusive rights are being violated by material available upon your site at the following URL(s): http://www.scribd.com/doc/110695484/Trolling-of-Mike-SlocombeHow-to-instigate-a-take-down-notice;

I have a good faith belief that the use of this material in such a fashion is not authorized by the copyright holder, the copyright holder's agent, or the law; Under penalty of perjury in a United States court of law, I state that the information contained in this notification is accurate, and that I am authorized to act on the behalf of the exclusive rights holder for the material in question; I may be contacted by the following methods (include all): 57 Dapdune Road, Guildford, GU1 4NZ UK; tjcgwyllgi@yahoo.co.uk. I hereby request that you remove or disable access to this material as it appears on your service in as expedient a fashion as possible. Thank you. Regards,

Thomas John

Appendix II Disputed Mark

Jason (Support Desk)

Nov 30 03:08 pm (PST)

Hi, Jonathan: The complainant has been notified. We appreciate your patience as we await their response. Best regards, Jason Bentley Scribd, Inc. Questions? http://scribd.com/faq

Jonathan Bishop
Dec 30 08:23 pm (GMT) Dear Jason, I have not heard from the complainant. It is over 10 days - 14 in fact, and they have not issued legal proceedings. Can you please restore my document. Regards, Jonathan Bishop LLM

Jason (Support Desk)

Dec 19 01:33 pm (PST)

Hi, Jonathan: Thank you for your patience. The item has been restored. It may take some time for the document to fully appear across all servers. Best regards, Jason Bentley Scribd, Inc. Questions? http://scribd.com/faq