Hagrid is in the House!

This is a test of Dreamwidth's cross-posting functionality.
This post was made on Dreamwidth, and should be automatically cross-posted to LiveJournal.

UPDATE: SUCCESS!

The LiveJournal Abuse Team has contacted me, and informed me that my LJ entry with the photo of me with the megaphone has been suspended, because of a copyright infringement complaint:

Dear user kevynjacobs,

We have received a report, properly formatted under the provisions set forth by United States law, indicating that your entry located at [http://kevynjacobs.livejournal.com/184726.html] violates the copyright of another. As such, we have suspended this entry to disable access to this material.

If you feel that this report is in error or that your use of the material falls under one of the categories permitted under copyright law, you are entitled to file a counter-notification, also under the provisions of US law; please contact us for information on how to do this. Filing a counter-notification indicates that you are willing to defend yourself in court against a charge of copyright infringement, and you may be bound by civil and possibly criminal penalties if you are found liable.

Regards,
Annika
LiveJournal Abuse Prevention Team

I have written back, telling LJ that I wish to file a counter-notification under the DMCA, which means they must put the entry back up. My rationale is that I have posted it under Fair Use doctrine, which trumps copyright. Which means, it goes back up, and if The Western Front wishes to continue this game, they will have to take me to court now. Which I would welcome, because I know I'll win under Fair Use.

Incidentally, they also DMCA'd the image on my Facebook profile. I'm going to let that one slide for now, in the spirit of picking my battles. The LiveJournal entry is an easier case to prove Fair Use on.

And now I say to The Western Front: Your move.

It occurs to me as I look through my LJ message inbox that there's a bunch of comments I have never responded to. This seems to be a normal behaviour pattern for me: I don't always respond to everything, because I don't feel compelled to do so.

Is anybody offended by this behaviour on my part?

Even though LJ is considered to be a "social networking" site, for me it is first and foremost a journal, a chronological record of my life, where I put down what I am thinking, feeling, what I am horrified by and amused by, photos, school papers, movie tickets, and bric-a-brac. It's a digital scrapbook for me - the operative word being ME. It just happens that you are allowed to see it.

The "social" part of LJ is secondary to me -- I don't look at my LJ as a dialogue (though many times it is one) so much as a monologue, where people can comment if they want to, and sometimes I even respond.

I am a very public person by nature, but I do employ levels of privacy -- if you're not on my friends list, you don't get to see the more salacious, personal or controversial stuff that I post. (Ask me if you want to be added). And, of course, I also post things that I don't share with *anyone*, for my eyes only.

Just as I don't feel compelled to answer every voice mail I receive, or every email I receive, I don't feel obliged to respond every time someone comments on my journal.

I guess what I am asking here: Am I being rude? Are people bothered when I don't respond?

If there is anything this episode with Giovanni has taught me, it's how many loving arms there are around me in my life, not just here on LiveJournal, but in my whole life.

Thanks and love to you all.