Before you posted, I had already sent IMDb a note informing them about the above.

As I mentioned in another thread, the IMDb boards closure announcement mentions archiving for "personal use".   Also IIUC/IIRC the existing terms of the IMDb Conditions of Use prohibit scraping unless it's been suitably authorized. ... I am not a legal expert though.

Since I'm not a legal expert (nor any kind of expert really), I'm not qualified to give any advice.  I will merely note that my grandmother (rest her soul) always advised a cautious approach to life, and that is probably all that I'm qualified to say here.

Shouldn't we be encouraging open discussion? Not sure the right move is to report the site to IMDB. It's the best "alternative" I've seen so far because we don't have to start over from scratch.

I'm not a lawyer, but isn't this what sites like Google (something liked cached pages?) and The Wayback Machine do all the time?

Forums typically don't allow bots and other automated programmes to crawl their sites. IMDb forums aren't on archive.org AFAIK. To be honest, I prefer it this way --otherwise there would be tonnes of usenet and internet messages I wrote as far back as 1988 (shudder).

I'm not a lawyer, but ...

I'm not either, so I'm not qualified to answer.

It's a grey area for sure. It's true that the millions of users who post in the IMDb message boards are essentially giving IMDb rights to their intellectual property, however those same users still retain their right to post their reviews, messages, or comments not only on IMDb but anywhere they choose. Moreover, they are also free to delete or repost their content anywhere they want. It would be just as hard to prove that those IMDb users who posted on the boards didn't give their express or implied permission to replicate their content elsewhere. If enough people claim that an archive is using their content in a way that wasn't intended, they may have a case. However, I don't see that happening.

It's apparent there is no profit motive for IMDb to keep the message boards, since they even claim that it's a drain on their resources, so if they were to claim that an archive is commercially infringing, it would sound disingenuous at best. Having said all that, I'm no legal expert either, and have no idea how they would respond to such a report. My hope is that they would just look the other way, displaying the same indifference they so casually display their users.

... IMDb forums aren't on archive.org AFAIK. ...

Fragments and parts of some IMDb board threads are archived there, but not easily searchable AFAIK.

... It would be just as hard to prove that those IMDb users who posted on the boards didn't give their express or implied permission to replicate their content elsewhere.

(I'm not a legal expert, so don't listen to me.)
IIRC, by posting stuff on IMDb, I licensed that content to IMDb:

[Excerpted from IMDb's terms]:
... Your License to IMDb:  If you do post content or submit material, and unless we indicate otherwise, you grant IMDb a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media. ..."

Note the part where I "grant IMDb" etc. ...    To IMDb,  not directly to someone else, IIUC.

If neither I nor presumably IMDb granted someone else a license / "sublicense",  I don't understand how someone can republish my posts on his site without asking first.  ... But as I say, I'm not an expert on legal stuff.

I do not give permission for this back up site to use my posts.

[Excerpted from IMDb's terms]: ... Your License to IMDb: If you do post content or submit material, and unless we indicate otherwise, you grant IMDb a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media. ..."

What this means to me is that IMDb have the right to do anything they want with your posts (including deleting them).

Note the part where I "grant IMDb" etc. ... To IMDb, not directly to someone else, IIUC.

It's also true that users need to give their permission, but their content is being disseminated, analyzed, and tracked anyway (see the earlier example that cites archive.org, there is also archived newsgroup articles going back decades), so it becomes more impractical for individuals to make a legal case. It's usually the exception and not the rule.

I admit to being a little selfish here. I've personally enjoyed the content on IMDb boards for years and would hate to see them disappear forever. On the other hand, I feel I can speak out about this issue because I feel the messages (many of which go back years) are beneficial to the whole community. I don't like how that site is trying to pose as a competitor to IMDb. Instead, it should serve a similar purpose to sites like archive.org, and focus on preservation.

I've been commenting on newsgroups and message boards for years, usually with different aliases. I understand the need to protect one's privacy, but I also understand the realities of the internet, which is why I favor boards that promote anonymous discussion. I wouldn't mind having a permanent record of my posting history (even if I regret some of what I've posted in the past) if it meant keeping a valuable treasure trove alive for current fans and future generations.

I don't see this archive working out, since he says he needs donations to keep it going. We might wish we could still read the old posts, but probably not enough to pay money for them.

So, where exactly is this archive of the imdb message boards? It's the entire reason that I signed up here in hopes that someone did in fact archive the imdb message board content? Did someone already put a kibosh on this, too?

@FilmFan1983 wrote:

... What this means to me is that IMDb have the right ...  etc.

I previously wrote:

   ... If neither I nor presumably IMDb granted someone else a license / "sublicense" ...   etc.

I'd best stop here ... that's enough of my yammering about legal-type stuff of which I know next-to-nought.

So, where exactly is this archive of the imdb message boards? It's the entire reason that I signed up here in hopes that someone did in fact archive the imdb message board content? Did someone already put a kibosh on this, too?

WHY??? IMDB is dead. And just like a real death, we must all move on. This place is a fresh start. We don't need to replicate IMDB.

So, where exactly is this archive of the imdb message boards? It's the entire reason that I signed up here in hopes that someone did in fact archive the imdb message board content? Did someone already put a kibosh on this, too?

I've already posted in another thread, but the ArchiveTeam is I believe the largest-scale one: http://tracker.archiveteam.org/imdb/

I don't understand their status page though. One day it's finished and the next day they start bombarding IMDb again. My best guess is they're trying to refresh their archives.

Someone who's definitely not me has been doing it for a while, too. But looking at this thread, and judging by how slow IMDb has suddenly gotten tonight, looks like more and more people are joining the party now.

@LucusNon

I think a key word in the IMDb terms of service that you quoted is "nonexclusive" [all-caps emphasis below is mine]:

[Excerpted from IMDb's terms]:
... Your License to IMDb:  If you do post content or submit material, and unless we indicate otherwise, you grant IMDb a NONEXCLUSIVE, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media. ..."

To me that clearly says we can do other things with it, including allow others to archive it. So if we don't object to someone's archiving our content, they can do so, and we can certainly grab it back and reuse it.