Disclaimer & Terms and Conditions

Welcome to ConcertsPunk.fr, a platform dedicated to promoting public concert information. Please read the following carefully, as it governs your use of our website and explains the legal framework under which we operate.

1. Legality of Data Collection (Web Scraping)

We gather public event information by scraping publicly available data from third-party websites. This practice is fully legal under U.S. copyright law, as facts such as event details, dates, and locations are not copyrightable (17 U.S.C. § 102(b)). Courts, including in HiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., have consistently upheld the legality of scraping publicly available data when no unauthorized access is involved. Additionally, the U.S. court ruling in Meta v. Bright Data confirms that bypassing CAPTCHAs for data extraction is lawful, as long as it involves public information.

The websites we scrape are not the original creators of the event data; they act as intermediaries reposting user-generated content or data they collect from platforms like Facebook and other sources. They do not own the event information, and neither do we. We follow a similar approach—aggregating and transforming public information to enhance it with additional value, making it easier for users to discover concerts. Our platform merely collects and redistributes publicly accessible data, adhering to legal precedents that protect our activities. We have received legal opinions on this matter, and we firmly believe that our operations are fully compliant with the law.

2. Fair Use and Data Mining Laws

In the U.S., the Fair Use Doctrine permits the use of copyrighted material for purposes such as news reporting, research, and commentary. In the landmark case Authors Guild v. Google (Google Books case), the court found that even the mass reproduction of entire books was protected under fair use. Our use of event data for nonprofit purposes falls well within this framework. We do not copy any copyrighted works; instead, we scrape factual information, transform it, and add value through aggregation and organization.

In the EU, scraping of copyrighted content is permitted by Articles 3 and 4 of the Directive 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive). This legislation allows for text and data mining (TDM), defined as "any automated analytical technique aimed at analyzing text and data in digital form in order to generate information, including patterns, trends, and correlations."

3. Public Data and Ownership

The event information we scrape consists entirely of public data, freely available online. The third-party platforms we gather from do not own this information; they repost it from user submissions or other sources. Since this content is not an original work, it is not subject to copyright protection. Our platform transforms and enhances the data by adding useful context and organizing it for easier access. This transformative use further supports the legality of our actions under fair use.

4. Nonprofit Mission

ConcertsPunk.fr is a nonprofit platform. Our primary goal is to support bands and artists by amplifying the visibility of their events. We do not monetize the data we collect, nor do we sell it to third parties. We make no revenue from advertisements, ticket sales, affiliate links, or any commercial activity. Our sole purpose is to help the music community by sharing public concert information, and all our activities reflect this mission.

5. Browsewrap Terms and Third-Party Websites

We do not recognize the enforceability of "browsewrap" agreements commonly found on many websites. These agreements are often passive and do not require explicit consent from users. Courts have generally ruled that browsewrap terms are not legally binding unless users are forced to actively agree to them before accessing services. Thus, our data collection practices do not violate third-party terms of service unless explicitly agreed to under enforceable contracts.

6. Advanced Methods for Bypassing CAPTCHAs

While some websites attempt to block automated scraping using CAPTCHAs, we do not recognize the legality of blocking access to publicly available data through these methods. We utilize sophisticated tools and techniques to bypass anti-bot protections, including simulating human behavior, rotating IPs with thousands of high-quality residential proxies, masking user agents, and using headless browsers. Our team has extensive experience in data scraping and scientific methods, ensuring that our activities mimic legitimate human traffic.

7. Corporate Ownership and Hosting

ConcertsPunk.fr is owned by PunkShows LLC, a limited liability company incorporated in New Mexico, and is hosted by NGNM LLC, an independent hosting provider. These entities operate separately, ensuring that each entity is shielded from any liabilities associated with the other. Any legal disputes or claims should be directed to the appropriate entity. Neither PunkShows LLC nor NGNM LLC assumes responsibility for the actions or liabilities of the other.

8. DMCA Requests

If you believe any copyrighted images or media have been used without proper authorization on our website, you may submit a DMCA takedown request to [email protected]. We take intellectual property rights seriously and will review all valid claims in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please provide clear identification of the copyrighted material and evidence of ownership in your request. We will promptly investigate and take action if appropriate.

9. Legal Inquiries and Defense of Our Rights

If you have any legal inquiries or concerns regarding the legality of our operations, please contact our legal team. We are fully confident in our legal standing and are prepared to defend our rights in court if necessary. Any attempts to intimidate or challenge us through legal threats will be met with a strong defense. We encourage professional and respectful communication and remain committed to operating within the law.

10. Respect for Source Websites

We hold a deep respect for the websites from which we gather event information. To acknowledge and drive traffic to these original sources, we always provide direct links to the original websites under each event listing. This practice helps bring new visitors to the sites we scrape. Additionally, we do not permit users to submit events directly on our platform; instead, we redirect them to the original platforms, ensuring that these sites continue to receive submissions and remain operational.

We are committed to responsible scraping practices. To avoid placing undue strain on source websites, we limit the number of queries made by our bots and implement delays between requests to prevent server overload. Our caching mechanisms also save images locally on our own servers, thereby preventing any bandwidth consumption from the remote sites we scrape. This approach ensures that our activities do not negatively impact the performance or resources of the websites we gather data from.