How do you prevent/handle abuse of your software?

Question

I'm developing a small freeware application which can display text in a special structure. (bible texts, to be specific)

Lately I discovered that some users use my application to view texts protected by copyright and some are even providing downloads of such texts. (EDIT: Mostly bible translations which are sold by their copyright holders)

The problem is:

1. The "content providers" upload a file and make a reference to my program, but - of course - they don't add any means of communications (e-mail, phone number, real name...)
2. On my page I have a phone number, e-mail address and my real name (required by German law)
3. So guess who gets all the letters and phone calls from the copyright holders...

I know that this is general problem which other programs have, too, for example Adobe Reader and all kinds of web browsers are used to view illegal content, but...

• Is there any way to prevent or reduce such behavior? (Besides legal actions)
• How do you communicate that the developer has very limited options to prevent abuse?
• Is there any way to protect myself?
• How do (large) OSS projects handle those things?

Answer 1

Disclaimer stating that you only provide a mechanism to view the content in a special format and that you don't own or have anything to do with the actual content. So if anybody wants to download (and save and use) the content, then they have to contact the original authors (owners) and that's illegal to download otherwise.

Answer 2

Is there any way to prevent or reduce such behavior? (Besides legal actions)

Actually, no. Guns are not made to kill people, yet that's how they're used. Ask any gun manufacturer.

How do you communicate that the developer has very limited options to prevent abuse?

License terms and conditions. You are offering a license aren't you? GPL, is one example.

Is there any way to protect myself?

1. "Shrink-wrap" Licensing -- when they download it, they're bound by it.

2. Actual Licenses. Stop giving it away if it bothers you. Start charging and including licensing terms and conditions with the purchase.

How do (large) OSS projects handle those things?

Licensing. You have a large number of choices. See http://www.opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical for some choices.