Copyright Violation threat

Hi, I am from India and maintaining a blog hosted in US. Yesterday I got an email from a person saying that he will take legal action against me due to copyright violation. He is telling that most of the contents of my blog are copied from other sources. The important part is that he is not specifying any content. Just a blanket remark only. In which way I should react this? I have never copy pasted any content from any site. In which way I should respond to this threat? Thanks

 

What is the blog that you host, and where are the sources that he claims are copied?

 

If he's going to take legal action then he'd have to be more specific than that. Many people who threaten legal action are morons who talk big but don't have a clue and rely upon the person they are threatening being gullible enough to worry about it. Tell him to put up or shut up and ignore him until you really do have something to worry about.

 

paste the content of his email here so we can read it. Then we can advise you.

 

If there one thing we Americans love more than suing people its threatening to sue people. The correct way to respond to this is to ignore all direct correspondence from him from now on. Tell him that since legal action is forthcoming, that you cannot discuss anything with him because he may use it against you. Tell him you will only accept correspondence from his legal counsel and anything else will be treated as harrassment.

 

And if the plaintiff is represented pro se?

 

It's a little tough to respond without reading the original email, but my response - if I responded at all - would be something like the following (which is simply a copy of Google's DMCA procedures from which I have removed the Google-centric provisions). While you are not an online service provider and therefore not covered by the DMCA takedown notice provisions, the information requested is similar to what you should expect to receive to support an allegation of infringement.

We respect the rights of copyright owners and will review all notices of infringement we receive. To file a notice of infringement with us, you must provide a written communication (by fax or regular mail -- not by email, except by prior agreement with us) that sets forth the items specified below. Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is infringing your copyrights. Indeed, in a past case (please see http://www.onlinepolicy.org/action/legpolicy/opg_v_diebold/ for more information), a company that sent an infringement notification seeking removal of online materials that were protected by the fair use doctrine was ordered to pay such costs and attorneys fees. The company agreed to pay over $100,000. Accordingly, if you are not sure whether material available online infringes your copyright, we suggest that you first contact an attorney.

To expedite our ability to process your request, please use the following format (including section numbers):

1. Identify in sufficient detail the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed upon (for example, "The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http://www.legal.com/legal_page.html") or other information sufficient to specify the copyrighted work being infringed (for example, "The copyrighted work at issue is the “Touch Not This Cat” by Dudley Smith, published by Smith Publishing, ISBN #0123456789").

2. Identify the material that you claim is infringing the copyrighted work listed in item #1 above.

3. Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you (email address is preferred).

4. Include the following statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above as allegedly infringing is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law."

5. Include the following statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed."

6. Sign the paper.

7. Send the written communication to the following address:

[ADDRESS]

OR fax to:

[FAX ADDRESS]​

I particularly like the part that includes the link to the discussion of the Diebold case.