Hi, I was just looking up some stuff on the net when I came across an article with a title very similar to one I'd written. So, being a stickybeak I decided to go check theirs out. Turns out that they have stolen my article & duplicated it on their site. No permission was sought & they've not even linked back to my site. I had a quick squizz around their site & have found at least one other article stolen, and even a photo of my boss's cat, which I had used has been taken & used on their site. Naturally, I want my content removed, and to be honest don't have the money for a lawyer, although I would be willing to spend money on paying one to write a nasty letter if it came to that. How should I proceed? 1) Write to the site owner & demand he remove it. 2) Write to the webhost & demand they remove the pages. 3) Write to Google Adsense & report this site for stealing copyrighted material? Which way is best? Also, I don't actually know how to find out who their host is, can anybody point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance ETA: I'm pretty sure they're hosting the site themselves as the nameservers are the same as the site. Ie: NS1thieving-gits.com NS2thieving-gits.com Their site: www.thieving-gits.com
It's really hard to prove anything in Internet but write a letter and ask the page to be removed, if she/he keeps ignoring you, contact hosting.
Hey I'll write them a letter as your representative if you want of course. Add me so we can chat if your interested MSN:
Is the site containing your content one that is worth cultivating links to? -- High PR / traffic volumes / backlinks? If so then perhaps take an amicable approach at first -- get them to perhaps edit the content, recognise the source and provide links to your site.... If the site is junk then just demand they remove the content, perhaps as suggested above through an intermediary. Good Luck!
If they are hosting it themselves or using custom nameservers, it is virtually impossible to find out the real host. The only real way is to go to www.whois.sc and use their reverse DNS tool.. if the host are using a different server, then meh. EMail them, ask them to remove the content, and then if they say no, threaten to ruin their reputation on this forum and namepros and then if they say no again then ruin their rep. Rob
Hi, Sorry, the info above was just made up, I didn't want to provide the real url of his site so I put 'thieving-git.com' because that's what he is I found out he's hosting the site himself, so had no comeback. I did manage to find his e-mail address via whois so e-mailed him & demanded he remove my content. Only thing is, that was only two articles, I found 4 more of my articles on his site, so shall e-mail him again. He has removed the two I asked him to. I did spend a little time today on the copyscape? site, punching in url's to his site, and them e-mailing the webmasters of other sites he's ripped off to inform them that their content is being stolen. My husband thinks I'm being bitchy (part of it is true), but I also believe in looking out for other sites, even if they are the competition. I believe there is an unspoken rule, you don't go around the net stealing from others. None of my competitors steal (well from me anyway), so felt they deserved to know their content had been used. I also informed AS about him. I'll keep you posted
Write a detailed mail about this and send it to: webmaster (that copied your articles), his hosting co. and to google adsense and tell him he will hear from your lawyer after his site will be shut down Good luck!
You;re not bitchy. I also used copyscape and was shocked to see some stole my articles. Since they're exclusive for my site I asked them to remove them. Looks like it worked
First - if in the US if the copy isn't registered with the US Copyright Office you have no legal recourse... That isn't to say you don't have recourse through DMCA e.g. takedown orders on all search engines + an AdSense claim (where Google will forward all revenue from the publishers account for the passed 3 months)... "if the owner does not counter-claim". That's where it can get a little sticky. They will lose their generated revenue and possibly ban from AdSense "unless they counter-claim" (under the penalty of perjury) but on receiving of a counter-claim Google will require you to file court action in 14 days... If you do not file in that time and show Google proof of filing the copy will be reinstated. NOTE: you must show proof of copyright registration (in US) thus before doing anything with Search Engines you "should do that anyway". If you are 100% positive that all your website content in yours - you can file as a single web literary title for $45 (filing a printed & CD or DVD versions). It is worth mentioning that any material registered within 3 months of publishing you are entitled to statutory damages of up to $150K + legal fees + actual damages... the first 2 without proving any damages at all. Normally, we file all takedowns and Cease & Desist orders at the same time - thus ensuring the alleged infringer "MUST" action with Google Search, Google AdSense, MSN (and Yahoo but they do not notify) since the content gets an absolute blackout, MSN & Yahoo the complete domain, and Google AdSense freezing their account.
just a fast comment ... u shouldnt put there live link in this forum , they will see stats and they will see people came from this forum to there webpage ... and after checking this page they will see a sentence that you wrote : Just my 0,0000000000000000002 cents
I haven't put a link to his forum. The domain name I listed was one I made up, as an example of his nameservers. His website has not been mentioned anywhere on here or elsewhere by me. I wouldn't want to give him the traffic Anyway, the situation seems to have been resolved with him removing my articles. Thankfully!!!
Most "ripper" site don't stay around long anyway, only n00b's rip.. it's known.. they will never be succesful, they belive they achieve something when they are just insignificant numbers to us all.
Just to be clear, you don't need to file anything with anyone to have a copyright. That happens as soon as you write, record, or otherwise produce the works in question. Now legal recourse is another matter, but I don't think I would go so far as to say "no legal recourse" without registering. The last time I browsed the US Copyright Office, I seem to remember it saying registration is primarily to determine proof of ownership. I may be off on that part, but I know copyright protection starts as soon as you write the words. jh
I feel your pain. I just found out this morning someone is selling one of my ebooks on eBay and he's using my sales letter verbatim including MY PICTURE! Several other authors have already purchased their ebooks from him and left negative feedback, so he's taken down all of his auctions. He claims to have purchased an entire ebook package and didn't know any of this. Hopefully we can track down the scum who's selling our ebooks. Probably not, though, but that doesn't mean we won't try. jh
Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin. The problem therein resides in the fact that if you initiate a DMCA takedown without a work registered and the alleged infringer counter-claims you have 14 days to notify with proof of court action... since in the US you cannot file without registration and it takes approximately 4 months for the processes you "SHOULD NOT" do a DMCA unless you are certain the alleged infringer won't seek legal advice as re-inclusion from a Takedown Order is a certainy... and your case just became a little 'less solid'. The other problem - if registration isn't made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work (noting the previous paragraph), statutory damages and attorney's fees cannot be claimed only actual damages. The issue here then is... what actual damages occurred? You are burdened with proving these damages exist - legally you can do this... but it will be costly... and by no means a certainty that you won't be liable for damages bringing forth a false claim (that is a real possibility) even if you factually wrote the document in question. Remembering the "your word" is only as good as the representing attorney's abilities against their opponent's abilities. Without pre-registration "If I was the attorney" for the alleged infringer I would argue "fair use" since a check with the copyright database proved no registration on record... and the lack of this (at the very least) proves no real damage occurred. Even if you win... the now guity infringer must have assets to to pay... the fact that they (in many instances) stole it, tends to imply they may not have had the resources to professionally create it in the first place. While I agree that 'common law' is valid in copyright - so long as the alleged infringer has limited appreciation of copyright law as it is by no means protection... it's only a bluff in a hand of poker.