Getting Sued by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation?

I'm not sure what I should do here guys, it's possible it's just one of those scare emails or even possibly fake, the website is barely even a week old..

Also I have noticed if you search on google "watch family guy online" or something like that there area few family guy websites dedicated to showing episodes which have been around for years now which im sure MUST have got an email from fox at one stage but yet are still up on running

Also, my website does not actually host any videos or link to any videos at all, just has incentive cpa offers on it, the only actual copyright thing there is in the domain name and the banner of the website

I'm open to suggestion on what to do here, I don't live in the USA, I am in europe

 

Iam writingto Looks fake to me.

 

Sorry those were errors in my pasting of the qoute, just checked the email and it doesn't have these mistakes

 

Looks totally fake to me. There has been other scam emails being sent before.
If anything, if your domain name violated their copyright, they would get their legal team to take that at the registrar level (not ask you for it!) I have heard of namecheap surrendering domain names at a drop of a hat when it was suggested that a specific domain name violated a copyright / trademark. Additionally, if it is hosted in the US, they would have likely contacted the host with a DMCA request. I have even heard of hosting companies in other countries responding to DMCA requests (although that is not really a common thing)

Look up "TV links" in google and find out what you think you should do. In that case, the domain name was shutdown without the operators choice, and the website owner was extradited from the uk, to the US, for a crime that had otherwise been proven to not breach local law (which was provide a url to content in the same way that google works)

Considering the legal implications (such as what happened with the owner of tvlinks or megaupload) I advise you to contact legal aid within your country.

 

Have a read through this thread with some views (someone else ended up in a similar situation):
https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/issue-with-twentieth-century-fox-film-corporation.1799633/

If it was me (not really the kind of site I run anyway), I would delete the site content and transfer the domain to them, but that's it. For the rest, I would just ignore them.

What you have to consider regarding the domain is UDRP (or whatever process, it depends on the TLD) and the headaches/potential expense it could cause, so it's easier just to hand it over. The rest is a bunch of hot hair.

I think this is what Matt meant:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_O'Dwyer

A somewhat different situation.

 

I see nothing that makes that email look fake. It looks like a legit email that the company would send before taking other, more costly, steps to have the domain shut down or transferred to Fox.

 

I still find it strange how I said in the OP how there are websites dedicated to showing family guy episodes that have been sitting on top of google for ages now, why is it fox has not got hold of these domains yet, some om them date back to 2008 and get thousands of hits per day, they are not even affliated with hulu or anything like that just embeding clips from the likes of putlocker etc..

So because of this it makes me question whether or not they are 100 serious about the intentions of the email or they are just trying to scare the websites oweners

I will probably not take the risk however, will more or likely give them over the domain tomorrow

 

There could be lots of reasons. Much like a speeding ticket, just because others might get away with it does not make it any less wrong when you get caught. Pointing out that others do it is not a defense to this type of infringement issue.

You simply have to decide for yourself what risk you want to take. The simple reality is that you know you are trading on someone else's copyrighted material. Whether or not you want to continue to take a risk to make money doing it is a personal business decision. You need to weigh the potential risk of what could happen against the income you are making and decide what course of action is best for you.

 

Just making money with someone else's trademark or copyright work can be used to sue you.

Well, independently that such email could be fake or real, a company that gets in touch with you usually ask you to surrender the name (or activities) you are doing before sueing you and it's up to you fight (which is not advisable) or move on.

 

I am with the folks above. What email was this sent from? That looks totally fake to me.
Nigel

 

As a matter of fact. Will you please post the email in its entirety and more noteworthy, paste the entire email header attached to this.

Nigel

 

Does your domain name have their trademark in it? Do the other sites that are ranking have the trademark in their domain?

 

Header:

• Unauthorized Use of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Intellectual Property 81285628‏
  
  Content:
  To Whom It May Concern:
  
  Iam writingto you on behalf of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and its related entities (collectively "Fox"). Fox is the exclusive worldwide owner of copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights in the television series ---------- (the "Series").
  
  It has come to our attention that you own and operate the website at ------------------ (the "Website"), which offers downloads of and/or links to downloads of clips and/or episodes the Series, and which uses copyrighted images from the Series.
  
  Your use of Fox's copyright images and episodes from the Series constitutes copyright infringement under U.S. law.
  
  Moreover, the Website creates consumer confusion because users encountering it will assume that Fox sponsors, endorses, or authorizes the content thereon, when it in fact does not. Accordingly, the Website violates Fox’s trademark rights and constitutes unfair competition under U.S. law.
  
  We, therefore, demand that you immediately:
  
  1. Remove all references to ------------ and to any other television series or motion picture produced by Fox from -------------------
  
  2. Cease all use, display or distribution, or links to sites that use, display or distribute, of all copyrighted material from or related to ----------------and any other television series or motion picture produced by Fox on any website whatsoever, and,
  
  3. At your own expense, assign the -------------------- URL to Fox;
  
  4. Identify the total revenue that -------------------- generated to date by advertising or other means, and,
  
  5. Confirm in writing to the undersigned no later than June 11, 2013, that you shall fully and promptly comply with each of the foregoing demands.
  
  Should you fail to comply with the above demands by the close of business on June 11, 2013 we will consider taking all appropriate action against you without further notice to you.
  
  This letter is without prejudice to Fox’s rights and remedies, all of which are expressly reserved.
  
  Very truly yours,
  
  /Kasimira C. Verdi/
  
  Kasimira C. Verdi
  Director – Intellectual Property
  Fox Group Legal
  

Yes domain has their trademark, not for this particular show probably because its not new/very popular but alot of shows like family guy ones are and have the domain as trademark for years

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=Kas...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

At a glance the name is legit and looks like the lawyer makes a ton of cash doing jack shit but would still like to see the email header on that.

Nigel

 

Then you have no option but to comply. they own that trademark and you used it in a domain name without their permission.

Just because others do it, does not make it legal.

 

Yes, look above

 

Fox Intellectu​al Property ()

 

Sorry I missed that and edited my post as you were replying.

You will have to comply to their demands or suffer the consequences if they choose to pursue this. The 'others are doing it' is not a defence.

 

And what if I didn't have the trademark name in the domain? Would he still have a case?

 

Getting feedback from random strangers on the net has it's place, but, in this situation, consult a lawyer. Letting random advice from an internet forum guide your legal decisions is just asking for huge trouble.

I honestly wouldn't do a single thing with that domain or email (like reply to the email) until a lawyer was consulted.

Also, this is why you should really avoid using trademarks in a domain. It simply opens the doors for all kinds of legal issues.