Copyright Violation: Can This Really Be Enforced By A Webmaster?

Objective:
I am doing this is to test if copyright laws are really enforced. If so, I want to see the documented steps in enforcing it. This will give both authors and webmasters a step by step outline of what to do when their content is stolen. We hear cases about contacting the authorities, Google, etc. But do these methods really work? I will soon find out.

Course of action:
I have duplicated another website. Here is the original website www.centralbackgroundchecks.com and here is the duplicate www.unitedbackgroundcheck.com. So far the original webmaster have notified me and I refused to take the content down.

I am waiting on his next course of action--and again, I will document every course of action he takes, until he "forces" me to remove it.

Disclaimer: There will be a lot of people that will object to what I am doing, but the reason I am doing this is so I can reverse this process and provide step by step documentation on what to do if your content is stolen.

 

ViciousSummer, I thank you your opinion but I respectfully disagree.

I feel what I am doing is form of activism (and I do not expect others to share the same opinions as myself, otherwise the world would be too easy). I am working outside of the system, as opposed to working within the system because research and posting an article on that is pointless. That is not a first hand step by step program that guides webmasters and authors.

On top of that, I have spoke to the owner of the website--any sales I generate from his content will go directly to him. And to make this absolutely clear, I am not doing this for the money.

 

your so called "activism" sucks big time ironmanv8...
I would never try this as it will ruin my name, sites and respect from fellow webmasters, but are you ready to bear the consequences? And why did you choose this masochistic in my eyes way of trying out how things work?
As ViciousSummer mentioned, you are risking a lot and for what? no one or maybe few will aplaud while most will be apaled.
A guy stole content of mine and i contacted google and complained on their webmasters forum. On the 2nd day his page with my article on it was removed from the blogger blog. Perhaps Google acted so swiftly since it was on a blogger blog, but I will hunt down all thieves and morons as will probably 99% of webmasters that are either writing their own content or are paying cash to get some.

 

haha wow, this is the greatest/dumbest/most interesting plan I have seen in a while and will be keeping a close eye on this. Did you advise the webmaster you copied him or did he find it himself? If you have agreed with him to pay him the money then why would have go through the steps? I dunno about this.

 

What a stupid experiment. The method for removing copyrighted material is already well documented - DMCA to host, search engines, adsense, etc.

Let's hope the original owner sues you for damages (which he is entitled to do). Copyright infringement can also be a criminal offense - and this is blatant infringement.

 

Either you are doing it with the website's permission or not. Once you talk about having spoken about it with the owner and he agrees to get any sales, this becomes just a set-up, fake example. The website owner is not going after you in any adversarial manner - this is a test of nothing. In fact, you and he have made a deal - you have permission to use the site and he is going to get the sales. You have basically said you have his tacit permission. Since you and he are in contact it is absurd to think he is going to expend real money when he can just ask you to stop.

You didn't mention your connection to the owner of this other site?

What a waste of time.

 

After talking to a number of peers on DP, I came to the realization that this is a very controversial topic. However, I am still committed to helping all the webmasters/authors out there that get their content stolen--I will do my due diligence and research on providing a step by step program on how handling stolen content, that does not involve spending the webmaster's life savings on an attorney.

Thank you for the members that PMed me and cheered me on. However, despite my good intentions to help webmasters/authors, I will have to stop due to the controversial nature of this "experiment".

However, I will continue to help the DP community to the fullest of my extent. And you can see this in some of the threads that I am involved in, such as the "Another New Venture...To Be Documented" thread, where I show DP members step-by-step on from scratch on how to generate a website that makes money. I document every step I take, and all the stats and earnings that I generate.

For those who viewed this thread and jumped onto the assumption that I am the "villain", follow me for the next couple of months, and you will see that I am here to help the community with my 100% devotion.

 

As browntwn stated, since you came to an agreement with the owner, it is not an experiment, and what you gain will have 0 resemblance to reality.

It is already well documented on how to take care of this for webmasters. WELL documented. If they are true webmasters they will know how to use that handy search engine we all love, you know, Google. Google explains everything they will ever need to know. Everything from finding a DMCA notice to the laws of an area for civil copyright suits. Here is a brief for US Federal Law.

It's always at least a civil matter (a tort). 17 U.S.C. 501(b) details
the mechanisms by which an owner of a copyright may file a civil suit,
and 28 U.S.C. 1338 expressly refers to civil actions arising under the
copyright act.

However, under certain circumstances, it may also be a federal crime. A
copyright infringement is subject to criminal prosecution if infringement
is willful and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial
gain. 17 U.S.C. 506(a). If the offense consists of the reproduction or
distribution, during any 180-day period, of 10 or more copies having a
retail value of more than $2,500, the offense is a felony; otherwise, the
offense is a misdemeanor. 18 U.S.C. 2319.

As a side note, although 18 U.S.C. 2319 purports to prescribe the
penalties for criminal infringement, all crimes covered by Title 18 have
their penalties determined by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, another
part of Title 18.