Think I am in BIG trouble from the U.S. copyright office ...

Likely nothing will happen. They don't even go after people pirating movies 24/7, they're not going to touch some little online eBook case. (Unless the original owner reported you, he may be charging you).

They've got better things to do like pretend to catch hackers (not likely), bot herders, and carders.

 

The copyright office doesn't call first. And they don;t have agents. Not even Men in Black.

Take a look at all the RIAA stuff going on as an example.

And if they were coming to your door, they wouldn't call first. They'd yell out "Police!" a second before busting down your door.

You would be served a summons via a Country Sheriff officer. Only way it would be a criminal matter is if you made millions off of it or it was Metallical.

 

Hmmm ... but that doesn't explain the fact that I received a call from a number that was an extension of the U.S. copyright office.

Surely it must have been the U.S. copyright office. I called the number: 202-707-3002, (the office number is 202-707-3000) and an 'operator' picked up. I was using *67 so my number would show up as unavailable. When I asked him "your an operator for who?" he said the U.S. copyright office. He told me to call the main office number (the 3000 number) for questions.

I just don't see how this can be a prank. Hell what if I was issued a court summons from my previous address, I could be held in contempt of court and jailed.

I want to ignore all this, but I also want to figure it out lol.

 

I think the key question was the one asked several posts ago. On the message - was it them who left the message with the number, or was it your voicemail giving you the copyright office's phone # (where it says "message received on Monday, August # from ###-###-####)? As we've said, anyone can leave a legitimate number on a voicemail and scare you, but did the caller id actually get included within the phone's voicemail software? If you can confirm that's really where it came from, then you may want to get in touch with them ASAP. Since they don't have your address they're only going to be that much more aggravated if you keep putting it off. Again, better to be proactive in cases like these.

 

The copyright office is only a library that administrates copyright registration in the USA and disseminates copyright legislation and information collected for the copyright of works.

They do not implement nor act on copyright law or infringements of.

EVER!

Be that as it may, the voicemail was a hoax... "ALTHOUGH" if you are operating outside of copyright law you might well re-think your model.

Reference: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf

If they can't even offer advice... they certainly can't act on an alleged infringement for a copyright holder.

 

Question... you have caller ID? ...did you call the phone number that called you or just the phone number the message told you to call?

 

I think its just a prank to begin with.. Since u did not get any legit letter.

 

Thanks, this is reassuring.

I called the number on the caller ID. The number was 202-707-3002, which is the office number. If you google the number, you can find it on the U.S. copyright office's website, here: http://www.copyright.gov/help/. Although, I do have a Verizon cell phone and I remember hearing about an option, before you leave a voice mail to "leave a call back number". I wonder if that changes the number on the caller ID or the cell phone incoming call log? It is a cell phone.

How can it be a prank call then?

 

no idea... but what transpired is as plausible as your local public library sending out their goon squad to bust down your door because you have overdue books.

 

Don't worry about it. I did some research on that phone number. It is indeed from the U.S. Copyright Office, but as it says on their website, "Serving primarily as an office of record, the Copyright Office is not charged with enforcing the law it administers. Copyright infringement is generally a civil matter, which the copyright owner must pursue in federal court.

I honestly doubt the copyright owner is going to pursue this in court. Those kinds of calls may be more effective as scare tactics, and since they definitely don't do the enforcing I wouldn't worry about them showing up at your door to discuss it.

 

hmm ... if you check out the wikipedia article on the U.S. Copyright office, it lists under duties:

If my case isn't a prank, could it be related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act?

 

Out of all the legal problems I have heard, a letter signed by the official in charge of the government department in questions comes first. If you did not recieve any sort of notification by mail, then I wouldnt worry about it.

 

Yeah - I think first they will have a lawyer send you a 'stop it now' letter. If you didn't then they would call your host to shut down your site. You would have known long before you got a phone call.

You would have seen this coming!

 

few things to note - just because others are selling it doesn't mean you're safe. Lots of people come on DP and sell warez, just because it's available and others are breaking the law doesn't mean you'll be exempt from punishment. Also just because others didn't receive a call or received written letters, doesn't mean you won't be liable.

If this is real, it could be that they got whatever contact information they could which in this case meant using the whois info. So that's perfectly fine, they should send a "stop it now" letter but they don't have to they can automatically escalate it to a lawsuit but it all depends on your situation. If you're in the US they have to follow a strict guideline. In the event it's real you should go dig up the receipt for the product you bought and make sure it comes with resale rights. If you don't have that you better get a copyright lawyer.

 

Hmm, if you took the site down and stopped promoting it, you will probably be fine. My point was that in order for this to affect you and cost you, it would take legal action on behalf of the actual copyright owner. In that case, they'd have to sue you and take you to court. I worked for a law office for over a year, and trust me, it costs a lot of money to sue someone. It's usually not worth it. At the very least, they would contact you with a cease and desist letter and threaten a lawsuit if you didn't take it down. But since you haven't got a letter, if you took the site down, you're probably ok. You most likely will not see any further action against you.

Plus, considering the fact that many people are in your boat, they wouldn't take action to sue everyone, nor just single out one person (you). I still think you're ok, as long as you don't continue doing it.

 

i think someone played a prank on you... officials would come without calling to catch you... why would they take appointment with you...

 

DMCA itself only aligns digital media formats with print copyright and other media formats that have been around for much longer.

...and DMCA doesn't change the duties and responsibilities of the copyright office... they are merely administrators of a library... that doesn't change and they can't do anything even if they desire it.

"IF" you have indeed breach copyright law in the worse way... it's up to the copyright holder (or holders) to seek assistance from an attorney (not the copyright office).

1. At best this is a friend playing with you because you've been cocky with them.

2. At worse this is a competitor trying to push you out of business...

Anything else... "it's illegal"... and you have a legal case against whomever.

Lastly, the evidence of your alleged crime (left on a voice message to whomever hears - how would anyone know you would be the receiver - they would need inside personal information... and the message is quite vague for something that sounds so serious... it allows you to use your imagination to define what you might have done wrong... which reiterate #1 or #2... not anything remotely to do with copyright law or DMCA.

 

I think you should not even worry about this. I heard about people trying to clear competition by doing such pranks.

Are you sure they are actually real?? Did you try to Google their phone number?

I have always received such emails and pranks from my competitors to pull me down to stop selling my stuff but I just don't give any worries to this.

 

Believe me, its just a prank. Its easy to call someone with a custom number. If you setup an online operator network (like clickatell.com is for SMS), you could call as any number...

Have you ever wondered how ur network operator sends u messages without a number and just a name?

 

If you want total peace of mind just ring them.