Please Help (Design stolen / being used without my credit link)

Hey all,

I designed and released a template a while ago for a popular social news script.. I released it for free with the license stating that a credit link / designed by link must be left in tact. Basically they have just changed a few colors.. Now i did end up spending a few days on this design and added a lot of extra coding / features the script did not currently have..

I was unsure if I should name and shame them.. but they removed my credit link so I guess it's only fair: www.klicknews.com/ <--- Now i guess i am effectively advertising their site for them and they will end up getting extra traffic from DP

What can i do about this ?? Where do i stand ?? How can i protect this from happening in the future as i do intend on releasing more designs in the near future for several different platforms.

Regards, Darren

 

Hello,

Have you actually tried contacting them and letting them know they're in violation of your licensing agreement?

 

Yes ive just PM'd them via the social news script website where he/she has made some posts.. I am awaiting a reply.. I did try and find a contact form on their website however the contact form page is not working.

Thanks, would love further advice on this matter as i will be launching a new project shortly that i will be releasing free & premium designs.. Just need more information / assistance on my rights and what i can do about it should it happen again.

Regards, Darren

 

Hello,

You should find that they will put the link back at the bottom, as long as it is mentioned in the licensing agreement.

Though there isn't really much you can do to stop people from doing this initially, you can always take legal action just as in any case where someone breaches a written agreement. I should add though that depending where the person is located it could be very difficult and expensive to enforce.

The steps I would take upon discovering that people are using your work without crediting you is -

1) Contact the offending person
2) If step 1 doesn't help, give them one last notice that you'll be contacting their web host
3) Contact their web host and tell them their client is breaching your terms of use and that you require immediate action to be take.

This will usually solve the issue for you

 

Thanks for your timely replies and advice !! greatly appreciated.

What really pissed me off is the fact that the scripts homepage was using his or her site in their "Website Showcase" I put a lot of effort into that theme back in the day.. I even added a custom login form and released the template with multiple colors.. I am sure i spent a good week on that Template.. While it's about 1and1/2 years old it's still disappointing to see the link removed specially that it's being used as a "Website Showcase" to promote their social news script.

Yes the license did state the designer link must remain in tact.

I removed the template from the forum a while back now due to others also removing the designer link..

Yes but well i am just a designer / webmaster.. My time needs to be spent actually doing work, I certainly can't afford any legal battles over a Template Design lol.. But still it hurts to see people have no respect for designers... I mean i released it for free, a small designer link in the footer is a small price to pay, and as the default template sucks for that script it really shouldn't hurt them to leave the font-size 11 link in place... It was a very small designer link and was hardly visible / non-intrusive.

Regards, Darren

 

Clearly this is a *copyright* issue, most of the members who frequent this forum are *copywriters* and article writers and are not particularly adept at legalities. You would have been better served had you posted this in *Legal Issues* forum.
I suspect your thread will be moved there eventually. Unfortunatly you'll likely receive a warning for posting in the wrong forum.....more bad luck I'm afraid.

 

Issue a DMCA takedown notice to them. If they dont respond, issue the name notice to the persons web host which can me found if you run a traceroute or a dnslookup. Once the host receieves and actions the notice, they will remove the content.

 

thanks but ive never heard of this or really even looked into any form of copyright stuff but am taking it seriously now.. Really do apprecaite you guys taking the time to post / reply.

I'll google it now but still would prefer user feedback, specially from anyone who deals with digital goods.

Regards, Darren

 

DMCA is the best way to go. I use to work for a company handling copyright. It was basically to take down/remove nulled versions of the said script. The method was to first contact the person first stating you are the copyright owner to the said goods. Then you tell them your wishes/demands. This bit should be peaceful and calm & polite.

If there is no reply from them, issue them a dmca notice, if you google it you can find a template and edit it as you need to.

if there is then no reply you would then have to do the same to the host who will contact them on your behalf then remove the said content.

Hope i helped

 

A few email addresses on their privacy policy page;

Twitter

Facebook

WHOIS:

Maheshwor Thapa on Google+

Maheshwor Thapa on Facebook

Hope that helps!

 

[DOUBLE POST]

 

Cheers guys.. Really appreciated !!!

Awesome work on the email addy's I didn't think of that.

Regards, Darren