Hi folks, Someone scrapped a site of mine. The content itself is public, but I went through the trouble of html formatting the info for presentation. Can I DMCA this scrapper? Is it fair use?
You would have to prove that the html code was scrapped. Did you embed a piece of code or comment that you can use to prove where the "scrapped" code came from? Code can be subject to copyright, but formatting cannot (at least in the US). While code can technically be subject to copyright, html is so basic and limited in tags that it can be very difficult to prove that code was stolen or copied rather than come up with separately. If you used a lot of specific css styles and/or table width and gave fairly uniqe ids to your tags, then it might be able to proven. However, a few things to keep in mind: Where is the other site hosted? Some countries will not comply with DCMA letters. Are you 100% sure that others would agree with you? If not, you could cause more trouble for yourself for filing a false DMCA letter.