Is there anything that I can do about this rip off of my site?

Discussion in 'Legal Issues' started by vetting, Dec 13, 2007.

  1. #1
    vetting, Dec 13, 2007 IP
  2. Stax_Daniel

    Stax_Daniel Guest

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    #2
    they look 100% different...
     
    Stax_Daniel, Dec 13, 2007 IP
  3. kentuckyslone

    kentuckyslone Notable Member

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    #3
    I too think that these sites look very different.

    Perhaps you could explain to us why you think it is a rip off of your site, then we could give better responses to your question.
     
    kentuckyslone, Dec 13, 2007 IP
  4. vetting

    vetting Peon

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    #4
    Well he basically took my HTML and put it in a different template.
     
    vetting, Dec 13, 2007 IP
  5. Stax_Daniel

    Stax_Daniel Guest

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    #5
    the only thing i see copied is the initial list and the intro text...other than that it doesn't look like anything has been ripped.

    you might be able to contact him or his host to have those two things changed if you can prove it...but i doubt it...as the sites look nothing alike...
     
    Stax_Daniel, Dec 13, 2007 IP
  6. bluegrass special

    bluegrass special Peon

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    #6
    An idea cannot be protected. While the idea of the website is the same, the actual content and wording is different (as others pointed out). Moreover, much of the "content" that both sites have are thumbnails of movie posters. As you do not own the copyright on the posters, you couldn't make a claim against the other site on that portion of the content any way.

    There are some things that you could do indirectly, but any of them is a double edged sword. Some things you could do:

    1) Report the other site to myspace. MySpace has a history of going after websites that use myspace in the URL.

    2) Report the site to the MPA for violating copyright regarding movie posters.

    If you do either of these, the likely thing would be the other site would then report you and both sites could be shut down. How would they know it was you that reported it? Well, the people you reported it to might tell them, or the other site might do a search and find this thread and realize it was you and retaliate.

    I believe both sites are violating copyright. Most movie companies do not include images of the movie posters in the standard promotional materials package. They reserve the right for very specific companies (like theaters doing advertising, or review site) to use the images of the posters. They provide other images for other people to use. Furthermore, neither site is actually promoting or reviewing the movies, just distributing copyrighted images (likely without permission to do so) on ad revenue generating sites.

    So yes, there are things you can do, but the likelihood is that you could burn yourself in doing so.

    EDIT
    As far as the HTML, that can be copyrighted, however the amount of material that may have been copied is about five lines amounting to putting a | seperated list in a cell. I'm sure I've seen that all over the place and you are not the first to do it.

    Forget about it and move on /EDIT
     
    bluegrass special, Dec 13, 2007 IP