The meta tags is just proof that all he did was copy and paste the source of my template, steal the image files, and change the links to make his own page.
Since you bought a stock template, you don't own rights to the design. The theft is between the company and that person. I agree that it is likely he got the idea from your site, but proving it can be hard. You can't claim copyright infringement for a template you didn't create, only the owner who sold it to you. This makes a simple DMCA complaint a lot harder to file. You could sue them, might win, but it would cost a lot of money and people who do steal designs generally don't have any money to collect from. You could always hire someone to customize your design, and then it would be a lot easier to go after for infringement.
Do you think if I just keep bugging the people I bought the template from they will do something about it?
I doubt it. From a financial prospective, it costs them more money than it is worth. If they had copied a bunch of templates and were then selling them, they probably would. They have also made modifications to the template - it isn't an exact copy. I have people steal my content and infringe on my registered trademarks all the time. I've spent a large sum in legal fees going after many of them and have never lost a court case - however, you need to pick your battles because you could go broke paying legal fees to go after some scumbag you will never collect a dime from. Hosts generally don't act upon DMCA complaints unless it is an exact copy of a good portion of content. It doesn't look like this person copied the actual posts, only the "feel" of the site. While it is certainly close, it isn't an exact copy. Even if the host took down the site, they would only need to make some changes to content (like the meta) and they would be back in business.
i dont think you can do much other then file a case in the court... but this is rare case.... most people ignore there wannabe's....
This guy has been a pain for me for a long time. Ok I thought of something. I think it would be pretty easy to prove that they are trying to mislead their visitors into thinking that their site "TalkPTC" is my site "PTCTalk". The domain name is very similar, the layout is the same, and the forum board names and descriptions are all copied word for word. So how about the UDNP?
I think you mean UDRP. Do you have established trademark rights to your domain name? Are you willing to spend the $1,500 to $5,000, plus any attorney fees to file the dispute? You'll be out that money no matter what happens. There would be nothing to stop them from registering a new domain i.e. ptc-talk.com If are willing to spend the money, you should really seek the advice of an intellectual property rights attorney before proceeding.
Wow, that sucks. Even if he has that site get shut down, who's to say he won't build another one similar to yours? My mature side say you should keep working on your current site and getting backlinks, etc. You will eventually leave him far behind in the dust in the SERPs and in traffic. My childish side say...well, you probably know what it would say...
This is what you do... You make mistakes in the content on your website... i mean not so obv things.. You contact their hosting company.. lawyer whatever and what you do is say look at this paragraph of the site contents on this guy's site... i made the mistake on my site on purpose and it has appeared in the exactly same place.. they do this with the uk mapping system, they make mistakes on the map such as adding extra buildings, corner shops, post boxes.. when they suspect someone of using their map, they check the map for mistakes,, if there are mistakes they take them to court.. etc and win !
It's not as easy as it sounds. First, you need to prove they were the ones that copied your content. They could claim you copied theirs. Screen shots can be manipulated so that won't work. Say you establish they copied parts of your website (remember, this guy isn't exactly copying an entire website) - now you need to prove damages. If you have a site that is making $100 a month, you aren't going to be awarded $10,000 in actual damages. Your legal costs are going to be high to bring a case through the entire process - tens of thousands of dollars. You have no prevailing party clause with this party, so you aren't likely going to be awarded your attorney fees even if you win since there is no registered mark. A $5,000 award when your legal costs are $30,000 doesn't make a whole lot of sense from a business perspective. Then comes collection. Usually the type of person that infringes doesn't have a nickel to their name. Winning an award isn't entirely different from collecting. I've won dozens of infringement suits and only collected anything on a couple of them. I usually don't even pursue it, because you are just throwing good money after bad. If you are going up again a deep pocket (large company) they are going to try and bankrupt you with legal expenses. It can drag on for years. Take it from someone who has spent a lot of money on legal fees and never lost a case - the "taking someone to court" is usually not something that is going to be a financial win. If you want to spend $20K or $30K taking someone to court to make a point, then that's another story. I've certainly done it, but it wasn't a wise decision from a purely financial one. Also, a lawsuit against some of these broke scumbags does nothing but add fuel to the fire. You're sometimes dealing with people who aren't right in the head, or act extremely irrational when a suit is filed against them. Instead of having one infringing site, you might find yourself with 10, or someone who starts posting crap on your site 24/7/365 - and your problems are now a lot worse - and you can't collect a penny from someone who is broke.
DMCA time. You really need to send out letters asap to the registrar and host as well as the search engines. Get that guy delisted and banned immediately. Don't wait or hesitate. You can do DMCA for the price of postage. Get off yer butt and do it. The fact that you bought the template is meaningless. They have copied word for word your text and forum structure which is your copyright.
Make the best use of it, publicize your site showing instances of how competitors are copying you. Show the domain reg details there. Anyways, the copied site has chance of getting penalized in search engines.