I just happened to see that the website hellofreelancer.com has been copying the text I used on my website. If you look at the bottom of my website www.project4hire.com, you will see the text that the owner of the website hellofreelancer.com has copied on his website word for word. How can I take action to prevent this guy from copying my website.
Here is the text in question from Project4hire.com: And here is the text that you will find on hellofreelancer.com He made no effort to even change the words !!!
The guy is located in India. How do I go after him. Any advice??? I contacted him but received no answer from him.
Threaten him with a law suit, and notify the Web host that they may be involved in the suit if they do not close his account immediately. Provide proof that you are the original copyright holder to the host.
Send a cease and desist letter, through the mail. If that doesn't work contact the web host. you might also want to do a WHOIS query on that domain. Also try to back your claim with proofs when contacting the web host. web.archive.org can help you in this instance. Regards, George
The guy lives in India. And I am located in the US. I am not sure that I can sue. I have already emailed him. How do I find out what his webhost is?
He is from : I Track Infotech Panthavoor Edapal India +091 9846030201 His webhost is midphase.com contact them midphase.com/html_files/about_contactus.php but one thing that confuses me that his domain is older than yours, anyway put this issue with their host and they will suspend him instantly. Good Luck Amit
I just had to go throught the same thing. My case was move severe in that the other party copied a LOT more than just my text. I wanted to shut them down and sue, but after research, it turnes out it would be a very hard thing to do. In your case, I would simply write them and demand removal. Grab the email address associated with the domain, and send something like this: Subject: Copyright Infringement: Cease and Desist To whom it may concern, It has come to our attention that you or your company is violating our copyright. The item(s) listed below must be removed immediately, as the original work copyright belongs to Project4hire.com. Be advised, if you do not comply, we will be forced to assume legal action is necessary. To be removed: It costs nothing for a client to post a project. It costs nothing for a freelancer to bid on a project. Freelancers get only charged a small percentage of the value of any project that they get awarded. Who are the Clients? - From individuals, webmasters and small business owners to companies and corporations, a large variety of clients come to HelloFreelancer.com looking for help on their projects or to outsource their projects. Typical projects that are listed on this site include custom web design, programming, graphic design, translation projects and much more! Who are the Freelancers? - Freelancers are IT professionals, Software Developers, Translators, Consultants, Graphic Designers or any Professionals who are looking for freelance work. HelloFreelance.com offers an excellent opportunity for skillful individuals to earn income working from home. This is important, and should not be taken lightly. Duplicating our original work is illegal, and very unprofessional. If you do not comply, we will submit a DMCA notice to your host, followed by legal action. Web Management Group Project4hire.com I sent that and the next day, the site was gone! Good luck!
I got an email from them. And they are claiming that the content is theirs or something of the sort. Not only did they plagiarized my website but now they are lying claiming that the words are theirs. I am SO upset. How low can these people be!!! Here is the email that I got from them:
Yes. His domain is older than mine but he went to my website and stole my content. I sent an email to their webhost and I also sent them the following reply to hellofreelancer: You are a very dishonest person. Not only did you steal the text from my website but now you are lying claiming to own the text. You are a fraud. You do not even have the intelligence to come up with text of your own. As I told you, I will do everything in my power to stop you from stealing the content of my website. You haven't heard the end of it yet.
damn.. you have to find proof first, man. If you go in just like that, it's more probable that you will be the one who will get the c&d.
I just checked the wayback machine. My website isn't cached there. And so is his website. He is smart. Before he replied, he probably checked the wayback machine and now that he sees we are both not there, he can lie now and say that the content is his. This is SO dishonest.
That is insane. Just because they are in another country they can get away with it. They stole your content and now they are telling you to remove yours? I am sorry man, that really sucks.
Just spent 30 minutes digging for info ...............hope it is helpful for you I think you have some of this before but I think there are some new contact mails etc Server Used: [ whois.dynadot.com ] www.hellofreelancer.com = [ 205.234.251.215 ] Domain Name: hellofreelancer.com Registered at http://www.dynadot.com Registrant: I Track Infotech Panthavoor Edapal India Administrative Contact: I Track Infotech Panthavoor Edapal India 091 9846030201 Technical Contact: I Track Infotech Panthavoor Edapal India 091 9846030201 Record expires on 2007/02/12 UTC Record created on 2006/02/12 UTC Domain servers in listed order: dns1.midphase.com dns2.midphase.com http://www.itrackinfotech.com admin 'at' itrackinfotech.com Server Used: [ whois.publicdomainregistry.com ] www.itrackinfotech.com = [ 205.234.251.215 ] Registration Service Provided By: THE WEB BRAINS Contact: 91.5224003499 Website: http://www.thewebbrains.com Domain Name: ITRACKINFOTECH.COM Registrant: I Track Infotech I Track Infotech Panthavoor Edapal kerala Kerala 679585 IN Tel. 91.9846030201 Creation Date: 08-Mar-2006 Expiration Date: 08-Mar-2007 Domain servers in listed order: dns2.midphase.com dns1.midphase.com Administrative Contact: I Track Infotech I Track Infotech Panthavoor Edapal kerala Kerala 679585 IN Tel. 91.9846030201 Technical Contact: I Track Infotech I Track Infotech Panthavoor Edapal kerala Kerala 679585 IN Tel. 91.9846030201 Billing Contact: I Track Infotech I Track Infotech Panthavoor Edapal kerala Kerala 679585 IN Tel. 91.9846030201 Status: ACTIVE
Thanks britishguy for all your hard work. I truly appreciate it. The guy keeps denying that he stole my text. Not only did he steal my text, he is demanding that I remove that text that I originally wrote from my website. I can't believe people can be that dishonnest. I contacted his webhost and here is the response that I got from them:
Sometimes in a dispute scenario you have to 'raise the bar' If it was me I would contact the guy above from the hosting company And ask him all the questions you want answered in a 'public place' ie on his blog..........will he give you the same negative answer ............. knowing that if you wanted ............... you could easily spread his replies around the world his blog is here:- http://forum3.midphasetalk.com/showthread.php?t=5957
I am usually the first to say threaten legal action, contact the host, etc but as you have no proof and it is such a small amount of text, I would just forget about it and move on to other things. As their host even said, the websites are similar in theme but its obvious they didn't copy the site. It is actually quite common to have things like terms and conditions copied and when it comes down to it, it doesn't really affect your site.
I followed your advice and started a thread at http://forum3.midphasetalk.com/showthread.php?t=6517 I wonder if the thread will last there.
I also tried using the wayback machine, but did not have what I needed. Did you check google cache? That helped me... Otherwise, I would also say to just forget it and write something new. It will take a lot less time and no money to just rewrite it.