From the USA)
When doing a basic Google search I came across a website that was identical to mine. The guy copied my website that was built from scratch from my webmaster and I. My website has the copyrights symbol and the notice of DMCA laws on the bottom claiming all copyrights belong to my website name. I reported the copy cat website to their hosting company and the hosting company sent me this long drawn out letter of having to show all kinds of paperwork and proof that I am the owner and it was copied which I think is ridiculous. I was to believe that all you have to do is put the copy rights logo and info on your page that it was automatically protected as that's what I read in the DMCA book. The obvious proof is my website has been around since 2006 which can easily be found on whois.com their website has only been live since this year. What can I do or how do I respond to the hosting company that is clearly going to make it difficult for me to get rid of this website.
This is what is said that I need for proof -
A staff member has replied to your question:
I am writing in response to your e-mail regarding content hosted through Lycos on one of our free homepage services, Tripod.com and Angelfire.com. You should understand that the content to which you have referred have has been stored on the Lycos system solely at the direction of a Lycos user and has not been initially reviewed, monitored, or edited by Lycos employees. Lycos users bear sole responsibility for such material, and Lycos, Inc. has no knowledge of the specific contents of member directories.
Lycos, Inc. fully complies with all intellectual property laws. In particular, when the owner of an exclusive right is concerned that this right is infringed by material placed on a provider's system or network by a subscriber of that provider the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") provides certain procedures to ensure that infringing materials are removed without wrongfully injuring the subscriber or unduly burdening the provider. In such instances, the owner of an exclusive right should send to the provider a notification containing the following information:
1. A physical signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
2. Precise identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material including exact URL's and references to specific files.
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party (the copyright and/or intellectual property owner, not the alleged infringing party) may be contacted.
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. The phrase "good faith belief" must be used.
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right is allegedly infringed. The phrase "under the penalty of perjury" must be used.
When doing a basic Google search I came across a website that was identical to mine. The guy copied my website that was built from scratch from my webmaster and I. My website has the copyrights symbol and the notice of DMCA laws on the bottom claiming all copyrights belong to my website name. I reported the copy cat website to their hosting company and the hosting company sent me this long drawn out letter of having to show all kinds of paperwork and proof that I am the owner and it was copied which I think is ridiculous. I was to believe that all you have to do is put the copy rights logo and info on your page that it was automatically protected as that's what I read in the DMCA book. The obvious proof is my website has been around since 2006 which can easily be found on whois.com their website has only been live since this year. What can I do or how do I respond to the hosting company that is clearly going to make it difficult for me to get rid of this website.
This is what is said that I need for proof -
A staff member has replied to your question:
I am writing in response to your e-mail regarding content hosted through Lycos on one of our free homepage services, Tripod.com and Angelfire.com. You should understand that the content to which you have referred have has been stored on the Lycos system solely at the direction of a Lycos user and has not been initially reviewed, monitored, or edited by Lycos employees. Lycos users bear sole responsibility for such material, and Lycos, Inc. has no knowledge of the specific contents of member directories.
Lycos, Inc. fully complies with all intellectual property laws. In particular, when the owner of an exclusive right is concerned that this right is infringed by material placed on a provider's system or network by a subscriber of that provider the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") provides certain procedures to ensure that infringing materials are removed without wrongfully injuring the subscriber or unduly burdening the provider. In such instances, the owner of an exclusive right should send to the provider a notification containing the following information:
1. A physical signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
2. Precise identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material including exact URL's and references to specific files.
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party (the copyright and/or intellectual property owner, not the alleged infringing party) may be contacted.
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. The phrase "good faith belief" must be used.
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right is allegedly infringed. The phrase "under the penalty of perjury" must be used.
