Copyright Infringement

What is the name of your state? New York

Hi,

For a while now, this other owner of a site has copied my wording from my site. The person was told to remove it because they never asked for permission to use it. Up until now, the person still has not cooperated and, apparently, does not care. I have proof of my wording being copied, proof of the person's message about not doing anything about it, and I would like to know how I can protect my rights.

I have tried to find the person's web host and let them know about this, but it seems like they're their own web host as well.

Please advise.

Advise about what? You haven't given any situation or specifics to give advice about.

For a while now, this other owner of a site has copied my wording from my site. The person was told to remove it because they never asked for permission to use it. Up until now, the person still has not cooperated and, apparently, does not care. I have proof of my wording being copied, proof of the person's message about not doing anything about it, and I would like to know how I can protect my rights.

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If you want to "protect your rights," you will have to register your copyright with the U.S. copyright office first. Then, you can sue him -- but only for "actual damages," that is, the actual amount of money you can PROVE that you lost becuase of his infringement. Unless you can show big damages, you will likely be unable to get a lawyer to take the case on contingency, so you'll have to pay up front.

In other words, unless the "wording" that you allege is stolen is some writing or something that you are planning on publishing and making big bucks on, forget about it.

Suing the owner of the site is something I do not want to do, instead I want my copyrighted text removed from their site.

I've already contacted their ISP and asked to have my copyright work removed from the site they're hosting.

My next question is, what if their ISP doesn't do anything about it? I've never registered my copyright before since I run not for profit websites. Is it necessary to have my copyright registered? Would the ISP be liable for this?

BelizeBreeze: I do not want to give out specifics, at least not yet, I'm just trying to seek "free" legal advice and hope that I won't have to hire an attorney about this unless it's necessary.

Suing the owner of the site is something I do not want to do, instead I want my copyrighted text removed from their site.

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Well, if they won't do it voluntarily, then the only way to enforce your rights is to sue.

My next question is, what if their ISP doesn't do anything about it? I've never registered my copyright before since I run not for profit websites. Is it necessary to have my copyright registered? Would the ISP be liable for this?

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There are specific rules that, if followed by an ISP, make the ISP immune from any liability for vicarious or contributory copyright infringement. The rules can be found in 17 USC 512; basically, if the ISP, once they are notfied of the infringing material, must take down the material, and notify the person that posted the material. At this point, the ISP has no liability.

However, the other party (the person posting the material) could object, and claim that he is not infringing. In that case, the ISP will notify the "owner" of the materials (the one who originally notified them), and then the owner will either have to file an infringement suit against the person posting, or let it go, in which case the ISP can allow the material without facing any further liability.

Note that simply sending the ISP an email is insufficient; the ISP doesn't have to do anything until it has been properly put "on notice" of potentially infringing activity, and the requirements for putting an ISP "on notice" are:

(3) Elements of notification. -


(A)

To be effective under this subsection, a notification of claimed infringement must be a written communication provided to the designated agent of a service provider that includes substantially the following:

(i)

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

(ii)

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.

(iii)

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.

(iv)

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 may be contacted.

(v)

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.

(vi)

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 that is allegedly infringed.

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You can view the rules online at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/512.html

I've already contacted their ISP and asked to have my copyright work removed from the site they're hosting.

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Unless your notification meets the requirements above, the ISP doesn't have to do anything. They might anyway, but they are not required to. You are better off sending them another notice, but this one meeting the requirements above. If your first notice does meet the above requirements, then you should be okay.

The problem continues...

This is seriously getting out of hand. Last time I posted here, I sent an e-mail to the parent hosting company who was hosting this site that copied text from my not for profit site. Fortunately, the parent hosting understood my concerns and immediately suspended the site owner's account. Problem rectified.

It wasn't long before the same person decided to move to another hosting company, and this time, not only did he copy text from my site, but he blatantly registered a domain name similar to mine and copied every little detail off my site. Word spread and my some of my members went to see the site, and the owner, pretending to be me, has insulted them and other visitors. He is trying hard to defame me, destroy my website any way he can, he has been hotlinking images from my site and has stolen my work. Since I run a non profit website, I did not lose profits or anything, but it is causing me unwanted grief and frustration. This sole person hates me for no apparent reason, obviously.

So, just several days ago I sent another e-mail to the parent hosting company regarding copyright infringement. This time, they did not do anything. Actually, they were not required to do anything because, as one would expect, isn't enough for them to take action. Anyway, here's the e-mail I received from the hosting company:

"Dear Mr. X:

I am writing to you in response to your copyright infringement notice of September 6, 2004. Please note that the notice does not substantially comply with the required notification elements of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”). Accordingly, we are not required to act on this matter unless and until we receive a notice that satisfies the DMCA (or any other statute or court order that requires us to do the same). Our legal department normally does not respond back to notices that do not require us to take action with respect to our customers, but exceptions such as this are made, given the importance to you of this matter. The statute is located at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/512.html and the notice elements are set forth in subsection (c)(3).

We await your DMCA-compliant notice and will take down the web site in question upon our receipt thereof. Please note that we have not passed on the substantive merits of your claim."

I've never written a proper notice of copyright infringement before, and I'm kindly asking if someone here can help me work this up. I don't have a lot of money, but I can certainly pay a reasonable amount to someone who would be kind enough to help me make this stop.

Thanks for reading.