W
WeeRedHen
Guest
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Virginia
The situation: I have designed and maintained a website for five years comprised of articles I wrote, illustrated with photographs I have taken. I have a page on the site called "Legal Matters," which lays claim to the entire content of the website (unless otherwise noted -- I've used a few photos from a friend and have credited her as per her instructions) as my intellectual property -- the articles, HTML coding, photographs and site graphics. I also include a statement that reads: "Reproduction of written, graphical and design elements presented in this web site, in whole or in part, including storage in electronic media, without the expressed permission of the owner is prohibited."
I have done everything within my power to protect my rights as the owner/publisher of the contents of my website including META tags that disallow archiving, spending numerous hours contacting, corresponding with, and coming to a resolution with visitors who have "borrowed" content from my site without my prior knowledge or permission, and instituting an IP ban on services/software that "grab" websites for storage on visitors' computers or servers.
The problem: In an analysis of my website statistics, I noticed two "hits" from an online service that enables their members to archive any website/web pages and store it on a server. The owner/CEO of this service has utilized technology that ignores the NOARCHIVE meta tag. As soon as I discovered that my website was being archived on the other website's server (I'm trying very hard not to use names; I hope I'm being clear), I wrote an email to the owner/CEO of the service telling him that I don't allow archiving or storage of my site, and to please provide me with the appropriate measures to prevent it from happening through his service. This is something other archiving services readily provide to Webmasters -- instruction on how to "opt out." He responded with a brief email asking me to call him, or give him my phone number, so we could discuss my concerns "in person." He said he thought I misunderstood his service, that file-sharing is not allowed; the service's members aren't allowed to share stored content.
I hadn't even considered the file sharing issue; I was concerned about unauthorized archiving of my site. I went to the service's site, played with the demo and figured out how his server was accessing and storing my files. I then instituted an IP ban to prevent it from happening again and wrote the owner/CEO of the service another email, telling him that I prefer to conduct all correspondence regarding website issues in writing. I pointed out the statement on my site that denies permission to store my files electronically and requested that he remove all cached/archived content his members had grabbed from my site from his server immediately (this service also enables its members to password protect the content they've stored, so I can't see exactly what they've grabbed). I also requested that he respond with a confirmation that my files have been removed from his server.
From what I understand about copyright law (and I admit that the legalese makes my head spin), as the author/ publisher of the articles, as the photographer, and as the website designer, it is my right to deny or grant permission for duplication, copying, storing, and archiving of the files that comprise my website.
My question (finally): Is my understanding correct? And if so, does this include caching/archiving services such as the one I've described here, even if the members are "not allowed" to share files? (Despite that claim, I found no statement as such on the site -- the service's press releases tout how easy it is to share with friends and colleagues.) If my understanding is correct regarding my rights, what can I do or say next, if he fails to respond to my email?
Thank you in advance for your time and any advise you can provide.
The situation: I have designed and maintained a website for five years comprised of articles I wrote, illustrated with photographs I have taken. I have a page on the site called "Legal Matters," which lays claim to the entire content of the website (unless otherwise noted -- I've used a few photos from a friend and have credited her as per her instructions) as my intellectual property -- the articles, HTML coding, photographs and site graphics. I also include a statement that reads: "Reproduction of written, graphical and design elements presented in this web site, in whole or in part, including storage in electronic media, without the expressed permission of the owner is prohibited."
I have done everything within my power to protect my rights as the owner/publisher of the contents of my website including META tags that disallow archiving, spending numerous hours contacting, corresponding with, and coming to a resolution with visitors who have "borrowed" content from my site without my prior knowledge or permission, and instituting an IP ban on services/software that "grab" websites for storage on visitors' computers or servers.
The problem: In an analysis of my website statistics, I noticed two "hits" from an online service that enables their members to archive any website/web pages and store it on a server. The owner/CEO of this service has utilized technology that ignores the NOARCHIVE meta tag. As soon as I discovered that my website was being archived on the other website's server (I'm trying very hard not to use names; I hope I'm being clear), I wrote an email to the owner/CEO of the service telling him that I don't allow archiving or storage of my site, and to please provide me with the appropriate measures to prevent it from happening through his service. This is something other archiving services readily provide to Webmasters -- instruction on how to "opt out." He responded with a brief email asking me to call him, or give him my phone number, so we could discuss my concerns "in person." He said he thought I misunderstood his service, that file-sharing is not allowed; the service's members aren't allowed to share stored content.
I hadn't even considered the file sharing issue; I was concerned about unauthorized archiving of my site. I went to the service's site, played with the demo and figured out how his server was accessing and storing my files. I then instituted an IP ban to prevent it from happening again and wrote the owner/CEO of the service another email, telling him that I prefer to conduct all correspondence regarding website issues in writing. I pointed out the statement on my site that denies permission to store my files electronically and requested that he remove all cached/archived content his members had grabbed from my site from his server immediately (this service also enables its members to password protect the content they've stored, so I can't see exactly what they've grabbed). I also requested that he respond with a confirmation that my files have been removed from his server.
From what I understand about copyright law (and I admit that the legalese makes my head spin), as the author/ publisher of the articles, as the photographer, and as the website designer, it is my right to deny or grant permission for duplication, copying, storing, and archiving of the files that comprise my website.
My question (finally): Is my understanding correct? And if so, does this include caching/archiving services such as the one I've described here, even if the members are "not allowed" to share files? (Despite that claim, I found no statement as such on the site -- the service's press releases tout how easy it is to share with friends and colleagues.) If my understanding is correct regarding my rights, what can I do or say next, if he fails to respond to my email?
Thank you in advance for your time and any advise you can provide.