Copyright & Copyright Theft

[Read About This Site's Copyright Policy]

If they have stolen ideas, rather than exact text, then it really is not worth the legal fees in fighting about it.

If, however, they have 'lifted' exact text from your site (which you wrote), then download their site now, as is, for evidence.

Dealing With Copyright Theft

There's a range of options; experience suggests that it really is worth starting with the obvious, and moving to the next method only if required.

1. Complain To the Site

It is a simple courtesy to complain to the site first; there may be a genuine misunderstanding (they may have received the item in good faith from a third party, who stole it from you).

Write them a polite note pointing out what they have done, explaining that you own the copyright of your site's content. Ask them to remove the offending text within 24 hours.

This gives a route for amicable resolution of the problem.

2. Complain To The Site's Web Host

Most web hosts will recognise the importance of copyright, and will either contact the web site owner, or disable the page or site (or both).

Copy the note to any other stakeholders you can track down through site registration.

Always copy your complaints to the site owner, if possible. As well as being a courtesy, it can help to convince them that you are serious.

3. Complain To Google

Google takes copyright seriously, and will act if their guidelines are followed (link below).

4. Other Methods

In a 'slow to respond' case, I set up a mini web site, with both pages for comparison, and copied each email (mine and theirs). I added emails from people who had submitted material for me to use, destroying the 'coincidence' defense.

Their host's details were included. For a while, it was the most popular part of my site, and great fun to update. Eventually, the thief asked me to remove it - I said "You apologise first", and they did.

The sad thing for me, is that I freely allow copying, and say so on most of my sites - all I ask for is attribution and a link back!

Conclusion

These methods only work if the copy is an exact copy, of substantial amount(s), without attribution, news relevance, or 'review' status. If the case is not that transparent, consider the potential waste of money and time if you choose to challenge the thief.

Sources

Digital Millennium Copyright Act - http://www.google.com/dmca.html
Information and advice on making copyright complaints at Google

Published: 14 August 2005
This article may be published elswhere, provided this footnote is included as is,
with a live link for the source: http://www.seo2seo.com/articles/
Copyright © 2005 Andrew Heenan. Comments very welcome.

Home | About | How To Submit | Algorithm | FAQ | Privacy | Google SiteMap