Grrr, People who copy and rip us off

[Top Hat]

Grrr, People who copy and rip us off

Stumbled on a few of them this week.

One has a picture of me on their Joke and Party Shop, and a page all about Silly Jokes (not us but clearly optimised to take traffic intended for us)

One has loads of our images our text (they've left the secret (c) SillyJokes in, amateurs)

And another who was trying to persuade one of our employees (who's prominent web site links to us) to link to them, has copied our FAQ, and privacy policy. (In the end our employee said "look I work for SillyJokes, it would be inappropriate")

Q. for any hosts out there, if someone demonstrated that images on a web site hosted by you were copied, would you take the site down?

[MinuWeb]

Q. for any hosts out there, if someone demonstrated that images on a web site hosted by you were copied, would you take the site down?

We would investigate and if it could be proven to be a copy then we would ask our client to take it down or be suspended.

(google cache is great at helping as is http://www.archive.org/ )

[Jayne]

That's a horrible thing they have done, is their no legal way of getting them to stop. It is really bad business practic and should be stopped.

Jayne :)

[Rob Holmes]

Yes Tophat - depends where they are hosting depends on the laws applicable.

A hosts T+C should cover copyright infringement.

If you get no joy from the host you could also try the datacentre.

Rob

[Rob Holmes]

It's been posted before but heres a good link: www.copyscape.com

It will tell you if anyone has copied your page (or you've copied someone else)

Rob

[Top Hat]

That's a horrible thing they have done, is their no legal way of getting them to stop. It is really bad business practic and should be stopped.

Yes it is fairly irritating, the legal route is, of course, possible, but would be expensive.

We normally send a polite email (and sometimes not so polite) and that usually works. The polite one is much more effective, and occasionally we even get an apology.

Interesting to know that hosts will switch them off if they don't play ball.

Next Q, how do I find out who the host is?

[Coding Monkey]

Try doing a whois, you'll be able to find out the nameservers and they'll (often) be the name of the company who host them.

[Mortime Business Software]

Next Q, how do I find out who the host is?

You could start with a "whois". Here's one...

http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jhtml

Simply enter the url of the site you want infomation about.

Dave

[Rob Holmes]

Next Q, how do I find out who the host is?

If you want to PM me their URL I'll find out all the info you need

Rob

[bwglaw]

Grrr, People who copy and rip us off

Stumbled on a few of them this week.

One has a picture of me on their Joke and Party Shop, and a page all about Silly Jokes (not us but clearly optimised to take traffic intended for us)

One has loads of our images our text (they've left the secret (c) SillyJokes in, amateurs)

And another who was trying to persuade one of our employees (who's prominent web site links to us) to link to them, has copied our FAQ, and privacy policy. (In the end our employee said "look I work for SillyJokes, it would be inappropriate")

Q. for any hosts out there, if someone demonstrated that images on a web site hosted by you were copied, would you take the site down?

My legal letters / emails are very effective indeed, being correctly worded and laying out the legal basis of your claim. PM me if you need assistance or email direct at legal.services@handsongroup.co.uk

[JustOneUK]

if someone is using your original artwork or text on their own site for business purposes then you can, in effect take, them to court.

however by far the best cure is to send them a very nice polite email asking them to remove the text or image (that is in breech of your coyright) from their site.

No rudeness or agressive threats...just ask nicely.

James

[Top Hat]

I think we will formalise our policy as this happens all the time and we respond differently each time. (usually politely)

We will start with an email and letter, detailing the infringement, timetable of action, and their hosts details.

If we get no joy, its time to contact the host.

Still no joy, let loose our crack legal team.

[Coding Monkey]

And if all else fails, hire the assassins?

[DarrenC]

I had the same problem with a Cypriot property company - very flattered that they liked my website design.

I asked them to remove the content - they didn't so I contacted the hosting company, and within 24 hours the site was down.

I was very impressed with the hosting company and how professional they acted. In the meantime this individual has copied another website instead - obviously didn't learn anything.

Hope you get it sorted.

Darren

[Steve Roberts]

This is one of the most irritating things in business. You spend a great deal of time creating a certain wording and someone spends ten minutes surfing the web and rip it off! My attitude has tended to be "I need to be two steps ahead of competitors before I go public on the current idea". Sad but true!

[thekitchendesigner]

i had the same sort of thing happen to me, twice this year! not only did they copy the website almost word for word, but all the services too!

one idiot managed to post on a forum that i am part of, and tried advertising this fantastic new design service as if he had tried the service and loved it - turns out he was a mate of the guy who copied my website and was trying to raise his profile. after oozing as much info out of him on the forum (pretending to be interested in the service) i got hold of the owners number and politely, but firmly, laid down some instructions - within 24 hrs the site was down, and the phonecall one of the best i've made - talk about speechless!

the other guy stuck an advert in the most recognised trade mag, under a name v v similar to mine, so much so, a friend thought it was my advert and called me about it! Turns out he too copied my website, and i had the same approach. he agreed to change the content and did so rather promptly.

you can take legal routes, but like many comments above, a polite, firm reminder should do the trick! One thing is that its good to know my website is good enough to copy!

[DuaneJackson]

If it's an American host you can get the content removed very quickly. You just send a letter under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) fulfilling all it's requirements. The big US hosts will respond very quickly if you Fax it to them.

We had the same problem and emailed the web master. Got told "F off, you can't do anything about it.. It was quite satisfying to see it all removed within 48 hours after faxing and posting our letter.

If you need a template for this letter then just PM me your email address and I'll send it to you.

[Claire B]

Will a host remove a site if the owners of the other business are using the same name as me (I own the registered trademark, and they are in exactly the same line of business as me), just curious, as i am about to face this issue very soon.

Claire

[WelshPixels]

Working for a very big online insurance company we get this problem a lot. We get cases every month of sites being set up with very similar names to ours.

In every case we managed to contact the hosting company and had the sites pulled down in 24 hours. Its never gone down the legal route.

We have been lucky so far because all the hosting companies have been either European or American. I don't think we would have so much luck if it was Russian, South American or Far Eastern hosting company.

[JustOneUK]

Will a host remove a site if the owners of the other business are using the same name as me (I own the registered trademark, and they are in exactly the same line of business as me), just curious, as i am about to face this issue very soon.

Claire

it's much more difficult if their content and images are original.
getting your content off of someone else's domain is easy ...
getting someone else's domain off...is a bit trickier..you have to prove ownership in court (generally) unless they get scared and panic, in which case they generally run ! :D

[bwglaw]

...you have to prove ownership in court (generally) unless they get scared and panic, in which case they generally run ! :D

If a name or mark is registered to an owner then proof of ownership is not required. Claire said she has registered trademark. She can contact the host and show she owns a trademark and the hosting company can remove the infringement.

It gets complicated if the site is hosted outside England and Wales because other laws will come into play and whether the registered trademark is protected in that country is another issue.

[VeryMark]

For a producer of electronic brochures we were able to have a pirated cloned version of his website shut down.

In another case, we stopped a competitor who had registered variations of a client's domain name to divert traffic to the competitor's website.

We generally recommend clients to budget £500.00 initially if they wish us to help - there is the question of course of what the value is of what has been copied or stolen.

Otherwise, apart from having an obviously strong case, the other main factor is having a determination to press the matter so that the other party can see that delay and prevarication on their part is ultimately likely to cost them more than it gains.

In other words, the tone of the initial letter of demand and how subsequent negotiations are conducted are important, i.e. one should be determined, compelling and persistent in manner.

We are happy to give a free initial consultation to anyone seeking further advice.