Website Copyright Infringement

[p.cottam]

We run a Villa Rental site and have just recieved an email from a villa rental portal offering to run an advert featuring our site for a fee with a link to our advert that they have set up for us

Upon inspection they have copied our text and a large number of images off our site and set the advert using them

Is this not a clear cut case of Copyright infringement my site has the phrase Copyright © Rentadisneyvilla.co.uk 2005 all rights reserved

All the pictures were taken by myself and the text is mine also

Does anyone have a effective Cease and Desist letter for use in such circumstances

[jestep]

Dear [name]:

It has come to my attention that you have made an unauthorized use of my copyrighted work entitled [name of work] (the "Work") in the preparation of a work derived therefrom. I have reserved all rights in the Work, first published in [date], [and have registered copyright therein]. Your work entitled [name of infringing work] is essentially identical to the Work and clearly used the Work as its basis. [Give a few examples that illustrate direct copying.]

As you neither asked for nor received permission to use the Work as the basis for [name of infringing work] nor to make or distribute copies, including electronic copies, of same, I believe you have willfully infringed my rights under 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq. and could be liable for statutory damages as high as $150,000 as set forth in Section 504(c)(2) therein.

I demand that you immediately cease the use and distribution of all infringing works derived from the Work, and all copies, including electronic copies, of same, that you deliver to me, if applicable, all unused, undistributed copies of same, or destroy such copies immediately and that you desist from this or any other infringement of my rights in the future. If I have not received an affirmative response from you by [date give them about 2 weeks] indicating that you have fully complied with these requirements, I shall take further action against you.

Very truly yours,

I would try to resolve it with them first.

This was obtained at: http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellec...ract/cease.htm

I have used it once or twice before.

[texxs]

I would think it would be pretty easy to get them to not use your content since they are trying to land you as a client. Just let them know you aren't happy about them using your content in the ad they are trying to sell to you. That is what they are trying to do, right?

Tell the you'd like to see what they can come up with on their own. Of course, the best advert for you may just well include some of your photos and copy. After all who knows your product or service better than you.

[Duncan Pollock]

Maybe things aren't as bad as they seem.
What could be possible is that the portal owners haven't published the ad but are simply trying to sell you on paying them to do so.
And if this is the case, perhaps they've merely used your content as the most likely means to win your go ahead. After all, who knows best how to describe who you are and what you do than yourself? If they tried to put things in their own words, the chances are that the effect will be a lot less than it deserves -- or you would want it -- to be.

Duncan

[cyanide]

I would go with texxs suggestion.
After all, they did contact you first. No sense screaming bloody murder :)

Email them back, tell them what you want and/or dont' want.
At the end of the day, if you don't form some kind of alliance with them and your Intellect is not removed, then fire off jestep's letter, telling them you've hired OJ's Attorney Dream Team :)

[DrTandem1]

I with Duncan on this. From your description it sounds like they are running a free sample ad for your site. Yes, they may have used your copyrighted content. Yes, you may get them to cease. My question is do you want them to stop? Have they linked to your site? If so, what is the damage?

It's like someone sending you a free sample ballpoint pen with your company's logo on it. Are you going to sue them for a trademark infringement? No, you're going to keep the pen and maybe buy more from them.

I'd have to see the ad to make a final judgment.

[cupotico]

I’m with DrTandem1 on this one. As a owner of a similar site i often do the same, i create a page on my portal presenting the client entity, using their own words and pictures. when it is done i contact the owner asking him to view it.
and offer him to send him client for commission.

if he doesn't want to, i remove the page as there is no business for me.

SEO wish - your content is being indexed by the SE why before this page is, so his page is a duplication of content that might even damage his ranking. i usually add extra unique content.

just contact him and make sure you are getting a direct link. be sure that you are indexed by the SE.
and one last thing:
search your villa name and some Sentences from the copied content ( use ""). - if you appear first you don't have a problem.

[pbdink]

as a webmaster of five high ranked sites, i find myself dealing with this weekly. Most people who do this are just lazy. i give them one warning and then see what they do. one guy was so sorry and apologetic i rewrote his copy for him, and of course ridding his site of mine, and he was happy as a pig in dung. some just get down right arrogant like telling me that since we have a similar topic, "of course the copy is similar". at that point i just tell them to f__k themselves, and file with yahoo, google and msn. they have their pages promptly dropped within a week or two. next!

[send2paul]

I'm with pbdink on this one. It's always a bit of a novelty to find out what to when something like this happens, but if you have profitable websites where little internet pirates are stealing chunks of texts and links from you for their own websites - then it does become a bit of a chore dealing with them.

As DrT said - if they are linking to you, it might not be doing you any harm. But, if they are scraping your website - and many others to create pages on YOUR website topic - they may well be getting better SERPs than you, particularly in MSN and Yahoo.

At this point I usually go down the route of:

A. Email the webmaster/owner of the webhost. If that doesn't resolve it then,

B. Email the webhost. If that doesn't resolve it,

C. Fax a Digital Millenium Copyright Act, (DMCA), notice to Google - to kick their asses into oblivion - and inform Yahoo and MSN as well.

It's not easy out there sometimes :)

[khurramali]

You should also look at it with a positive Attitude / Outlook.

If they are able to get you new customers or increase your sales, you would'nt mind paying them a comission on Sales.

but duplicate content carries its own problems so they should come-up with new unique content.

That is, if you want to form an affiliate partnership with them.