Copyrighted. What would you do?

I'm going to ask "What would you do?", especially to those folks out there with websites of their own. This is not a huge concern, and I'm certainly not going to turn it into a big deal, but I'd like to point it out.

First take a look at this page - all pics are completely my creation with the exception of the Palights banner and everything is copyrighted in my name per the Legal Information page:

http://thelightsite.cruxial.com/reviews/palight_survival.htm

Now take a look at this site:

http://www.traser.com/cgi-bin/products.cgi?act=list_product_detail&id=1032167824

See anything that was "borrowed" from my site without permission? It should be easy to find with just a little "animated" observation... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

You should think a company like Traser would be able to make their own animated gif... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif :thumbdown:

An E-mail asking permission would have been the least thing they should have done... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

They could have offered you a Teknolite for your trouble... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

yeah man! Put up a big stink until you get some free swag!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

You've got copyright issues bad, but I've got them worse!!! Just last night, I found http://www.noy.co.il/LED.htm which REALLY rips off my LED pages. All the text, pictures, spectrographic charts, even the ProMetric charts are stolen off my site - the only things they did were to change the background to theirs, and remove the goodies I have at the bottom of each page.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/poke2.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif

I sent them a friendly email but have yet to hear back.

After review of the photos side by side and overlay at 800% actual size I can say IMHO it's the same photo. If it's not, the exact setup, angle, orientation and the same background texture happened to be used for both photos. The background texture is the undeniable give away. Yall knew this already but I was bored and needed to do something.

First off I wouldn't send an email. Is there a way to send a certified letter to the UK? Keep copies and receipts of the postage, if you can get a return receipt then do so.

Don't ask for stuff as payment, just point out to them that you believe the image on their site is a copy of a copyrighted image from your site and to please stop using it.

if they are linking to your files you could pull a nasty substitution trick.barnyard porn comes to mind.

Hmmmmmm...the animation on their site works, I can't view it on your site...but believe what's being said. Are copyrights "worldwide"? Is your pic copyrighted?

Hmmmm... it definitely falls under Copyright issues, i.e. as it pertains to "original work" - I admit I'm not versed in the international Copyright arena, but this would indicate to me that you have a valid complaint.

This always makes for an interesting issue - I think I'll do a little more research on that. However, I believe James S has pretty much covered the basic sense of it all quite well.

-Jim

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snakebite said:
if they are linking to your files you could pull a nasty substitution trick.barnyard porn comes to mind.

[/ QUOTE ]

It is not linked. They took the image and copied to their site. This made my devious mind think about something...Another member is using my photo, (with permission) in their ad in BST, it is from my website. It's a good thing I like him, or do I???? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif


Another thing to consider is they may have taken the photo from another site that took it from you and on and on and on.

Good point, Dave... and this is where a letter written with diplomacy will go a long way (information-wise). Reference to James S' post

-Jim

Or actually, you may ask that they remove it or add a "Image courtesy of The Light Site" with a link.

I don't know if they are likely to do that, but a certified letter, is the best way to go.

Quickbeam a polite email would be in order. It does seem there is a copyright issue here. But DieselDave has a point, they could have ripped it off of another site who ripped you off. Can you tell if they just link to your picture, or did they download it and put it on their server?



Craig, WOW!!! That's just your pages with a different background. That should be grounds for legal action.

Craig, you should question their capability to COPY and PASTE... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Tree said:
Craig, WOW!!! That's just your pages with a different background. That should be grounds for legal action.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, and a bad ripoff too, with dead links where they dummied up the links but didn't bother to add them-
That would seem to warrant more than a polite email- yep, maybe a few of these... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif

Yeah these people all deserve a good /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif.

What about all those ebay ads that use photos we've see here!

A lot of this depends on what you want. You usually have a copyright when you fix your work in a tangible medium. If, for example, you take a picture you likely have a copyright on it. In the US, however, it's unlikely you would get damages unless you have registered your copyrighted material. But most intellectual property only means as much as your willingness and ability to enforce it (this usually means ability to pay attorneys to defend your rights). Without a credible threat of action, you may be relying on the "kindness of strangers" to get any result. If you are really serious, the best bet probably is to get an attorney who may write what is called a "C&D" (cease and desist) letter -- this will likely be taken more seriously than a letter from an party that does not even appear to have legal counsel.

INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT PROTECTION SITE

Brightnorm

Well, since I'm not "in the game" for money, I think I'll just go the e-mail route and post their response (if any) here. More to come....

I'm still waiting for an email response from my website thief, so I wouldn't hold your breath waiting.
Then again, they could be mailing you a free Traser outfitted light, so it could be worth it after all. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif