Discussion:
Hi, this is my first post. I'm an independent jewelry designer in Az doing business on the internet. Last night I was surfing and found another jewelry designer's website copying the wording from both my gemstones description page and ordering info page and displaying it as part of their site. I had sure proof that they used my site when I noticed that THEIR Paypal shopping cart accidently linked to MY Paypal shopping cart! I emailed them regarding the copyright infringement and asked that the info be removed immediately. They have not made any changes to date (except the shopping cart is fixed) and have not replied to my email. I'm not sure what else I can do besides hire a lawyer or if protecting the info is really necessary. It justs bothers me more than anything because I spent a lot of time gathering the information, crafting it to be friendly, and having some of it professionally edited.
If anyone and wants to compare the sites please let me know. Should I post the web links directly in the message here or to someone "off-line?"
Any advice would be most appreciated. At the present, I do not have a lawyer/or lawyer friend, etc.
Sincerely,
Sharon
Answer:
Take your information to a local attorney who will charge a nominal fee to draft a cease and desist letter informing the other website that if their copy is not changed within a timeframe (usually 7 business days) then a suit for copyright infringement will be filed.
Answer:
Thank you, that helps. If the results become twisted or very interesting, I will post further info.
Sharon
Answer:
For others that pick up this thread I'd like to say that I didn't need to hire an attorney afterall. I contacted both Yahoo's Copyright dept. (emailed, then they requested a fax) and Earthlink personally over the phone (their web host). I requested they suspend the website and/or the infringing pages until I could hire a lawyer.
My time to write the detailed letters was key (plus if I need the lawyer my footwork was in place), and the website owners removed the copied text possibly until they have time to write their own I'm assuming.
Good luck to anyone else having this problem.
Sincerely,
Sharon
Answer:
That's good news. Congrats.
Answer:
Yahoo for the writer.