Forum Moderators: not2easy
I have a couple questions regarding a DMCA I sent to the infringer's host and google adsense.
Google reviewed the DMCA complaint and sent me the following (I assume standard):
<removed: sorry no email quotes please, see terms of service [webmasterworld.com]>
Attached was a DMCA counter-notice from the infringer's host (who is in Russia), the counter-notice was as brief as it says here:
"1. (offender's) sitename.com
2. (standard required notation for DMCA counter-notice) I consent to the jurisdiction....
3. The material identified by the complainant has been removed at the url identified and will no longer be shown.
(host agent signature)"
-----
My questions are:
1. Do I need to respond further to google? The infringer's material was indeed taken off the server and all google search links currently refer to 404 and 403 error pages (actual links to the infringer's site have NOT been removed in google search pages). But, if I don't respond, does that mean the infringer can put the content back up in the 10 days as noted? Is filing suit the only way to resolve this, or can I simply respond to google adsense and state that I feel the situation is resolved? I never intended to have the infringer's google adsense account terminated permanently, I only wanted google to refuse the adsense on copyrighted material belonging to me.
2. I had prior sent a C&D notice to the infringer, he responded back in about a week apologizing, and that he had "bought the website and didn't know it was copyrighted content". Only thing is, I don't know how he obtained the content other than simply stealing it by saving pages from his broswer when the content was on a server online over a year ago. I owned the domain previously, but only had the url forwarded to another domain months for several months before the domain expired (there was no server, no content at that time). I then allowed the domain to expire, and when he bought several weeks after, he claims the content came with it.
I asked him what he meant by that, since it was not on a server at that time, and if he had bought it from a third party, I certainly wanted to know who that was so I could persue them, but he hasn't responded yet.
Is he feeding me a line of bull? If the content wasn't on a server when he bought the domain, how else could he have obtained the content? (I assume cached versions are a possibility). Keep in mind, the infringer had an exact duplicate of my material, including graphics, images, forms, all text and templates.
[edited by: encyclo at 1:50 am (utc) on Feb. 17, 2008]
Does it really matter how the infringer got the content? Is there anything that he, or another company, might not have simply grabbed while the site was online? There are some handy tools for making copies of websites which work fine for static content. If he managed to get code files like PHP or ASP scripts that's a different story, and would imply some sort of server access.
>>Is he feeding me a line of bull?
Most likely, but who cares? If the theft occurred in Russia your legal remedies are limited. Personally, I'd focus on monitoring the Web for your content to be sure it doesn't pop up on the original infringing site or anyplace else. Your complaint to Google was effective once, and it's a cheap but effective strategy.
Thank you rogerd and reprint, for the quick responses. Question 1 answered in full, thanks!
No, it doesn't matter how he obtained the content, unless someone else had it too and actually "sold" him the content, which IMO is pretty unscrupulous and I'd want to know who that party was.
As for scripts or code, I only had a a couple third-party scripts on the site when it was online, nothing I'm concerned about, other than the fact everything was just an exact duplicate, pure laziness on the other person's part. The full content and adsense was what ticked me off the most.
Thanks again.
