How much stolen content is enough for a DMCA?

[FranticFish]

I've just done a 'stolen content audit' on a site and (as well as entire pages being ripped off) found that a number of websites are stealing certain paragraphs from the home page too.

I can prove the theft but I don't know if you can start proceedings for just one paragraph.

The best information I could find was a statement on Chilling Effects that a word or phrase can't be considered copyright.

Does anyone know of anything official that indicates where the cut off point might be?

[Hoople]

Look into the definition of 'Fair Use' as a start.

Take a peek in this sub-forum's library for previous notable threads, there might be something well worth the look!

[FranticFish]

Thanks; my reading on 'fair use' here and on the Copyright Service (I'm in UK) seems to indicate that one of the conditions for fair use to apply is that a credit to the original source must be given.

As these scumbags are stealing blocks of text and passing them off as their own for commercial purposes they've failed that test. I'll press on!

[htmlbasictutor]

I have gotten pages/sites taken down using DMCA whether they stole a block of text or a whole article.

One SEO firm I chased from web host to web host. You would have thought it would be a more efficient use of their time writing their own content. (wink)