DMCA/Copyright Directive Outside USA

[HuskyPup]

I've posted this in the Google section since they're the SE I'm having a problem with, Bing etc are all ok at the moment.

I'm trying to wrap my head around this, is there anything I can do in Europe to force people to take down my articles and copied code and widget pages?

Case 1 - UK site UK hosted .co.uk
Case 2 - Italian site, Italian hosted .com

Both these sites have risen to the top of the SERPs over the last few weeks debacle using my stuff.

As I understand it the DMCA does not apply.

Does the European Copyright Directive apply or is this simply a huge mish-mash?

Any ideas?

[johnhh]

As far as the UK is concerned I usually ...

1. Nice email to website owner via contact details on page or whois detailing the copied areas - I try to quote a waybackwhen link as well ...

No response ? then ..

2. A Cease and desist to the ISP copied to the website owner- usually works

If not then ..

3. File a DCMA, especially if they have an Adsense account :) as the account gets suspended if Google agrees.

Note the only DCMA I have had rejected by Google was where someone was somehow framing my site AND changing all the links on the fly somehow to www.their-site.com/ourlink.

Italy I have not tried. France I have, but most of the copies where on .fr's or .com's owned by English people living in France.

[FranticFish]

I've not got extensive experience, but what I have matches johnhh's advice. Where it's very obvious that the whole site is taking the mick (as opposed to one or two pages that might have been stolen unbeknownst to the site owner) then go straight to the webhost with proof. All the UK hosts I've had to contact took it from there and either got the content taken off the site or shut down the account.

[johnhh]

We do it when have time, UK ISP's don't want to get involved. They will even take down site's and contact the owners for you if you can't contact them. This applies to sections of pages as well as whole pages.

[Lame_Wolf]

HP, From experience, if you write to the hosting provider, they will remove copyrighted content, even ones based outside the USA. You will have to prove that the content is yours, and some will act on a DMCA even though legally, they do not have to. I find that it helps if you have a [e-mail] email address to write to/from.