Copyright infringement?

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fenway

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I got a knock on the door and the guy said I was being served. I was not home so they left a note on the door. I am getting all the paper work tomorrow, but from what I can see I am being sued for copyright infringement for using an rss feed. I guess they saw ads on my sight and they think I am making money because of their material. What???
 
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Talk to a lawyer!

And going forward, always use domain privacy and offshore hosting if you can.
 
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That's fucking crazy. Yep, talk to a lawyer asap if you're really getting served. I've never heard of someone getting slammed for using an RSS feed before!

Just shows that you've got to have your anonymity as correct as you possibly can.
 
I have not made a dime off the site. Yeah I guess I will pay an attorney.
 
If you elaborate on your situation I can better help. What content was used that is in question?
 
It was a news syndication type thing.
 
just ignore it and if someone comes to your house beat the shit out of them and tell them to fuck off.
 
If they don't want people using their feed, why have it? It has links back to them to give them credit for it.
 
Did you even get a DMCA or anything beforehand? Definitely never heard of issues for RSS feeds, let alone someone coming to your house.
 
I never got anything from dmca. All I know is they filed a complaint with the court and waiting discovery.
 
That's pretty weird. I would assume they'd always send emails first to save themselves money. Was it a big name?
 
No the site is not worh anything. As said I have not made any money from it. I have a feeling they are looking for a big fish. Little do they know they are barking up the wrong tree. They would have to pay for my airfair.
 
Honestly, I wouldn't even worry about a lawyer. A days worth of research and prep, and you could easily win this case. If you know some basic law, you can easily beat this, since you were never served with a DMCA nor did you never actually profit in any way off this venture, therefore there are no damages to actually be claimed here.

Were the papers from a real court, from a real judge? If not, this is B-O-G-U-S.

I'm not a lawyer, nor am I claiming to be, as this is my personal opinion and my personal opinion only. In the end you should do what you feel best helps your situation.

Had to throw that in for legal purposes.
 
The case is unfortunately real. They paid for the court filings. I could write them a letter explaining I was unaware of any wrong doing. The only thing they could possibly take from me is a student loan (went back to school) but I don't think they can touch that. Other than that I don't really have anything else.
 
I don't think they will really do anything, do you?
I haven't heard of this type of situation before,
but I have heard of SIMILAR situations where a
person/company just wanted to scare another
person and or company.

Keep us posted!
 
I should have used a proxy (hindsite) but I really did not think I was doing anything wrong. They demaned a jury, so I can only think they are looking for a big payout.
 
I know its probably a shock to the system

but if you have little money or assets they are wasting their time

Ok they get a judgement - but then they have to collect - so if your a student - they are going to lose out

seems really dumb on their behalf.
 
Anyone can file for anything. Also if they can't serve you they can't do anything. Try to hide from them, the case gets dropped. Seriously. In court it will be up to you to prove or disprove anything they are accusing you of. Be prepared with evidence. If they prove their case you will be paying. If you don't get paid a wage by an employer they really are SOL trying to collect anything.
 
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fenway said:
The case is unfortunately real. They paid for the court filings. I could write them a letter explaining I was unaware of any wrong doing. The only thing they could possibly take from me is a student loan (went back to school) but I don't think they can touch that. Other than that I don't really have anything else.
Click to expand...

In that case, do a little research on copyright infringement, prior court cases, etc. and represent yourself to fight it. It'd be fun to beat out a seasoned lawyer. I don't know where you go to school at, but if it has a law school, you could possibly seek legal advice from them, and a lot of times it's free, especially if there's a law club on campus.

First of all, you have no tangible income. Hell they could take your site and you'd be losing nothing. Also, you've profited not one bit off the infringement, and while that doesn't put you in the clear for no infringement, persons are allowed to use copyrighted material for teaching, criticism, and/or a parody. Did you use the material in this manner? Was your site for commercial purposes?

While the content in RSS feeds are protected under copyright law, one factor that should be questioned is if the feed itself is intended for distribution or just private readership.

Remember, the burden of proof is on the accuser.
 
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