Hey guys,

so I have been reading a lot about autoblogs/SEO/wordpress lately. I decided to start my own autoblog and it went well after a month, getting around 1 buck a day. I decided to make more.

However, I received a letter yesterday from a laywer for company X, which states that I have posted their images and articles, which are copyright protected, on my website, which is true.

I am still a little bit shocked, I have never been in this type of situation before. I have not talked to a laywer yet. The fees for the laywer that I have to pay is 1300€, which is about 1800 USD.

I am not too sure what to do now, but I'll definitely consult a lawyer on monday.

Just my heads to you guys. Be careful when you set your plugin to autopost from certain websites. Or use a plugin that rewrites articles!

btw FML

Did you get an email or the letter was sent to your physical address?

Sorry to hear, I have a similar request, but luckily I talked to the lawyer and got away with it

So somebody wants to sue you for posting a few copywritten images on your blog which makes $1 per day, I would send that letter back in a package with dog poop in it.

thar r no rulez on interwebz

haha wish I could do that Paraderain .

They sent a letter to my physical address.


Kalyken, did you talk to their lawyer or your lawyer?

They might sue you and win, but they can't collect what you don't have.

wow that sucks... what kind of pictures did you steal

How much are the suing you for

Originally Posted by flashgordon88

haha wish I could do that Paraderain .

They sent a letter to my physical address.


Kalyken, did you talk to their lawyer or your lawyer?

Don't panic, really.

How they got your address? From the hosting company or whois?

First they must tell you to remove the image/images, just after that they can go ahead.

If they asked you to remove the images and you didn't, then you can have problems..
It won't happen anything really

Sorry to hear that mate, when i think that i can get one letter too, because of autoblogs. Just ignore the letter, they will not contact you anymore...

Take the copy content down and reply with an apology.
Done.

These days, peoples are trying to make money from everything. For exemple sue some owner of little website that make only 1$.... Sad...

does this mean if i copyright my images or soemthign and have someone host that on his website by any means i can sue him..that sucks man.

The hosting company. Which makes me think if they are allowed to do that?

I deleted the blog and the content.

Originally Posted by flashgordon88

The hosting company. Which makes me think if they are allowed to do that?

I deleted the blog and the content.

So there is no proof then. Don't worry.

I think its BS. Why would any company waste their time and money on stupid little blogs?

All they had to do was contact your hosting company and more than likely they would take your site down until the problem was resolved.

I think you are either lying or you have received a fake letter, but then again why would anyone waste their time on a fake letter.

Fathom

very nice post

You have removed the blog, now ignore the letter, never communicate with them via phone or the letter.

They really won't waste their time and money for you 'small time' guy. The judge would have a great laugh and throw it out of court! Its too petty!

Relax, learn your lesson and be careful next time.

Yes I agree, just ignore now.
Definately don't waste money on a solicitor!

Nothing will come of this.

Originally Posted by flashgordon88

The hosting company. Which makes me think if they are allowed to do that?

I deleted the blog and the content.

Ask the hosting company to show you the DMCA form that the lawyer filled to get your address and if they don't show it then they dont have it and in such case show them a picture of your penis. Actually they shouldn't give him your address even with a DMCA notice. They just suspend your account in such case.

Also ask about their privacy policy and how did they dare to expose your personal info without a court order.

Ah and when this crap ends. Switch to another host. btw, what is the hosting company? shitlist it asap.

i advise you to be careful. worst case is, your are from Germany and infringed the copyright of a german copyright holder. Because if they sue you, they will win. If your are german, watch this youtube/watch?v=dmZAuv1zrdo (can't post url's yet). best of luck to you!

Originally Posted by Scripteen

Ask the hosting company to show you the DMCA form that the lawyer filled to get your address and if they don't show it then they dont have it and in such case show them a picture of your penis. Actually they shouldn't give him your address even with a DMCA notice. They just suspend your account in such case.

Also ask about their privacy policy and how did they dare to expose your personal info without a court order.

Ah and when this crap ends. Switch to another host. bhw, what is the hosting company? shitlist it asap.

Ha ha ha! In fact I would send a copy of your penis to all parties involved - just in case

ezlegion and extrawinner (members from bhw) have some bulletproof hosting. could be interesting for you you'll find the thread via search. I'm also interested in who the host is.

Ha ha ha! In fact I would send a copy of your penis to all parties involved - just in case

i second that!

Originally Posted by positivcriss

These days, peoples are trying to make money from everything. For exemple sue some owner of little website that make only 1$.... Sad...

Yes, including from someone else's content..

now you have taken it down you have no worries, just forget it

Just take the pictures down and ignore the pricks who sent the letter, they are just trying to find people who get scared easily to try and get money off them. If they just keep sending these letters to more and more people they'll end up getting paid from some % of the people. That's the business model they use.

This is not those mongrels from RightHaven that are suing you is it?

Originally Posted by MDSOperandi

This is not those mongrels from RightHaven that are suing you is it?

The tables have been turned on RightHaven...they are in some pretty serious legal trouble at the moment here in Vegas. A federal judge here in town seriously questioned the validity of their lawsuits and the company was recently ordered to pay penalties and attorneys for a frivolous lawsuit. If things keep up they won't be around for long:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...se-it-sued.ars

Fucking companies do not understand that when they publish something on internet from that moment on it belongs to everyone.

FREE INFORMATION.FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS

Originally Posted by wes_one

Fucking companies do not understand that when they publish something on internet from that moment on it belongs to everyone.

FREE INFORMATION.FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS

You wish. In the USA at least, full copyright protection applies no matter what method of publication was used!

In the U.S. to sue someone, you have to file in the county/state where the civil infraction was caused, then you have to use a process server or local law enforcement officer to "SERVE A SUMMONS". That is the que that you are being sued.

A letter sent to a physical address is just a way of saying.....hey, I got cha!!!

If a summons has to be issued in the UK to bring a suit, then they are only f-ing with your head with this letter.

$1 per day? Are lawyers REALLY that greedy?

Just remove the content, tell them you're sorry, and inform that that you never made more than a buck per day from it.

WAIT, THE COMPANY THAT SENT YOU THAT LETTER ISN'T APPLE, IS IT?

Remove content and ignore it

that just made me laugh, and also gave me motivation to make an autoblog, what are they like ? 100% automatic ? damn, I will make 100 blogs and make 100 dolars a day

Originally Posted by jokel661

So there is no proof then. Don't worry.

Google offers a service to look at d previous version of website.
So 'no proof' trick is not gonna work.
Actually nothing is gonna work. They can case against you but can get nothing from you.
Talk to them, remove the copyrighted material. Thats it. You r on you way then.

Originally Posted by Nookie Monster

They might sue you and win, but they can't collect what you don't have.

This is the first rule of litigation. You can't sue someone without tons of assets it just doesn't justify the legal fees. 99% sure this letter is just to scare you. Good luck though mate and keep us posted

If you've already taken the blog down I would just ignore it and don't answer the letter. If you reply to them then they know they've got the right person.

I bet those fuckers send out about a hundred of them a week, the ones that reply are the ones they'll go after.

mmmm I will delete content fast if I where you man ....good luck!

Aha, I've been in this kind of situation too many times. Infact, I was 'sued' by an individual I knew, for taking a domain name they were intending to buy. How petty? I said to the millionaire, yes. Millionaire, that's right. "I'll see you at the lawsuit."

Next day, I get a cease and desist - Copied and pasted. I reply back, saying I want any communication via Phone or written format. Nothing happens. They made the excuse that they had filed for trademark hours before I took the domain.

Oh, and did I mention that the domain wasn't mine? And that I'm 15.

They cant collect what you dont have my friend

Originally Posted by jokel661

So there is no proof then. Don't worry.

Riiiiiight.
They'll pay a lawyer, but won't bother to make screen captures, etc.
You might also want to google "wayback machine"

Originally Posted by wes_one

Fucking companies do not understand that when they publish something on internet from that moment on it belongs to everyone.

FREE INFORMATION.FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS

speaking of not understanding............

Op what did you do about this in the end? Have you given the domain back yet?

Happened to me. Just remove the copyright content and don't respond back to them. Sometimes they act like they know where you live and other things like that. For autoblogs, it's best to use offshore hosting and offshore domains, and not have the autoblog traced back to your real info.

Wikipedia should sue everyone cause people tend to print their articles and quote their text

i would personally fly to the lawyer who wrote and sent that letter and pee on his face and go for seconds on his chihuahua.

Just for a bit of extra protection, use off-shore hosting (ExtraWinner and ezlegion have their service here) and internet.bs to register domains.