Copyright For The Webmaster

How Do I Avoid Getting Into Trouble?

Either create all of your own content, or get permission to reproduce the work of others and give them credit for it on your site.

Ask permission before using ANYTHING on your site that you didn't create. If you can't contact the creator of it, or you don't know who the creator is, don't use it. It's better to play it safe, than have your site shut down by your web hosting company, getting sued, and potentially being convicted of a Federal crime.

Be sure to note that taking someone else's work, and making modifications to it, and then claiming ownership is also illegal. The changes would have to be very substantial, and even then, if it has a resemblance to another work, you'd have a hard time proving your case in court.

What Should I Do If My Work Gets Stolen?

Follow the steps below, in order, until your work is removed from the offending site:

1. Contact the site owner and ask nicely for the content to be removed. If you can't find an email address on the site go to: http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois and contact the administrative contact of the domain name. If after 24-72 hours the content isn't removed, move on to step two.

2. Contact the web hosting company. Once again go to: http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois/ and look up the domain name of the offending site. This time look at the technical contact. You'll see an email address listed there similar to this: joeshmoe@webhostingcompany.com . You now know the hosting company of the site. Fire off an email to abuse@webhostingcompany.com, complaining about one of their customers, citing specific examples of how the content on one of their customers sites resembles yours. If the hosting company refuses to take action move on to step three.

3. Contact an intellectual property lawyer and pay him/her to send a letter via certified mail to both the web hosting company and the owner of the site explaining your position. This is as far as this will likely go. Most hosting companies will remove the offending site after receiving a letter from a lawyer. If not, move to step four.

4. Sue the hosting company and site owner.

The Disclaimer

I am not a lawyer. This article is not meant to replace the advice from a qualified intellectual property lawyer.