Notifying a Thief It’s Time to Back Off

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In our last episode we discussed several factors you should consider before choosing a course of action against the thief:

  • What is the extent of the harm to you? (your reputation, brand, finances)
  • Can you easily identify/locate the thief?
  • Is the thief making money from your content?
  • Could the thief have made a mistake without realizing it?
  • Could the thief be exercising their rights under the law?

The decision to claim your property must be based on a careful evaluation of the following four factors:

  1. Purpose of the use
  2. Nature of the content used
  3. Amount of content used
  4. Effect on the market for the content used

This decision must ultimately be made by a judge.

If you have decided that you need to move forward to reclaim your Goldmine, consider the following solutions:

What’s the ideal solution for you?

  • The thief apologizes, removes the content from their site, and stops using it.
  • The thief gives you credit and provides a link back to your site.
  • The thief pays you use for the use of your content.

You’ve decided it’s time to defend your rights.

Five steps to defending your rights:

  1. Notify the thief via emailthat they have used your work without permission. Include in your email and offer the 3 options above. Be sure to add a deadline of at least 2 weeks for a response. Keep in mind that emails can end up in the spam folder.
  2. Contact the site that is using your property and ask that your content be removed. Each social media site also has a copyright infringement section with instructions to request removal.
  3. Hire an attorney and go to court. You can probably get a free consult, but you may find that the legal costs would far exceed what you could recoup. Do you have a strong case?
  4. Chalk it up to the cost of doing business and let it go. 
  5. Contact me for clarification. (Complimentary 40-minute session )

The most important thing you can do to
Guard Your Goldmine
is to certify that your site is protected and secure from thieves.

Image by missavana from Pixabay

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© 2019 Barbara Ingrassia All Rights Reserved.

Information provided here should not be construed as legal advice. If you need assistance for further clarity, please consult your attorney.

barb@managecopyright.com    

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