the pirates got your stuff and share it - what can you do
there is actually a lot you can do, here are some options
1. step - the 'Cease And Desist' letter
can be of help if the one who is sharing is a 'sharer by accident' or out of dis consideration.
I will upload a model CD letter and link to it as soon as possible.
tip:: if the culprit replies in an insulting way, you can on top of the infringement file against harassment. you have the right to contact and confront them, keep the mails they send to you and rejoice in every insult, this speeds up your case even more.
2. step - the complaints
against the platform where your stuff has been shared (google groups, yahoo groups, blogspot etc.)
against the provider of the infringing party
you find this provider by extracting the header of an email, the provider or ISP shows up as a number. You find a link in my side bar to a place, where you only have to copy and paste the email header in a blank field and it will extract and track the originating ISP for you
If this ISP only leads to a gmail account - no problem either, you can follow up with step 3
3. step - the subpoena
you can take your case directly to the court in your home town and file for a subpoena of disclosure of personal information about the infringing party (pirate) , do not delete any emails but rather save them on CD to take along when you contact your local courthouse.
once you have the subpoena, send it to the provider and to yahoo, according to the DMCA the providers and social networks have to disclose the information, the same goes for Rapidshare, pando, mediafire etc.
4. the demand of termination of an account by abuse
repeatedly offending users will be reported more than once, subpoena or not - you can demand from a provider to take the person off the 'air' if they don't stop their infringing activities. Yahoo mostly does that as soon as they are convinced about the nature of the shares and the premeditation and repeat of the infringements. include your demand literally like that: 'I demand of you to terminate the account of the infringing party, since the infringement has been repeated' make sure the word 'demand' is included
little tip::if a person shares your stuff in more than one mails, file your complaints in a time delay of 24 hours, this way the provider issue a second (third, fourth and so on) complaint number and treat it as a second case of infringement, remember - they do it again, you can demand of the provider to block their accounts
5. when you file complaints, stay with facts and not emotions. we all know what illegal shares do to us mentally and we tend to give in to the anger and disappointment over the loss of income and the 'rape' of our work. This is ok and understandable, but keep professional correspondence professional.
complaints have to be filed a certain way and every place has their own 'forms' they want to work with, stick to those forms, don't forget to include the statements they need to have and your full personal information, a complaint is not a mail you send to someone to cry your heart out, it is an official document which is an important part of a lawsuit if it comes to this later on. many complaints get trashed right away, if the infringed party does not follow the form and instructions by filing it. Prepare model complaints to make it easy on yourself, once you have the model complaint, you just have to fill in your information about the case and your person, takes you 5 minutes and you can send it off to the provider.
I will upload all the model complaints I have, for different places and providers, just give me some time for that, I do this in my free time and so it will be a slow process until this blog is complete, when it comes to forms and explanations.
stay safe and don't let those mobsters out there get the best of you, always remember - they are wrong and you are the copyright owner, you have rights and need to demand those rights, keep fighting, don't be afraid or scared. It takes more than a wannabe mafiosi to bring an honest, working person down.
KatNKDA
