The Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) prohibits online copyright infringement and allows you to sue in Federal Court (without the need of registering the copyrighted work) any website, blog, syndicator, aggregator AND (possibly) Internet Service Providers that violate your copyrighted content PROVIDED they have actual notice of the infringement. To invoke the DMCA, send a notice to any websites and blogs that publish your copyrighted content without authorization, as well as their hosting companies AND Google AdSense (who is paying THEM for using YOUR content). Here’s how.
First locate the hosting company and domain owner by either downloading Shazou (a Firefox add-on) or using the Whois lookup at Domain Tools.
Once you have the bad guys’ contact information, send them a Notice of Copyright Infringement by FAX or regular mail (we advise Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested). The Notice MUST contain the following:
1. Identify in sufficient detail the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed upon. For example, “The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http://www.MYBLOG.com/MYCONTENT”
2. Identify the material that you claim is infringing upon the copyrighted work listed in item #1 above. You must identify each page that allegedly contains infringing material by providing its URL.
3. Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit the alleged infringer to contact you.
4. Include the following statement: “I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above on the allegedly infringing web pages is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.”
5. Include the following statement: “I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.”
6. Sign the paper and print your name.
Notify GoogleAdsense in the same manner and send to:
Google, Inc.
Attn: AdSense Support, DMCA complaints
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View CA 94043
OR Fax to: (650) 618-8507, Attn: AdSense Support, DMCA complaints
Also READ THIS at Google AdSense:
There is no guarantee but you if you show the infringer you know who they are and what they’re doing, they may just stop. We were able to get a blog to stop taking our content by notifying them under the DMCA.
Further Reading:
Text of DMCA; US Copyright Office Summary of Act.
DISCLAIMER: This should not be taken as a substitute for legal counsel. If you intend to sue, first consult with an attorney experienced with the DMCA.
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