Reprints Online

It seems that a week doesn't go by that someone doesn't ask me, "Is there any way to keep people from stealing the contents of my website?"

Honestly, no. You can slow them down or make them work for a useable copy, but if someone wants to take articles, artwork or a photograph from your site, they can. There's even software designed to help people steal website content.

I use Adobe GoLive to make my websites, but it has a function that lets me download entire websites. In a matter of a few minutes I can download almost any website on the net.

If you see your artwork, article or slogan on another person's website, is there anything you can do? Absolutely! Your material is protected under copyright laws in two ways. First, each piece is protected individually under copyright law upon completion of the material. When you create an article, photograph or piece of art it's automatically protected. Secondly, your website in whole is protected under copyright law. It is a good idea to put a copyright notice on the bottom of each page on your site. Simply put Copyright © 2004 Jeff Colburn, or Copyright © 1999 - 2006 Jeff Colburn, and for added safety put All Rights Reserved.

I often have people contact me to use my articles on their website or in publications. If I give them permission to use the article, I include the following paragraph just to be sure they know what I expect: "Also, the article can not be edited in any way and the resource box at the bottom of the article must be included when you publish the article on your website or in your newsletter." A resource box is a paragraph plugging me and my website, and includes my e-mail and website address so the reader can contact me.

If someone does take something from your website without permission there are several steps you can take, each a little more high pressure than the last.

Before you can take any action, you must find the thief and how to contact him. If contact information is not listed on the website, then go to http://www.Whois.com and enter the thief's website address. This will show you who the Registrant (owner) is and how to contact him. Whois.com will also show you who the administrative and technical contacts are. These may be the same person, or different people. You can also look at the HTML in the site by simply going to the menu bar and selecting View and Source. Many website designers and webmasters list their name and contact information here.

Other sources you can use to locate a person are:

• Alexa - http://www.alexa.com/
  
• Blogshares - http://www.blogshares.com/
  
• DNS Stuff - http://www.dnsstuff.com/
  
• Google - http://www.Google.com You can also put in a phone number in the search window with the area code, like 123-456-7890, and Google will look for that phone number on the Internet.
  
• Google Directories - http://directory.google.com/Top/Reference/Directories/Address_and_Phone_Numbers/
  
• Internic Domain Name Search - http://www.internicdomainnames.net/
  
• Network Solutions Whois - http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp
  
• Reverse Phone Directory - http://www.reversephonedirectory.com/
  
• Whois Godaddy - http://who.godaddy.com/whoischeck.aspx

The first, and easiest, thing you can do is to contact the thief. Mail, or e-mail, a letter to the person telling them about the copyright infringement and ask them to immediately remove the stolen content.

Clearly explain to the person what was taken, where it was taken from and that you want it removed immediately. Go easy here. Don't fly off the handle and make threats or come across as angry. Just be very businesslike. Or, instead of asking them to remove the stolen material, you could ask them to put a link to your website with the material and possible a resource box, or to pay you a fee to use the material. Realize that some people don't know it's illegal to take and use things from websites. Be sure to give them a time limit to respond. Five days is standard.

Keep copies of all correspondence between both of you, and take a screen capture of the web page with the stolen material. Just press the Print Screen button, then paste the image into a Word document.

Many thieves will remove the stolen material after being contacted, but others won't. If the material is not removed, then kick it up a notch.

Contact the advertisers on the person's site and tell them that he's refusing to remove the stolen material. Ask them to pull their advertising so they are not supporting a site that steals material. I would suggest going a little easy with throwing words around like "thief" and accusing the webmaster of stealing things. Just say that the site contains material that was obtained in violation of copyright law, and that the webmaster refuses to remove the material. Again, be businesslike. Hitting the webmaster in the wallet will get his attention, as will having advertisers contacting him to find out what the heck is going on.

You should also contact the hosting company where his website resides. This information should also show up in your Whois search (http://www.whois.com ). Inform them about the stolen material and ask them to remove the site from their server. Many hosting companies will remove sites like this.

If nothing happens after a few days, send a Cease and Desist letter to the thief, any advertisers on his site, the web hosting company and anyone else listed on his site. You can find templates for Cease and Desist letters online that will help you know what to say.

You can find sample letters here:

• Copyright Crash Course - http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/INTELLECTUALPROPERTY/contract/cease.htm
  
• Builder.com - http://builder.com.com/5100-31-5082448.html
  
• R.I.G.H.T.S. - http://www.rightsforartists.com/examcease.html

In the letter include the following, and anything else you think is important.

• Tell them you intend to send copies of the Cease and Desist letter to advertisers, and everyone else on your contact list.
  
• Let them know that if the situation is not resolved, then legal action will be taken.
  
• Ask for an accounting of any income generated from the stolen material and that you expect full compensation of this income.
  
• Tell them how you want them to contact you with a response (e-mail, phone, etc.) and give them no more than 72 hours to respond.

You can also contact the major search engines, like Google, Yahoo and MSN and tell them what's going on and request that they ban his site from their search engines. Mention the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA protects OSP's (Online Service Providers including ISP's) from copyright liability if, after being notified by a copyright holder or their agent, they promptly block access to a site that is involved in copyright infringement.

Of course, the final step is to hire a lawyer. However, this will take lots of money for legal fees, so save this as a last resort.

Unfortunately, as a copyright holder you are responsible for monitoring when, where and how your works are used and for enforcing the law when your rights are infringed upon. So pin on your badge, grab your ten-gallon hat and go enforce the law, Sheriff.

About the Author

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