Threat of Being Sued

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Spliffic

Spliffic

Loves Cron Jobs
Apr 5, 2008
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Ok, so one of my websites has a fictitious article. It is about a guy writing in saying that he tried one of my products and it really works etc. I put up a picture of "the final result" that belonged to someone else's website (ya I fucked up and shouldn't have done that), and I received an email today from the owner of the website.

He basically said to remove the entire article including his picture. Now I can understand taking the pic down, but the article itself is making me money and I can simply just go to istockphoto and replace the picture that the guy is bitching about.

Here is the email:
This photo is a staight copyright infringement of my site material and is accompanied by a fictitious article (ficticious because it is my product and manufactured by my company alone). The text is pure rubbish.

You have two days to remove the offending article or we will follow with full copyright prosectution to the extent of copyright law.
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My question to you guys is, do I need to remove the article or should I just replace the picture and send the guy an email? Suggestions appreciated.
 


If the article isn't copyrighted then you have nothing to worry about. 99% of the internet is bullshit too - you're not liable for that. Read over the DMCA if you want specifics about internet copyrights...

Can the guy actually get in touch with you other than email?
 
1) how did he contact you? and was it your real email address? He shouldn't be able to find any real info on you

2) This shit happens a lot, get used to it. Swap the picture and don't contact him back.
 
Delete the image, save the article, and don't respond.

Yeah, it needed to be said a third time.
 
You already know you need to replace the image but otherwise, the testimonial would actually be more along the lines of an endorsement. Paid endorsements happen all the time; celebrities and actors are basically just playing a character when they do them.

As long as you don't make claims that the product is a cure for something or that the customer experience is guaranteed to be the same as the endorsement states, you shouldn't have a problem.

(think about the disclaimers you always see in infomercials )
 
Ya when I setup this website (a year ago) I was pretty much a newb (still am), so hence no WHOIS protection (fuck me!). This website has been running without protection ever since. It pretty much took me until today to add it (as I've never had a reason to add it before). So my WHOIS info was exposed for today so unless he wrote it down then I should be fine.

He emailed me through a fictitious email address. But even if he had captured my real info, I'm guessing he can't do shit. The article I have on this website is a fake testimonial, that's it. Same shit as all those Acai and Grant/Google Cash blogs out there. There is no copyright on it (as it's a handwritten note), so he can fuck himself. The only reason he wants it removed is because it's competition for him.

I know 90% of the internet is bullshit (I learned this about 1 month after getting into IM), but this is the first time I've actually been threatened over it. But yeah I guess I should get used to it.

Time for form an LLC, I don't want any of my personal shit to even be close to touched if anything in the future goes down.
 
Welcome to the world of cease and desist ;)

They have to issue a formal C&D Before you really get in trouble...I'd take it down like the others said.

Better yet , set up a S-Corp & a few LLCs ,then run the LLCs through the S-Corp , extra protection and offers some extra crap for people to get through......It can be stupidly hard to find out who's in charge of anything when the owner of record is a nameless corp owned by another corp ;)
 
If I setup a blog under the alias as a e.g. College Professor, and was promoting "Hooked on Phonics" and giving this product a professor's approval, can you get busted for fraud? It's one thing pretending to be a Mom of 3 who lost 40 lbs by popping some pills, but is pretending to be a professional something that you can get you busted?
 
find his real email, fire up xrumer - drop 100k forum signup emails in his inbox all for the username "back_off_punk"
 
YEa i wouldnt worry about getting sued by a dude who doesnt even have a lawyer sending a C&D - Just drop the picture.
 
Could be a competitor trying to stir shit up, why would he email from a fictitious email address. If i wanted to scare someone off I'd do it from an official email address. That said change the image anyway.
 
schockergd said:
Better yet , set up a S-Corp & a few LLCs ,then run the LLCs through the S-Corp , extra protection and offers some extra crap for people to get through......
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You've got to be kidding me. Paranoid much?
I hear double wrapping with two condoms will protect you from diseases better but after the first one it kind of becomes pointless to get laid.
 
LotsOfZeros said:
You've got to be kidding me. Paranoid much?
I hear double wrapping with two condoms will protect you from diseases better but after the first one it kind of becomes pointless to get laid.
Click to expand...

What are these "condoms" you speak of?
 
drew.clarke said:
Could be a competitor trying to stir shit up, why would he email from a fictitious email address. If i wanted to scare someone off I'd do it from an official email address. That said change the image anyway.
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No I meant I am using a fictitious email addy, and not my own personal one. He sent me his website etc which has the pic I was using on it (doh!).

Anyways the pic is gone and no harm done.
 
ask for proof of ownership of photo...then if he shows it remove the photo and replace...dont touch the article he can't tell you to take it down
 
Yeah, he hasn't even sent you a C&D yet, if he ever does ...

On top of that, he's not going to waste time and money to make sure you remove the fictitious article--it doesn't hold.

Just remove the pic, replace it with one from istockphoto like you said, and forget about it...
 
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