Comments on: DMCA Guide For Bloggers: How To Give Sploggers A Run For Their Money

By: Adam Prall

Adam Prall — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:56:37 +0000

Thanks for the plain-English explanation of this use of the DMCA. As a web designer, I’ve seen my work duplicated literally hundreds of times, from small images to entire sites (been online since ‘86, on the web since ‘94!) and have usually had to resport to politely, legally threatening notices to web hosts. While the DMCA has been a mixed bag in the public’s eyes for several years now, it has been a great boon to people like me. I’ve had to submit about twenty DMCA invocations (making sure to notify the usual people, i.e. the person’s web host, and the various major search engines, like Google, that point to their sites). Your post made a huge difference for me in filing my most recent claim, and I have been encouraging anyone who is in the position of being illegally copied to closely follow your advice. Again, thank you!

By: Hot Links Thursday: 27/09/07 » kate blogs about . . .

Hot Links Thursday: 27/09/07 » kate blogs about . . . — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:14:59 +0000

[...] how you can give sploggers a run for their money – this will probably be more effective than my kick ‘em in the shins idea, although that [...]

By: Guest Post On Blogging Bits

Guest Post On Blogging Bits — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 01:57:52 +0000

[...] guest post I wrote for Blogging Bits was just posted. It’s a basic DMCA guide for bloggers. There’s a lot of things I wished I could have covered on it, but it would have been a 3 to 4 [...]

By: Jeremy Steele

Jeremy Steele — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 01:37:44 +0000

Mohsin, the splog owners usually do not resond to them. The hosts will usually take down the website, and then it’ll pop back up a few weeks/months later with all new stolen content. I’ve been dealing with them for about 10 months now and have yet to have a single person file a counter notice. Although, a recent situation with a lawyer stealing my content (and running several splogs under his law firm) might prove interesting.

Jonathan – you’re welcome

Bob, there’s a lot I wished I could have discussed in this post – such as taking the less legal approach, how to report sploggers to their advertisers, etc. However, this post was around 1,200 words, and adding more info would have quickly made it a 3 or 4 thousand word post.

By: Bob Gladstein

Bob Gladstein — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 23:17:26 +0000

Excellent advice, but I’d add a couple of steps right after you find that someone has illegally republished your content: contact the site owner first and politely ask them to remove the material. They may not know the material was copyrighted (people online rarely check) or understand what it means.

If that fails, contact their host and explain the situation. They’ll usually have a better understanding of things, and will do what they can to avoid having this become a legal matter.

As you said, DMCA complaints are pretty complicated. If you can solve your problems without taking the step of making everything official it’ll make your life much easier.

By: Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan Bailey — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 22:25:16 +0000

I just wanted to say thanks for the mention, the compliments and the links! They are greatly appreciated.

Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help!

By: Mohsin

Mohsin — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 22:04:40 +0000

Well written Jeremy! I am glad you didn’t use too much jargon.

One question: Do content thieves even care to respond to DMCA notices?