It’s more annoying than I can say to keep discovering my posts have been copied to some dubious website that exists purely for ad revenue. The lastest culprit is http://www.ukasian.co.uk/, a hideous looking site that just grabs any old content and then hopes to gain readers and cash in on ad revenue. Although my site is tentatively protected by copyright law, actually pursuing a copyright claim is nigh on impossible. Bascially, you have to go to the site’s host – in this instance, The Planet. Of all hosts, The Planet is the one I most often come up against. They don’t do anything – they aren’t interested and they insist on all kinds of hoop jumping before they will even investigate a claim, no matter how much information you put in your original email. What The Planet asks if you want to submit a copyright infringement abuse complaint is that you complete a DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) Form, which is rather full of legalese that I would guess the average blogger (such as myself) would struggle over somewhat. It feels like it is designed to put you off complaining, although I suspect once you have waded through one, you will pretty much be able to do it again and again. It is actually the case that DMCA is a US copyright law and how it holds up in the UK is anyone’s guess. But, my site is UK based and the perpetrator’s host is in the US. Does that make UK bloggers bound to fulfil DMCA obligations? Really, the whole thing is so complicated as to be unbelievable. I have tried to find answers on the internet to some of these questions – one thing leads to another and another with no clarity at the end of it. When you’ve jumped through all the hoops, you’ll receive an email from The Planet saying they may not even let you know whether they’ve investigated or taken any action. Gee, thanks. How helpful.
I’ve issued warning letters to http://www.ukasian.co.uk/ (please don’t click through and perpetrate this site’s existence) which reads:
You must remove all posts on www.ukasian.co.uk that have been taken without permission from www.britishbeautyblogger.com with immediate effect. You are served from now with a legally binding Cease & Desist order in consultation with lawyers.
Similar to this
Subject: Notice of Copyright Infringement
The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http:/ukasian.co.uk which is taken without permission from www.britishbeautyblogger.com.
The URLs where our copyrighted material is located include http://ukaisan.co.uk at various locations within the site.
You can reach me on britishbeautyblogger@gmail.com for further information or clarification.
I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above as allegedly infringing is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
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.
If you are having copyright issues, please do feel free to use this as a template. In some instances it can do the trick, but hardcore ad sites that fish your posts won’t really care. I had to file this to Ukasian via their facebook site as, of course, there are no contact details on the website – a sure sign that something’s up!
Anyway, if this is happening to you, I’d love to know how you deal with it. I’m hoping to speak to someone who might be able to help guide us a bit more effectively; if and when I do, I’ll issue a full guide.
Ironically, because ukasian.co.uk grabs any old post, it will probably grab and display this one!
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