Intellectual Copyright on my Photo's, artwork in the photo..

[Dknight]

Hello

Im having a copyright issue at the moment.

Basically our company sells sticker, and we have recently stumbled across a website using our own photography of our stickers, aswell as offering them for sale

The artwork is 100% my own design

We are not a large business, and using lawyers etc really isnt a choice

What can i do and enforce myself?

I have seen the cease and desist letters people mention, but that would be fine if he was just using my photos, but the fact he is selling bootleg reproductions of the stickers, what does that fall into?

any help would be great

thanks

[CopyrightAid]

I would go with a cease and desist letter as a first line of attack. There is no reason why you cannot require that they stop selling copies of your product - this is after all an unauthorised reproduction of your work (i.e. a copyright infringement). In this letter you should threaten legal action (and mean it) if he does not remove all your materials within a reasonable time (i.e. 7 days) .
[But do stay clear, concise and professional in your letter ]

As this is a website trader, I would also send a copy to the ISP that hosts the site, along with a covering letter explaining what has happened and asking for any help they can provide. If the ISP is a responsible one and believes your story, you may find that the site is taken down.

If you do not get satisfaction, then you really should take this matter to a solicitor if at all possible, as one next logical step is an injunction.

Another (and/or) option may be to take him to a small claims court; you need to have a finanial claim for that (i.e. damages), but as you state that he is selling bootleg products you can claim for the revenue you believe you have lost. Besides lost revenue, it may also be possible to claim your own legal expenses.

Finally, give Trading Standards a call (and maybe even the Police). This is after all the sale of counterfeit goods. I expect it will be too low profile for the Police to bother with, and Trading Standards in my experience are pretty impotent, but you never know - the more people you can get to fight your corner the better

[Dknight]

howdy

thanks for the quick reply, ive had a few copyright dealings before so i roughly know what to do!

Also while we were examining the guy's ebay account we stumbled across someone else ripping off one of our other stickers, the design looked very similar to ours apart from one part.

On the off chance i checked our business email, and we sold him the exact sticker months ago!

This one is clean cut in my eyes, i can check his ebay feedback to see how many he has sold, and as you say i can take him to the small claims.

These people must be really thick?

[Dknight]

hello again

bit of a twist to this now aswell, the business/website was sold about a month ago, and the site is still listed with the previous owners name and address

Whats the best route to take now? write to the previous owner with the C&D letter?

As what if the previous owner added the copied bootleg stickers and imagery, so the new owner is oblivious to it

im guessing by law the new owner is liable, but what if the previous owner does not want to give me the new owners details?

He would be silly not to, but if he doesnt then surely, the site is in his name, so he is liable?

hmm...

[CopyrightAid]

If you have both names and addresses you can write to both if you want.

If not, I'd just write to the listed site owner. If he/she is no longer the owner they can either pass your complaint along or tell you who to contact. If you don't get satisfaction you commence legal procedings against the person listed as the site owner party.

Don't forget who the criminal is here. If they have sold the business and not notified the relivant autorities to update the records that is their problem not yours.

And make sure you contact their ISP.

[bode]