[thelist] Is This A Copyright Violation?

the head lemur headlemur at clearskymail.com
Thu Aug 29 14:37:02 CDT 2002



> I found a table of data I created on our competitors site. There was no
> attempt to disguise it -- same class names, table row colors, and of
course,
> the same data. Would this be considered a copyright violation? If so,
should
> we have a lawyer send a letter or is there something else we should do?

It sounds like cut and paste web design.

It is bad form, and not a good idea on the receiving end.

see piratedsites.com

IANAL---

The first issue is the copyright, If you did it as an Independent
contractor, and did not assign limited rights to the folks whose site it is,
the ball is in your park.
If you did it as an employee of the company and done as a 'work for hire'
copyright belongs to the company, and they get to have all the fun.



If the code is the same it is a copyright violation.

If the data is propriatary to your company, it is also a violation.

If the data is publically available in a different format and has been
formatted for your site it is not a violation.

Recently there was a case involving the Yellow Pages and a smaller phone
book publisher, the court ruled that names, addresses and phone numbers, are
not private data especially in a business setting.

Moving along, a written letter explaining the sitituation, with
documentation as well as your original creation dates can usually get this
sorted out, and an apology from the offender. Although the Legal Letterhead
helps.

The lawyers specialize in these (and you want one) that do these cases are
about 200 bucks an hour and up.
Filing, motions, discovery, complaints, and court dates will consume 20
hours on the conservative side. Before you show up in front of a judge.

the head lemur
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