EXAMPLES
ORIGINAL WORKS -
Copyright Protection

Problem.    The co-owner of an online Graphic Arts Studio contacted T-21 about protecting their artwork and photographs.   She described several instances of other Web Sites using their images without permission or compensation.   They had just discovered a new instance of theft.

She said, "I know the images are copyrighted when we create them, but enforcing it is a problem.   We formally registered them for awhile, but that's impractical, since we often sell exclusive rights to the photographs and many sell quickly.   Even with that registration, enforcing our rights was an expensive and lengthy process;  sometimes, we just gave up."
 

Action.   Their Team Manager (TM) suggested three steps:  (1)  Have a T-21 Original Works Team investigate the latest theft and try to stop it;   (2) Use T-21's inexpensive Documentation and Registration services to substantiate their possession and ownership of all their works, to assist in resolving future thefts; and  (3) Use techniques, supplied by T-21, to make it much more difficult to steal graphics.

(1)  The Original Works Team investigated the most recent theft and found that the images were not actually in the physical possession of the thieves.   Rather, they were hot-linked  from the Studio's own Web Site to display on the thief's Web Site.   The thieves were not only illegally using the images for their own purposes - they were also using the owners'  bandwidth to supply them - a double-insult.

[NOTE:   THIEVES ACCOMPLISH THIS BY INSERTING INTO THEIR WEB SITE, THE WEB ADDRESS OF A GRAPHIC IMAGE, LOCATED ON THE OWNER'S WEBSITE.]
 

(2)  While the T-21 Team investigated and documented the hot-linking, the Studio forwarded us copies of all of their existing works, along with creation dates and copyright statements for each one.   The Team registered and archived each image and its Registration Date into our Original Works database.   From then on, each time the Studio created new images, copies were forwarded to T-21 for registration.

(3)  Their T-21 Team also helped the owners with methods that made it much more difficult to copy or hot-link graphics for unauthorized use.
  

Results.    The T-21 Team sent the documentation on the current hot-linked theft to the owners and advised them on what steps to take to stop the theft, immediately.   Since the action, recommended by T-21, immediately stopped the theft, the owners decided not to pursue the matter further.

 A few months later, the Studio found another Web Site, illegally using their images, and asked for our help in stopping this activity.   T-21's investigation found that the thieves' were using purloined copies of the Studio's works on their Web Site.   The T-21 Team tracked down the domain registration and the owners attempted to contact them, but were ignored.   In conjunction with a complaint from the owners to the Web Host, T-21 issued a notarized Declaration of Ownership Registration and Possession for the stolen works.

Within a week, the Web Host removed the offending Web Site from their servers and notified the Studio owners of their action, having authenticated that the images on the Web Site were the same as those in T-21's notarized Registration Declaration and that the domain holder, displaying them, could not produce evidence to the contrary.   The Web Host discontinued support of the Web Site and barred the Domain holder from future work with them, in accordance with their Terms of Service.

The Copyright Team worked with the Studio on techniques to help thwart image theft and hot-linking.   After the offending Web Site was removed, the Studio co-owners told their TM, "We're relieved to finally see action taken against these types of people.   We make our living by our graphics, so this is very important to us and we appreciate your help."

Problem.   An e-Commerce Web Site contacted T-21 for help with protecting its content.   The owner had expended considerable time and money, developing a comprehensive Web Site and was angry with others for stealing its content.   He said, "We've been doing business online for years.   Twice, in that time, we've had our Web Site copied, changed a little and used by another e-Business startup."
 

Action.   The T-21 Team Manager (TM) told him that it's impossible to completely prevent this type of illegal activity;  however, T-21 could assist by documenting ownership, tracking down thieves, and helping to force closure of their Web Sites.

The T-21 Copyright Team completely documented and archived each page in his Web Site, in displayed-image and coding formats.   When major content changes were made, the Team copied and archived the new pages - thus keeping an accurate record of the Site's content.

A few months later, the owner told his TM that they had found another new e-Commerce Site using their content, right down to the same color scheme.   He said, "This time, the only thing that they did was change a few names and the billing information!   It might even be the same people, using a different domain name."
 

Results.    The T-21 Team tracked down the registered domain holder and notified them of the violation, but received no response.   They next found contact information for the Web Host and send it to our client, along with a notarized Declaration of Ownership Registration and Possession of the materials.   With T-21's documentation and help, the owners demanded that the thieves' Web Host remove the offending Web Site.

The Web Host took swift action;  within days, they reported that their customer maintained that the content had been stolen from them.   When confronted with the notarized ownership documentation, the thieves could not produce evidence that countered the independent T-21 Registration.   The Web Host quickly removed the Web Site from their servers.

"You guys stopped them dead!" our client commented to his TM.  "I've gone to a lot of work to create what I have and I appreciate what you did here."
 

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Note:  Several clients also elect to have the T-21 Copyright Team perform the searches for violations of their copyrighted material for them.