Just settled out of court...

13 replies
I just settled out of court with a guy who was rebranding and redistributing an eBook of mine that I'm using to build a mailing list with, we settled for an undisclosed sum.

The reason I write this topic is to let you guys know (and I know this guy lurks this forum, so it's also partly to mock him) a very important aspect of copyright law:

Just because I didn't explicitly say "you can't rebrand or redistribute this ebook" does not mean you can rebrand and redistribute my content. Copyright, when not explicitly agreed upon by creator, falls back to the copyright holder.

Thanks for the free money, Sam
#court #juist #settled
  • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
    Congrats, but I hate it when settlement amounts can't be disclosed. It's a reward for the bad guys.

    If you got a lot of $$ from the guy, publicizing that might discourage other pirates.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[123150].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Kim Standerline
      Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood View Post

      Congrats, but I hate it when settlement amounts can't be disclosed. It's a reward for the bad guys.

      If you got a lot of $$ from the guy, publicizing that might discourage other pirates.
      It could be he isn't allowed to disclose it as part of the agreement. (and why should he anyway, it's private)

      Also I can't see why its a reward for the bad guys at all. The fact its been to court and the OP won is enough.

      Kim
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[123171].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
        Originally Posted by Kim Standerline View Post

        It could be he isn't allowed to disclose it as part of the agreement. (and why should he anyway, it's private)
        Yes, that's why I said "I hate it when settlement amounts can't be disclosed" - notice the word "can't" in there.

        If you can't see how that benefits the bad guys, let me spell it out for you. Let's say this settlement was for $100,000 - don't you think that if number were known publicly, it would scare some people from ripping others off?
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[124142].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Kim Standerline
          Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood View Post

          Yes, that's why I said "I hate it when settlement amounts can't be disclosed" - notice the word "can't" in there.

          If you can't see how that benefits the bad guys, let me spell it out for you. Let's say this settlement was for $100,000 - don't you think that if number were known publicly, it would scare some people from ripping others off?
          I don't need anything spelling out Chris, The fact he won is the main thing, And no I don't think it would scare people off if they knew exact figures. (That's just for the nosey parkers benefit)

          There are plenty of stupid people out there willing to take a chance on not being caught nicking stuff of other people.

          I think there are a lot of idiots out there who don't realise the internet is not quite as big as they think it is

          Kim
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[124509].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author rosieg
    Wow, it's good to know that digital theft is taken seriously.

    Congratulations on your win.

    Rosie
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[123183].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author X
    Nice work. More of these a$$ wipes
    need to pay until hurts.
    Signature
    The Affiliate Black Book
    The Inside Nasty on How to Kick the Snot Out of a Google Cash affiliate.

    Black Books Blog: No Cow is Too Sacred
    The Death of Crap: Crap Dies Slowly
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[123187].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author LordKaT
    Yeah, I can't disclose the settlement agreement, but needless to say I'm happy with the outcome.

    Also, to the guy that PMed me:

    I originally had sent a letter via certified mail to the business address listed on the domain whois. Once it was returned as undeliverable, I placed a complaint with the registrar. Contact information was sent to me after a lengthy process - things moved along quickly after I got the domain temporarily revoked for not providing valid registration information (a long, convoluted process, and I don't understand why it even exists).

    After an unsuccessful negotiation process, I had to get lawyers involved. He held firm that he could do whatever he wanted to with the content because I never explicitly stated he couldn't. We walked away from pre-trial negotiations and waited ... just today (one day before discovery) he caved and agreed to my settlement terms.

    The funny thing in all of this? I would've happily let him redistribute the eBook as long as he kept my links and branding in the book itself as I use it for lead generation.

    Many lulz were had today.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[123510].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author J. Barry Mandel
      Originally Posted by LordKaT View Post

      The funny thing in all of this? I would've happily let him redistribute the eBook as long as he kept my links and branding in the book itself as I use it for lead generation.

      Many lulz were had today.
      I hope he reads this so he can give a swift kick to himself in the *ss
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[123742].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author davezan
      Originally Posted by LordKaT View Post

      I originally had sent a letter via certified mail to the business address listed on the domain whois. Once it was returned as undeliverable, I placed a complaint with the registrar. Contact information was sent to me after a lengthy process - things moved along quickly after I got the domain temporarily revoked for not providing valid registration information (a long, convoluted process, and I don't understand why it even exists).
      You mean why the WHOIS process? It's because registrars are contractually
      obligated to ICANN to ensure all their domain registrations have complete and
      accurate WHOIS information.

      If you were the registrant of the domain name, it's not showing updated info,
      then someone lodged a complaint about it, wouldn't you want to have time to
      update that before being possibly penalized? Then again, I guess it depends
      on what side of the fence one is on.

      Anyway, good to know you eventually got a satisfactory result. What you've
      described sure sucks, and it's great it's settled before going to court.
      Signature

      David

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[124015].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author marionb
    Banned
    [DELETED]
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[124019].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Darrell Hagan
      Silly thing is that I'm sure the whole thing could've been avoided for him if he had just asked you about rights. Maybe you two could've even done a JV. Bet he covers his butt 8 ways from Sunday before he does that again.....
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[124026].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Frank Bruno
        Winning a judgment in court doesn't mean much unless he actually paid you already. If he did I would be very surprised.


        Frank Bruno
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[124097].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author LordKaT
          Originally Posted by Frank Bruno View Post

          Winning a judgment in court ...
          and now for the title of the thread:

          Just settled out of court...
          facepalm.jpg
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[124124].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author LordKaT
    It would only scare them into hosting their sites in North Cyprus.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[124172].message }}

Trending Topics