My Stolen Work....Now Selling In A WSO!..HELP

by 80 replies
102
Hi Warriors,

I did an E-cover on fiverr.com for a client. I usually show multiple screenshots before delivering final work. This client OK'd the entire process and when I delivered, he said he did not like it and wanted a refund.

Fine. Whatever I refunded him, but was a little suspicious. Come to find out he's a Warrior as well and is using MY WORK to sell his WSO that is still live.

I have records of screenshots and conversations that I want to blast him with, but wanted to hear from others some advice and the appropriate steps before I do anything. I have his name, wso page and all the graphics to show that I am the original creator.

I dont care about the money, but the principal is what pisses me off. Help me out warriors!
#main internet marketing discussion forum #selling #stolen #worknow #wsohelp
  • Contact the Help Desk. Since you own those works, you can claim copyright infringement, I imagine: Warrior Forum Support

    Bringing it out here will go against Rule #1.

    Suzanne
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • GET'EM AND DON'T WASTE ANOTHER SECOND.

    HOW DARE HE!
  • Do you copyright your creations before sending. Probably not being Fiverr.com.
    If they are hosting the content on a website, You could always file a DMCA order.
    And an amicable approach for Warrior Forum would be to make contact with one of the WF Admins here. And state your case.
    Fiverr sellers get screwed a lot like this so its not a new thing. I hope you get your case heard.
    A tip would be to start at least watermarking you productions before submitting them for review on fiverr.
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    • [4] replies
    • And since the site is the wf, you could probably send it to the help desk.

      If the dmca stuff is new to you, there is good info about it here. The dmca part starts about 2 folds down.

      What You Can Do About “Paypal Dispute Ripoff Artists” | Domaining Diva

      Personally I wouldn't even have taken the time to ask anyone's opinion about this. It seems clear it's not a nice thing to do.
    • It's automatically copyrighted, there's nothing special he has to do.
    • As soon as he designs them, he has automatic copyrights..
    • You dont 'copyright' anything. Copyright is automatic and granted without action to the creator of a work the instant it is created.
  • Contact the support here at the forum and provide documentation. Maybe they can help you, but I don't know whether they will want to get in the middle of you two guys.
  • Hey stephen,

    talk to support of Warrior forum definitely they are going to help you
  • These are the cons of fiverr. I wonder how could he do this to you. One day, he will suffer too.
  • I can't understand how someone sell your material like e-cover as wso , because e-cover is a custom made product and can't sell as wso. Am I missing something ?
    • [1] reply
    • He is using my graphic E-cover that he ordered. Then canceled the order as soon as it was delivered. Forcing me to refund him. And now is using the same graphic in his WSO.
      • [1] reply
  • Stop listening to everyone telling you to contact the forum. If he has broken the law then the law supersedes the forum. Get your lawyers on to this wise ass ASAP.

    Copyright is a very serious issue. Send the idiot to this thread and let's see what he has to say.
  • This is so silly. Just link it up and move on.

    Reputation is only a 1-shot deal - it will be good lesson for him/her.

    A fiverr deal is not when you call in a lawyer. You're talking about $5. Unless you got your lawyer on Fiverr....
    • [5] replies
    • LOL "Unless you got your lawyer on Fiverr.... "
      That's pretty funny Noah!
      :-Þ
      • [1] reply
    • My advice hasn't changed.

      The best advice is still to move on. Your advice is still silly for $5. I'm willing to bet he doesn't have a lawyer on retainer. It's a waste of time, energy, and money.
      • [ 4 ] Thanks
    • I know that his reputation is crucial here on this Forum, but this person only has 1 post, so he can just create another profile. I filed a report with the admins. I will also submit a claim to Fiverr.com and Paypal.com.

      Then I'll just move on
      • [ 3 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
    • What's with the snarky comment? Noah is just expressing his opinion (as you are); there's no need for a personal attack.

      I do agree with you there.
    • Banned
      That's ridiculous advice. Contact a moderator or the help desk with your proof and his WSO will likely be shut down. I've seen them shut down before for the very same reason. Hit him in his pocketbook.
  • For $5.00 this person would travel down this path?

    Why?

    And then to add insult to injury, this person launches a WSO?

    Is their WSO about getting over like a fat cat?

    All of this chicanery for $5.00?

    IMHO, this person needs to be banned from the WF, PayPal and Fiverr.

    Stephen Lessey, you need to open a ticket with Fiverr and show them the hard evidence!!!

    I'd do that NOW!
  • Just report this issue to moderator, I believe he can help you
    • [1] reply
    • Stephen,
      So sorry to hear this happened to you. You should report the issue to all the parties involved... PayPal, then Fiverr, Warrior Forum, and even law enforcement as well as your own attorney.

      You may find, if you're in the United States, that 'intellectual property rights' violations can be classified as a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on several factors, and it's even possible that any law enforcement agency won't even bother with it if it's only a misdemeanor, and especially if it's a misdemeanor that isn't their own locale.

      Your own attorney may be able to file a civil suit, but again, if you're in different states/countries, that could get very messy, and very expensive.

      You should still at least 'try,' though... and you should definitely report the issue to PayPal, Fiverr, and Warrior Forum.

      You may find that certain sites will not remove the allegedly stolen content absent an actual 'legal verdict' that it was in fact stolen from you.

      The issue is a liability for the site. If they disrupt someone's business based on an 'accusation' without proof, they could be liable for the damages done to that person's business.

      But if you present them with your proof, they may decide that the proof is substantial enough that the liability to you would be greater than the liability to the person you are accusing, they may remove the content and possibly the priveleges of that person.

      So you should report to law enforcement, but don't hold out any hope that it would be prosecuted. You should call your attorney, but be prepared to discover that the costs of filing a civil suit, even if you have it, won't be worth if you discover that the offender is deemed 'not collectable,' (you may win a judgment but getting them to actually 'pay' is a completely different animal, especially if they have no assets you can put 'liens' on to satisfy the judgment).

      And you should also certainly notify PayPal, Fiverr and Warrior Forum.

      -Danielle
  • You don't have to "copyright" something you created. It's automatically copyrighted the minute you create it. You can register your copyright if you want, but that's not necessary to have the right to protect it.

    Until someone buys that copyright from you, it's yours and you have the right to protect it. When the guy demanded a refund the copyright reverted to you and now you own it again. WillR is right. This is a legal issue not an admin one.

    You may want to tell the admin so his WSO will be removed and get him banned, but what you really do need to do is force him to stop using your work anywhere, not just here. That may require an attorney, but usually not. Often, just the threat of hiring one is enough. Been there several times with my writing.

    And it's a matter of right and wrong, not that you were going to sell the work for $5. That has nothing to do with the issue.
    • [ 4 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • "You ned to pick your fights" my mom would say!
      A $5 product is not worth more than $5 to pursue it in court! Go ahead and pay your lawyer's fees and take the bum to court.
      Then good luck trying to get any remuneration from him, IF you win!
      I had a "Guru" internet marketer sign on as an affiliate for a loss leader product which I was offering as a 100% commission. She used a different e-mail to buy the product and essentially stole the product from me.
      I could hardly believe this huge well known marketer would do this! But there it was! She could have asked and I would have given it to her!
      People do some stupid things and I would report this guy to his webhost under the DCMA and report him to the Admin of this forum - but I certainly wouldn't waste my money on getting a lawyer for a $5 pack of images!
      JMHO
  • Contact the mods. That guy needs a lesson or two.
  • Would blasting him in the WSO do the trick of exposing him and his antics?

    Or can you do the DMCA to WF to take down his WSO?

    That person is truly not worthy of doing any business with. I worry for those who bought his WSO, which could also be stolen from somewhere else as well.
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
    • [1] reply
    • These arguments are over the top - hire a lawyer for a $4 theft? "Let it go" when a seller is allegedly using an image he has no rights to in a WSO? Don't think so.

      The OP started a thread complaining - but didn't make a comment about image theft in the WSO thread? Why not?

      Report the thread using the triangle "report function" - and provide your documentation. That's how you handle it.
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      • [1] reply
  • What goes around comes around...let the natural law take care of it.
  • Well, can't do much about it here, as the mods will pull you in a heartbeat. However, it's unacceptable. Whatever you do about it, do it now. It's people like that who piss in the IM pool and taint it for the rest of us. Sorry it happened.
  • I agree with you Will in principal, but my life would be just crazy if tried to file a lawsuit against anyone who got to me for $4.

    Hell, A warrior got to me for $150 not to long ago and it still was not even close to worth paying a lawyer for. The reality is that would have just cost me more money and the guy who burned me didn't have the money to pay anyway. So even if i won, i would have lost more money...lol

    I guess I could get all pissy and do what I can to make his life miserable, but that would make mine miserable in the process. I just don't think its a good trade off.

    Report it to the mods here, fiverr, and paypal. Document everything you can within reason for a $4 theft.
    • [ 6 ] Thanks
  • I can't believe some people advise to "call your lawyer" for a $5 case... it's scary how detached from reality some folks actually are.
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • I don't thing it is detached or ignorant as much as it is they want to see justice served.

      Theft is theft. Its is illegal, punishable by real judges and such...not forum mods (not meant as an insult Paul and other mods) or minimum wage paypal employees.

      But for me, it certainly isn't worth throwing good money after bad to pursue that angle.

      I guess if the ecover was used on a normal hosting site, a DMCA to the host would be easy enough.

      But getting a lawyer is just going to cost the OP more time, money, energy, and effort than its worth. Not to mention that at this point the OP is out $4.

      Go hire a lawyer and the OP will be out a couple hundred just to get a damn letter sent threatening a lawsuit.

      Then the accused would probably be back on this very forum asking what to do if he got a threatening letter from a lawyer over the $4 stolen cover (obviously with his side of the story). At that point, most here would advise him to ignore it...lol

      Maybe if they had lawyers for hire on fiverr for $5 it would be a different deal...lol
  • It may not seem like a big deal to some.

    But, it's the principle of it. Do what you have
    to do and use all the available avenues you can to
    make it right for yourself.

    It sucks and it happens. Karmas a bitch


    Bill


    .
  • Get a lawyer then and have him go after that sumbag. Sheesh, can you believe people do this stuff, and cuz he was too cheap to pay you $5. WTF

    But, yeah, better yet to just let it go my friend and move on. Attribute it to a learning experience. I myself have been in your shoes for much more cash involved and discovered that sometimes it's better to just chalk it up to learning experience.
  • Sometimes it would be nice to develop some type of software that could reach through the screen and knock the living hell out of someone.
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
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    • If anything like that existed, I can certainly think of more fun ways to use the technology than blacking some fellows eye over $4.
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  • Just getting him banned is enough of a punishment for him. Contact the mods.
    • [1] reply
    • If he is using artwork that you created and he did not pay for this artwork that you created then he is in violation of copyright laws (estimated value $2500) he is using your work for profit then you could be owed a portion of his profits generated by using your work. So yes, I would let him make some money and then take him to court. These days you can take him to small claims court if you are sueing for less then $5000. and you could take your chances without a lawyer if you think you have enough evidence to support your case.

      TEAM NBAY
  • If I tell my lawyer to file a lawsuit for a $5 theft he probably will sue me and slap in my face for make him waste his time.

    Seriously, courts has more important things to attend than a tantrum for a matter of "principles" and some people tend to use so lightly the word sue "Oh you step on my foot I will sue you for this!" "you tweet ugly things about me, I'll sue you for this", "I don't like your attitude I'll sue you for this!" come on get real!
  • But doesn't a WSO cost $40? So I steal $5 to use in
    a $40 posting. Beats me.

    It's sad.

    -Ray Edwards
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Hiring a lawyer to pursue a civil case in something like this is probably a poor choice. You can't collect monetary damages without an officially filed copyright so you'd be spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to end up getting what a DMCA would do - removing the image.

      That's a little like getting out the shotgun to kill that annoying fly.

      Reporting to the Help Desk here (with proof), filing a DMCA with the thief's host, reporting the theft to Fiverr and perhaps reporting it to PayPal - that takes very little time, no monetary expense and gets you the same results.

      I believe you would be allowed to post a calm, objective note in the WSO thread stating that you are unhappy that he chose to reject and refund an image, then go on and use it. You can't call him nasty names but it will make it clear to everyone that this is a person who obviously cannot be trusted.
      • [ 4 ] Thanks
  • It shows how small minded such scammers are. Someone is risking their reputation and possible legal issues to get away with $5. He probably ripped off the idea for his WSO as well.
  • Drag him here...Who is he?
  • "You're talking about $5. Unless you got your lawyer on Fiverr...."

    Lol that is hilarious. There is nothing you can do, it is part of the business. Like someone said, reputation is everything. All you can do is let everyone know and move on. If you're going to work on fiverr, stuff like this is expected. You can even find wso's and softwares on fiverr so, not much you can do.

    The guy may even be in a country with no internet laws...

    P.S, I understand the principle thing, but if you chased around every crook online based on principle, then you would never get anything done. This isn't the first time, and sure won't be the last time you get robbed online. You lost four dollars, so you got off cheap...
  • [DELETED]
  • The price point ($5), is moot. Attorneys aside, there is always small claims court. But even further, beyond principal or a measly $5, is the fact that this person is making money off of your work. Think of someone hiring you to ghostwrite a book for $500, rejecting your submission, taking a refund and selling your work as their own for several thousands of dollars. It's no longer a point to seek out compensation for the initial quote, only, now is it?
  • Report to the Mods. Report to Fiverr as he will probably do the same with others.

    Then put it down to experience and move on.

    I was recently burned for $97 from another warrior for a service not delivered , I actually let it go until a few months later he appeared back on the forum offering a new WSO. I simply posted in the thread stating my experience with him, he must have sent some BS to the mods to get my comments removed but like yourself I had all the emails saved etc so he did eventually refund the money as I was happy to let anyone see this.

    But I was willing to let it go, for $5 I wouldn't mention the word lawyer never mind consider paying one to look at this. I assume the job only took a few minutes ?

    I know you are probably raging and I have been there....but best to let it go and focus on the positive stuff in your business.
    • [1] reply
    • You are both wrong and should read up on copyright laws. Without an officially filed copyright, you cannot sue for monetary compensation based on lost revenues or damages. You still own the copyright but you will only accomplish the exact same thing as a DMCA will except you will pay a whole lot more money to do so.
      • [1] reply
  • Copied from the link given above

    Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
    No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • For what? Where does it state that registration must take place prior to litigation?
    • [2] replies
    • Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
      No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section
      • [2] replies
    • Per http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf:

      The window is very limited to be able to file after the infringement occurs, but it is theoretically possible. Considering the effective date of registration is when the Copyright office receives "



      • [ 1 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • Well, the thing with stuff like copyright is that you lose a lot of the legal bite the laws allows for if you do fail to protect your work.

    So while registering the copyright is not "required", from a practical standpoint it is very wise to do so when appropriate. Otherwise, why in would we even have such a register and why do so many legitimate companies use it?

    Registering just gives you one more legal leg to stand on so o speak.

    Basically, even in this case, if the OP decided to do absolutely nothing about this at this point and then 2 years later suddenly tries to claim copyright infringement after the product the ecover was used for makes 2 millions sales he would have a very uphill battle.
  • That someone doing the WSO would do this over $5 speaks volumes for the person.

    It's not flattering.

    Seek satisfaction.
  • Actually from my understanding...


    You have to prove damages and can only get actual damages if you don't have the copyright registered. If you do have a registered copyright, you can get (I think) $150k per violation without damages actually being any amount.

    In the case of the OP, it would cost him way more to pursue than he would ever get. He should just send the details to PayPal, the host of the image, fiverr and the forum.

    Will, When your products are on pirate/download sites do you get an attorney, have them get a court order to get account details/IPs of the uploaders and downloaders?

    Garrie
  • Has this person been named and shamed yet?

    We should all be allowed to give the offender a wide birth for ever more.
    • [1] reply
    • You've been on the forum for 2 years and don't know the rules...???
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      • [1] reply
  • Banned
    It's the principle...yes! Get him...contact the moderators, show them the proof!

    This individual deserves what's coming to him. Unless you can get over this consciously what not, pursue this aggressively and professionally of course.

    Sorry to hear that Mr....I wish you the best.

    If there's an update...keep us posted
  • Just a thought.. have you actually tried contacting him personally here on the forum?

    If no reply on PM, post in his WSO to contact you asap 'concerning copyright issues with images used in his WSO'..

    Modz / admins here might help you out of the good of their hearts however they deff have no obligation to do so...

    Other best advise I've seen is to contact fiverr.com support to see if they can give user an infraction / close his account or something..

    Last point; LEARN from it.. as other people suggested watermark your image before payment and then move on..
  • Contact the admins with all the info, and see what they say.

    Get a lawyer? really? and be in the hole 1495$ after you get your 5$ back? Um...no.

    Do the admin thing, see if it flies. If not, take it as a lesson learned, and move on.

    PS-why not provide a link to the sales thread here so that everyone can know to avoid the scamming piece of poo
    • [1] reply
    • Banned
      Read Rule #1 of the forum rules and you'll have your answer
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  • Glad you got your $5 Stephen.
    Personally i don't believe his BS story about open tabs etc. Out of principle i would have told him to keep his money and to please remove my work...
    • [1] reply
    • Theo,That's because you didn't see the whole conversation. I am not convinced either way, but the overall impression I got makes it believable.

      I don't make these calls based on a single piece of information if I can avoid it. I've heard most of the 'excuses' too many times to just accept them without support.

      On a side note, I have to say... Stephen's handling of this, from the seller's refund request to the detail he gave the mods and the way he addressed this publicly, has been textbook professional.


      Paul
      • [ 3 ] Thanks
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