CollectionLawyers.com collects sites, complains to search engines -- Chilling Effects Clearinghouse

Chilling Effects Clearinghouse > DMCA Safe Harbor > Notices > CollectionLawyers.com collects sites, complains to search engines (NoticeID 2698)

CollectionLawyers.com collects sites, complains to search engines

November 21, 2005

Sender Information:
COLLECTIONLAWYERS.COM
Sent by: [Private]
[Private]
Redondo Beach, CA, 90278, USA

Recipient Information:
[Private]
Google, Inc.
Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA

Sent via: fax
Re: Notice of Copyright Infringement pursuant to DMCA

Google, Inc. BY FAX MACHINE
MSN BY FAX MACHINE
Copyright Agent BY FAX MACHINE c/o Yahoo! Inc.
Alibaba.com BY FAX MACHINE

Re: Ladies/Gentlemen:

This letter is notice of Copyright Infringement by each of the following four websites: german-collection-lawyers.com (entire website)
german-collection-lawyers.de (entire website)
mahnoffice.de/index_e.htm
mahnung-mahnbescheid-inkasso.de/auftrag_e.htm

Following is a copy of the WHOIS information regarding german-collection-lawyers.com:

Owner Contact:
[private]
[private]
Berlin, Germany, D-10437, Germany

RACE Name: german-collection-lawyers.com
Punycode Name: german-collection-lawyers.com
Unicode Name: german-collection-lawyers.com
Status: REGISTRAR-LOCK

Admin Contact
[private]
[private]
Berlin, Germany, D-10437, Germany phone: [private]
Technical Contact, Zone Contact
Hostmaster Strato Rechenzentrum (HR141-ABC) Cronon AG Professional IT-Services

Emmy-Noether-Str. 10
Karlsruhe, Germany, D-76131, Germany phone: +49 72166320305
fax: [private]

Following is a copy of the WHOIS information regarding german-collection-lawyers.de:

Domain data
Domain: german-collection-lawyers.de
Latest update: 06.05.2005
Domain holder
The domain holder is DENIC's contractual partner and hence holds the material rights to the domain.
Name and address: [private]
Stubbenkammerstr. 2
D-10437 Berlin
Germany

Administrative contact
The administrative contact (admin-c) is the natural person appointed by the domain holder to act as his/her authorized representative and who also has the duty towards DENIC of taking binding decisions in all matters concerning the domain german-collection-lawyers.de.
Name: [private]
Contact type: PERSON
Address: [private]
Zip Code: 10437
City: Berlin
County: DE
Technical contact
The technical contact (tech-c) supports the domain german-collection-lawyers.de with respect to technical aspects.
Name: Webmailers Webrnaster Workers
Contact type: ROLE
Address: [private]
Zip Code: 10587
City: Berlin
Country: DE
Phone: [private]
Fax: [private]
E-Mail: [private]@webcockpit.de
Remarks: see also WWWB-RIPE

Zone administrator
The zone administrator (zone-c) supports the name servers of the domain german-collection?lawyers.de.
Name: DENICoperations
Contact type: ROLE
Address: [private] Zip Code: 60329
City: Frankfurt
County: DE
Phone: +49 [private]
Fax: +[private]
E-Mail: [private]@denic.de
Remarks: Information: http://www.denic.de
Questions: mailto:[private]@denic.de Tel.:[private] (6 Cent per call)
Technical data
NSentry: german-collection-lawyers.de. IN A 81.169.145.75
NSentry: www.german-collection-lawyers.de. IN A 81.169.145.75
NSentry: german-collection-lawyers.de. IN MX 10 mailin.rzone.de.
NSentry: *.german-collection-lawyers.de. IN MX 10 mailin.rzone.de.

Following is a copy of the WHOIS information regarding mahnoffice.de:

Domain data
Domain: mahnoffice.de
Latest update: 06.05.2005
Domain holder
The domain holder is DENIC's contractual partner and hence holds the material rights to the domain.
Name and address: [private]
Stubbenkammerstr. 2 D-10437 Berlin
Germany
Administrative contact
The administrative contact (admin-c) is the natural person appointed by the domain holder to act as his/her authorized representative and who also has the duty towards DENIC of taking binding decisions in all matters concerning the domain mahnoffice.de.
Name: [private]
Contact type: PERSON
Address: [private]
Zip Code: 10437 City: Berlin
Country: DE
Technical contact
The technical contact (tech-c) supports the domain mahnoffice.de with respect to technical aspects.
Name: Webmailers Webmaster Workers
Contact type: ROLE
Address: [private]
Zip Code: 10587
City: Berlin
Country: DE
Phone: [private]
Fax: +[private]
E-Mail: [private]@webcockpit.de
Remarks: see also WWW8-RIPE
Zone administrator
The zone administrator (zone-c) supports the name servers of the domain mahnoffice.de. Name: DENICoperations
Contact type: ROLE
Address: [private]
Zip Code: 60329
City: Frankfurt
Country:
Phone: DE [private]
Fax: [private]
E-Mail: [private]@denic.de
Remarks: Information: http://www.denic.de

Questions: mailto:[private]@denic.de
Tel.: [private](6 Cent per call)
Technical data
NSentry: mahnoffice.de. IN A 81.169.145.65
NSentry: www.mahnoffice.de. IN A 81.169.145.65 NSentry: mahnoffice.de. IN MX 10 mailin.webmailer.de. NSentry: *.mahnoffice.de. IN MX 10 mailin.webmailer.de.
Following is a copy of the WHOIS information regarding mahnung-mahnbescheid-inkasso.de:

Domain data
Domain: mahnung-mahnbescheid-inkasso.de
Latest update: 06.05.2005
Domain holder
The domain holder is DENIC's contractual partner and hence holds the material rights to the domain.
Name and address: [private]
[private]
D-10437 Berlin
Germany
Administrative contact
The administrative contact (admin-c) is the natural person appointed by the domain holder to act as his/her authorized representative and who also has the duty towards DENIC of taking binding decisions in all matters concerning the domain mahnung-mahnbescheid-inkasso.de.
Name: [private]
Contact type: PERSON
Address: [private]
Zip Code: 10437
City: Berlin
Country: DE
Technical contact
The technical contact (tech-c) supports the domain mahnung-mahnbescheid-inkasso.de with respect to technical aspects.
Name: Webmailers Webmaster Workers
Contact type: ROLE
Address: [private]
Zip Code: 10587
City: Berlin
Country: DE
Phone: [private]
Fax: [private]
E-Mail: [private]@webcockpit.de
Remarks: see also WWW8-RIPE
Zone administrator
The zone administrator (zone-c) supports the name servers of the domain mahnung?mahnbescheid-inkasso.de.
Name: DENICoperations
Contact type: ROLE
Address: [private]
Zip Code: 60329
City: Frankfurt
Country: DE
Phone: [private]
Fax: [private] E-Mail: [private]@denic.de
Remarks: Information: http://www.denic.de
Questions: mailto:[private]@denic.de
Tel.: [private](6 Cent per call)
Technical data
NSentry: mahnung-mahnbescheid-inkasso.de. IN A 81.169.145.65
NSentry: www.mahnung-mahnbescheid-inkasso.de. IN A 81.169.145.65
NSentry: mahnung-mahnbescheid-inkasso.de. IN MX 10 mailin.webmailer.de.
NSentry: *.mahnung-mahnbescheid-inkasso.de. IN MX 10 mailin.webmailer.de_

Each of these four websites contains material which infringes upon my copyrighted material.

Enclosed are copies of web pages from each of the four websites which contain infringing material. Also enclosed are copies of several of my web pages from COLLECTIONLAWYERS.COM which I personally wrote which contain text being infringed upon.

Pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, notice is hereby given that the infringing material is to be removed immediately

I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by me as the copyright owner, my agent if any, or the law.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that information in this notification is accurate, and that I am the owner of the website infringed and have an exclusive right to use the copyrighted material upon my website which is being infringed upon.
Signed at Redondo Beach, California, this 21st day of November, 2005.
[private]

info Enclosures

cc; [private]@mahnoffice.de
[private]@webcockpit.de
[private]@denic.de (w/o enclosures)

FAQ: Questions and Answers

[back to notice text]

Question: Why does a search engine get DMCA takedown notices for materials in its search listings?
Answer: Many copyright claimants are making complaints under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Section 512(d), a safe-harbor for providers of "information location tools." These safe harbors give providers immunity from liability for users' possible copyright infringement -- if they "expeditiously" remove material when they get complaints. Whether or not the provider would have been liable for infringement by users' materials it links to, the provider can avoid the possibility of a lawsuit for money damages by following the DMCA's takedown procedure when it gets a complaint. The person whose information was removed can file a counter-notification if he or she believes the complaint was erroneous.
Question: What does a service provider have to do in order to qualify for safe harbor protection?

Answer: In addition to informing its customers of its policies (discussed above), a service provider must follow the proper notice and takedown procedures (discussed above) and also meet several other requirements in order to qualify for exemption under the safe harbor provisions.

In order to facilitate the notification process in cases of infringement, ISPs which allow users to store information on their networks, such as a web hosting service, must designate an agent that will receive the notices from copyright owners that its network contains material which infringes their intellectual property rights. The service provider must then notify the Copyright Office of the agent's name and address and make that information publicly available on its web site. [512(c)(2)]
Finally, the service provider must not have knowledge that the material or activity is infringing or of the fact that the infringing material exists on its network. [512(c)(1)(A)], [512(d)(1)(A)]. If it does discover such material before being contacted by the copyright owners, it is instructed to remove, or disable access to, the material itself. [512(c)(1)(A)(iii)], [512(d)(1)(C)]. The service provider must not gain any financial benefit that is attributable to the infringing material. [512(c)(1)(B)], [512(d)(2)].

Question: What are the provisions of 17 U.S.C. Section 512(c)(3) & 512(d)(3)?
Answer: Section 512(c)(3) sets out the elements for notification under the DMCA. Subsection A (17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3)(A)) states that to be effective a notification must include: 1) a physical/electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the infringed right; 2) identification of the copyrighted works claimed to have been infringed; 3) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed; 4) information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party (e.g., the address, telephone number, or email address); 5) a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner; and 6) a statement that information in the complaint is accurate and that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner. Subsection B (17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3)(B)) states that if the complaining party does not substantially comply with these requirements the notice will not serve as actual notice for the purpose of Section 512.
Section 512(d)(3), which applies to "information location tools" such as search engines and directories, incorporates the above requirements; however, instead of the identification of the allegedly infringing material, the notification must identify the reference or link to the material claimed to be infringing.

Question: Does a service provider have to follow the safe harbor procedures?
Answer: No. An ISP may choose not to follow the DMCA takedown process, and do without the safe harbor. If it would not be liable under pre-DMCA copyright law (for example, because it is not contributorily or vicariously liable, or because there is no underlying copyright infringement), it can still raise those same defenses if it is sued.

Question: How do I file a DMCA counter-notice?
Answer: If you believe your material was removed because of mistake or misidentification, you can file a "counter notification" asking the service provider to put it back up. Chilling Effects offers a form to build your own counter-notice.

For more information on the DMCA Safe Harbors, see the FAQs on DMCA Safe Harbor. For more information on Copyright and defenses to copyright infringement, see Copyright.

Topic maintained by Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic

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