Copyright question...

Dknight · Post by **Dknight** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:09 am

hello

I have a question about a copyright issue im having

basically i sell vehicle stickers, to explain, they are stickers which go on cars, they are specifically designed to go in certain places, like on b pillars etc (set shapes on vinyl and cut out)

all of them i have painfully spent designing and getting right

recently one person bought a large amount of them, he is now using my items as pictures on ebay and on his website, and selling them for production

so he is copying them

does anyone know legally where i would stand with this, as i have an invoice for him for all the goods he has ordered, proving he has used mine to copy

thanks

Post by **CopyrightAid** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:12 pm

You say he bought a lot of these stickers - Just so we are clear... Is he:

a) Using pictures of your stickers to sell the stock of stickers he bought from you - i.e. he is just illustrating the products he has for sale, and what he has for sale is the original stickers that your sold him.
If this is the case, it seems fair enough.

or...

b) Is he creating copies (counterfeit) of your stickers and selling them. If this is the case go see a solicitor now and have this guys site taken down for copyright infringement, and sue him for any revenue he has made from the sale of counterfeit products.

Post by **CopyrightAid** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:14 pm

Also look at the eBay Vero program to report the infringment, and contact his Internet Service Provider for his own site.

Dknight · Post by **Dknight** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 1:19 pm

howdy it is option B

i have already had them removed under the vero scheme

ive spoken with a few solicitors, but they all say it is a very costly affair if it goes to court

but the money is there if need be and i will not have someone making money of my years of hardwork, lets hope he understands this

do you have any links to solicitors lawyers who are specifically in with the copyright process?

thanks

Post by **CopyrightAid** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:24 am

OK...

The first thing a solicitor will do is send a cease and desist letter (and charge you about a hundred pound), after that they would probably look at going to the county court for an injunction and to claim damages for legal costs and loss of revenue and reputation.

If you just want the infringing materials removed (no financial damages) and are happy to write an initial cease and desist letter yourself you may avoid further costs - a well thought out, professional sounding letter from you may make them think again and save you the cost/effort of legal action (I found this 'copyright infringement factsheet' that gives a good idea of what the letter should look like (in the 'Contact the infringer' part).
Of course it that doesn't work you are back to where you are now,

If they have their own website do also send a copy of the cease and desist letter (either yours or the solicitors) to their Internet service provider (with a covering letter asking for help). It may take some investigation (whois searches etc.) to work out who is responsible for the site's hosting, but you will probably find that they will take the site down quite quickly (particularly if the host is UK based).

As for the finding a solicitor - the law society provide a search facility for this and you should be able to find a number in your local area: Law Society - Find a solicitor search