You’re looking at websites, and all of the sudden you see a very familiar picture or read a very familiar passage. In fact, it is your photograph or document, but on someone else’s website. If you have not given them permission to use the photo or document, this can be copyright infringement. When this happens, you may be losing money because the other person is gaining money by using your picture or document without your permission. The first thing you can do is contact the website administrator and ask that the picture or document is taken down. In many cases, however, they will be hesitant to do so.
If you’ve tried to contact the website administrator and they refuse to remove your personal photograph or document, your next step might be to speak with an Internet Attorney. These attorneys work with internet laws every day, and that include copyright issues. It may also include domain name theft, hacking, user-agreements, and any other legal problems you may come across online. Because the internet is world wide, you will need an attorney who can work across the globe to solve your internet problems.
Your attorney may first try to contact the website administrator themselves and send a “Cease and Desist” letter. This letter states that the use of the photograph or document is copyright infringement, and that further action will be taken if it is not removed immediately. Many times, this is enough to get the website to remove your materials. When it is not, however, you attorney will begin the lawsuit process. This includes taking them to court to have the material removed and may enable you to get monetary compensation for the use of your photographs or documents. It may also mean they have to pay fines and lawyer fees themselves, so many websites will do what they can to avoid this.
If you’ve found your photographs or documents are being used by another website without your permission, there are things that you can do to get them to remove it. To get the help you need, contact an Internet Attorney, such as Legal Philly, today. They can help with any internet legal problems you may have, including copyright infringement.
