I joined the local Chamber of Commerce when I launched my business and I took advantage of one of their advertising opportunities where I put my postcard in one of their quarterly mailings. I didn't get a response so I didn't bother putting it in this past mailing but because I am a chamber member I still receive the mailing and in the one just released there is a postcard from another VA business in the area. Naturally, I had a look at the postcard and something startling caught my eye, in her tagline is my Exact business name! So I checked out the website and one of the pages on the site has the exact information as one of the pages on my site word for word (which I made up)! I'm not sure how to go about having my business name copy writed so I didn't bother to ever do it but even if I had would it make a difference that it was used in this person's tagline? Does anyone have any advice or knowledge about this type of situation and is there anything I can do with regards to this person using my content for their site?

Thanks for the help!

Patricia

I would recommend contacting a lawyer. They may be able to draft a cease and desist letter to the "VA" in question, warning her that she is in violation of your copyright. Copyright is automatic. While you can file a form to have your copyright registered, even without the form, the copyright on what you have written is yours, and is enforceable. I would also report her to your local BBB and see if there is any recourse with the Chamber of Commerce. The fact that you advertised with them first would be very good indication that this person is up to no good.

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-infringement.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement

Here are a couple of links on copyright.

Firstly, let me say that I entirely agree with the previous poster, I always advocate contacting a lawyer regarding these issues. Secondly, the links provided are all related to US copyright law and I note you are a Canadian VA. To learn more about Canadian copyright and trade-marks, you can access information from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office including determining the difference between copyright and trade-marks. For example, you asked about copyrighting your business name and it appears that this would fall under trade-marks and not be a copyright issue.

Lastly, there are a number of websites that have popped up due to the unfortunate regularity that website plagiarism occurs and they have a great deal of helpful information about steps to take including the last link which include some sample 'cease and desist' letters.

Copyscape - Responding to Online Plagiarism

Plaigiarism on the Web: How To Detect It and Prevent It

Plagiarism Today - Stock Letters

Sorry this has happened, what a pain!

Note: the links provided all relate to US copyright, so care should be taken, good luck!

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Kate V. Kerans
Kerans Virtual Assistance

Thank-you both so much! I will definitely look further into this! I have worked very hard to get not only a page rank but also being recognized on google and in other search engines and now I feel because this person used my business name in her tagline and since she is in the same area as me that if someone tries to look me up then her site will also come up, would this be true?

Originally Posted by Trish1313

Thank-you both so much! I will definitely look further into this! I have worked very hard to get not only a page rank but also being recognized on google and in other search engines and now I feel because this person used my business name in her tagline and since she is in the same area as me that if someone tries to look me up then her site will also come up, would this be true?

Patricia,

That question would be better put before the SEO experts on this forum, but my understanding is having duplicate content can hurt your search engine ranking. Google may not be able to differentiate between what was the original and what was the copy and your site may result in getting kicked out of the index or placed within the supplemental results, which are rarely accessed. As your entire site hasn't been plagiarized, I don't know how much of an impact the plagiarism may have.

Regardless, I feel you should act quickly and contact the offending website owner and request they remove the copied content and if that doesn't garner results, move onto the other suggestions made within the articles named above.

As the above poster stated, the simple fact that you posted an ad earlier with the Chamber of Commerce puts you in good stead and you may well add that you shall contact the Chamber and inform them of the stolen content, should she not comply.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

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Kate V. Kerans
Kerans Virtual Assistance

My goodness! that is our worst nightmare, how awful and how cheeky of her!!!!

I would contact her direct and tell her she's in breach of the copywright laws and that you are in the process of seeking legal advice. That should scare her, and hopefully encourage her to change her name, and think twice about copying someone elses hard work!

maybe you should name and shame lol

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Kels

www.kellycairns.co.uk

You know Kelly, I was thinking the same thing about contacting her directly! I did contact Trademark Canada and they informed me that because I had the name before she started her business then I can still Trademark it and send her a cease and desist letter. So I think the best thing for me to do now is to wait until the name is officially mine and then contact her, also I forgot to mention that on her website it states that everything was designed by her when in fact a form that I had designed is on her site! I also found out that she started her business the same month that my press release was in our local paper! I would love to name names but I think that might be opening a whole other can of worms lol

LOL I know, I don't think that would be a good idea! LOL

Well you've got the proof that the name I'd yours! So fight for it!

I think you should contact her though, stating clearly what your intentions are. Keep us informed of your progress x

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Kels

www.kellycairns.co.uk

I agree with Kelly send her a letter and let her know you are on to her. Maybe that will be all it will take.

Lee

Originally Posted by Trish1313

So I think the best thing for me to do now is to wait until the name is officially mine and then contact her, also I forgot to mention that on her website it states that everything was designed by her when in fact a form that I had designed is on her site!

I would strongly suggest against waiting to contact her. Trade-marking is a process that takes some time and your legal standing may well be compromised if it comes out that you knew about the plagiarism and failed to do anything about it. You also risk your search engine placement the longer the offending website material is online.

Let us know how it goes,

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Kate V. Kerans
Kerans Virtual Assistance