Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Florida
Help with a copyright complaint
I have jewelry tutorials in several online stores/sites. Someone claimed one of the tutorials was in violation and one of the site owners where its listed, pulled it from circulation. There was never a proper claim that I know of, and after a dozen e-mails, this person is now just wanting attribution for another artist, and my customer mailing list to inform my past customers. My tutorial is not in violation of her tutorial. The site owner will not reinstate the tutorial until the complainant tells her shes happy; she has not brought a suit, though she threatened to do so, and my work has been offline at this one site for over 3 weeks. The complainant only got it pulled from one site, as the others strictly follow DMCA guidelines for filing a claim.
How do I get the complainant to leave me alone, and get the site owner to put my work back up? The site owner says that since the complainant is in Canada, and me the US, that there is a question of jurisdiction.
Isn't the complainant now libel to me for lost revenue, since she threatened a suit, and never brought one?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Help with a copyright complaint
This question raises more issues than I am willing to address in this forum. You have Federal Law (17 USC), 3 parties, and 2 countries (you don't say where the site owner is located).
A couple of things: The complaining party does not need to file a suit - she already got what she asked for which is removal of the allegedly infringing material from the website. A threat of suit and adverse affect to you could give you a cause of action for Declaratory Judgment in which case you become the plaintiff rather than the defendant and ask a court for a determination that you do not infringe. Jurisdiction is an issue, but a lawyer will figure it out. The site owner is not at your mercy, and she is covering her you-know-what by removing the allegedly infringing material. You do not state how you have lost revenue or how much the case is worth to you.
I am sure I could resolve this matter if I spent a significant amount of time on it, but that's what people pay me for. If the case is worth a substantial amount to you, you should retain an attorney who specializes in this area of law to pursue your claim.
Good luck to you.
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