Theft of Your Digital Photos and Videos
Most times this form of hacking goes undiscovered, or alternatively, if discovered, the true owner of the personal copyright views it as too time or money consuming to go after the hacker. Whether or not you view it as such, this form of hacking constitutes theft. Unlike theft of tangible goods or chattels, this is theft of intellectual property to which only you have the right. When the theft, or hacking, rises to the level of intrusion where it becomes necessary to take action, a person must first determine how to go about putting a stop to the theft. .
The first necessary step is identifying the source of the original theft. When the intellectual property has been stolen for some period of time, this can be a difficult task. Most often the material hasn't spread to the point where it is difficult to track down the original hacker. However, if you find that the information has spread, you should contact the administrator of each website and identify yourself as the primary source, and most sites will post a correction. If you can at least find a name or business name, you may then use certain directories to track down a mailing or email address [such as www.whois.godaddy.com, www.whois.sc and www.dns.com, among others].
The next step, without involving an attorney, is to contact the hacker using the information found regarding their site. You should first make a request that they stop broadcasting your material. The first request should remain polite, in the event that they truly don't know their site is using your property. If your efforts are repudiated or met without a response, it may be necessary to contact an attorney to take further action.
If repudiated and you decide you would like to press forward, you should contact an attorney experienced in cyberlaw matters. A qualified attorney can help you begin to preserve evidence by creating a paper trail, gather information and properly establish ownership over the stolen material. Once ownership is established the attorney can help you to register your copyright with the United States Copyright office, since in the United States, it is necessary to register a work prior to enforcing your rights with regard to that work. Once registered, the attorney will likely elect to issue an inexpensive Cease and Desist order to the cyber hacker. Based on the Cease and Desist order, you should then contact those who advertise on the hacker's sight, as well as associated search engines, and demonstrate to them that your material is the subject of a Cease and Desist order. Most search engines will immediately comply since Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyrights Act (DMCA) creates a safe harbor for these companies, preventing them from sustaining any liability when immediately pulling material in response to such a request. These steps, supported by the consumer oriented DMCA, enable cyber theft victims to minimize the damage done by the hacker.
If the cyber hacker still refuses to stop using your now copyrighted material, your attorney can properly advise you on how to proceed, and what type of court action may be necessary to ensure compliance with your order, and whether any form of damages may be available to you in your enforcement proceedings. Only an experienced cyber law attorney can efficiently and accurately guide you through the web difficulty which arises when personal content has been stolen by illegal cyber-hackers. Individuals must take steps to keep personal material personal and to ensure that the hackers are not allowed to continue committing their illegal acts.
Related Tags: youtube, copyright, internet law, cyberlaw, social bookmarking, flickr, photo sharing, cyber-law
This article was written by Nick Delaunt, for The Law Office of Goldstein and Clegg, LLC.
Your Article Search Directory : Find in ArticlesRecent articles in this category:
- Troubling New"spam" to Cell Phones Discovered
Troubling new"Spam" to Cell Phones Discovered In a day and age when spam is rampant on the interne - Sex Offenders - Keep Your Family Protected From Sex Offenders
As a parent, it is your responsibility to protect your family from any type of harm. Most especiall - Criminal Defense Attorney
You've seen them on TV in their black coats; the formidable forces of law, the strong and intense - Critical Analysis of Cyber Law
Critical Analysis of Information Technology Act, 2000 Till year 2000, India did not have any legis - Finding a Good Lawyer Referral
Perform An Online Attorney Search When You Need To lawyer referralHere is a common scenario: You ar - Usa Can Copy All You Have on Your Laptop
USA can copy all you have on your Laptop.American authorities has given airport security control mor - Best And Top New York Immigration Lawyer Of NY?
The term Immigration Lawyer is another very common term people are becoming aware of. But most of th - Domain Name Theft
Are you losing visitors to your domain? Are your search engine rankings still yours?Other people mi - Domain Name Dispute, What To Expect after You've Won
You file a UDRP complaint under ICANN and a panel has ordered a transfer of the stolen domain name. - Is Your Spouse Lying?
You may have noticed some unusual behavior from your significant other such as spending a lot of tim
Most viewed articles in this category:
- Malaysian Internet Marketer; The Constraints On Internet Transaction
The Problems;There is always an obstacle for everyone when dealing with internet transaction, Malays - A New Music Copyright Lawsuit Against YouTube
In the middle of November, Universal Music filed an extensive copyright lawsuit against YouTube, not - Protecting your Website's Content: Just Don't Bother
The internet is the best place if you want to steal content. It makes it really easy to copy any inf - Viacom Sues Google
Viacom, a media company, has recently sued Google for $1 billion, for the copyright infringement on - How To Use Metadata As An Examination Tool
In today's computer dependent world, the zealous advocate must be able to navigate his way through - Are We Able to Completely Stop Software Piracy
Software piracy is the illegal reproduction and distribution of software applications, whether for b - A Short Synopsis Of Cybercrime
To many involved in criminal dense, cyber crime is the bane of the 21st Century. It accounts for mi - Internet Law in 2007
As we start off the 2007 year, many in the web community probably have questions about what developm - Defamation and Slander on the Internet
As social networking sites and internet blogs continue to increase in both popularity and use, the o - Anti-Cyber Squatting Consumer Protection Act Update
Our law firm receives a lot of calls from people and companies who are being threatened with an Anti