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Copyright Troll USCG Violates Copyright

Posted by kdawson on from the do-as-i-say dept.

omarlittle writes "The US Copyright Group — a company owned by intellectual property lawyers, which has been in the news for threatening downloaders of the movie Hurt Locker — has apparently stolen their site from a competitor. At one point, even the competitor's phone number and copyright statement were copied word for word on USCG's 'settlement' website. The competitor is reportedly going to send a Cease & Desist."

23 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Damn! by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Funny

    If only there was some group that they could hire to fight copyright violations...

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    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    1. Re:Damn! by Major+Downtime · · Score: 2, Informative

      ... If you have a problem...if no one else can help...and if you can find them...maybe you can hire...The A-Team.

    2. Re:Damn! by jdgeorge · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Ironic it is. However, the real story is "copyright lawyers screwed by lazy web site developer." They paid somebody to create their website, and instead of just developing a web site, the lazy developer simply ripped off a site which served a similar business.

      It's not as if the firm's lawyers sat around saying "I don't know how to design our site... why don't we just use that one and put our information on it?"

    3. Re:Damn! by chartreuse · · Score: 4, Informative

      TFA doesn't mention any developers involved. Why don't you add to our knowledge and name them, since you seem to be better-informed?

      A wholesale lifting of code (such as would be implied by their leaving their victim's phone number intact) could as easily have been done by a lazy, recklessly indifferent lawyer or lazy, supervised staff worker as by a lazy third-party web developer.

      Moreover I really doubt there's a legally viable argument that USCG, filled with state-licensed members of the bar, doesn't ultimately have responsibility for approving and operating a website that collects evidence for use in court.

  2. Ultimate Compliment by slaxative · · Score: 3, Funny

    The ultimate compliment is plagiarism. So what if it is the purpose of your company to fight against that very thing.

    --
    This is not the penguin you're looking for.
  3. Anything for the cause... by AndyAndyAndyAndy · · Score: 2

    I'm such a firm believer in conservationism, I'm going to go print up 100,000 fliers to raise awareness!

    --
    It's always confirmation bias!
  4. (c) by djdbass · · Score: 3, Funny

    Pot, meet Kettle*

    * copyright 2010 djdbass. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

    1. Re:(c) by daremonai · · Score: 2, Informative

      This is mostly false, at least in the U.S. While the U.K. and other Commonwealth countries have the concept of copyright for "typographical arrangement," the U.S. does not. It also does not have copyright in the printed appearance of a font (as opposed to, say, the TrueType encoding of a font, which is copyrightable). So, out of your list, only the graphics (assuming they are original) would be clearly subject to copyright in the U.S.

    2. Re:(c) by Dogtanian · · Score: 2, Funny

      Pot, meet Kettle*

      * copyright 2010 djdbass. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

      I regret to inform you that I already hold the copyright on your copyright warning, and you now owe me $100,000 and a bag of jelly babies if you don't want investigated by the FBI, sent to prison for 5 years and fined $250,000.

      And the jelly babies have to be green.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  5. Now let's see who you REALLY are! by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 5, Funny

    *rips off rubber ghost mask*

    *gasp* "It's old man copyright troll, the guy who runs the haunted bittorrent tracker site!"

    "And I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling kids!"

    1. Re:Now let's see who you REALLY are! by AhabTheArab · · Score: 2, Funny

      *rips off rubber ghost mask*

      *gasp* "It's old man copyright troll, the guy who runs the haunted bittorrent tracker site!"

      "And I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling kids!..."

      "...and that mangy mutt of yours"

      "scooby dooby dooooooo"

  6. USCG == Coast Guard by tekrat · · Score: 4, Funny

    USCG stole something else as well then, their Acronym. USCG is the US COAST GUARD, not the US Copyright Group. These guys should get a clue.

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
    1. Re:USCG == Coast Guard by Cap'nPedro · · Score: 2, Funny

      Thank you so much for using "their" in the proper context! At last! I have read a slashdot comment with proper grammar!!!

      Your easy to please.

      Ooh, it made me cringe typing that.

    2. Re:USCG == Coast Guard by RicktheBrick · · Score: 2, Insightful

      At first I wondered why the Coast Guard was stealing from another site than I was thinking that the copyright group stole it from the Coast Guard. But atlas the article has nothing to do with the United States Coast Guard. It is a shame that /. uses the Coast Guard's acronym to get readers to view this story.

  7. they should be disbarred by grahamsaa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It seems to me that the most appropriate solution to this would be to disbar the lawyers that run this firm. What they've done is clearly unethical, and it's also obvious that they were aware of (or should have been aware of) the infringement (they are intellectual property lawyers, right?).

    This will discourage others from behaving this way, and will make it impossible for some obviously bad actors to earn a living by behaving badly. Perhaps they could consider a new career in fast food? In any case, I have no sympathy for these people.

    --
    Facts have a liberal bias.
  8. They did not steal anything by Husgaard · · Score: 5, Insightful

    copyright violation != theft

  9. Bullies by TheStatsMan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Legal and fiscal bullying is one of the more common applications of copyright law, apparently.

  10. Site change already..... mostly by MarkGriz · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Looks like the graphics have been replaced. Yet bizarrely they kept some stolen Javascript functions in there that they don't even use.

    --
    Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
  11. Re:oh the irony by Migraineman · · Score: 2, Funny

    Take note, musicians ... this is ironic. (Yes, Ms. Morissette, I'm talking to you.)

  12. So... by parlancex · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think they should be fined up to $10,000 per page view.

  13. Additionally... by Java+Pimp · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The image of the "woman paying a bill online in her kitchen" was not likely owned by the Copyright Enforcement Group either but was licensed stock photography from somewhere else. Not only did they rip off CEG but also the owner of the stock image...

    --
    Ascalante: Your bride is over 3,000 years old.
    Kull: She told me she was 19!
  14. Sentor Hatch and Copyright. by Camel+Pilot · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This reminds me of Senator Hatch who used unlicensed copyrighted software on his official website but then attempted, believe it or not, to pass legislation that would allowed the recording industry to remotely automatically destroy computers when they discovered that their copyrighted music was being downloaded.

    You couldn't invent this stuff...

    http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2003/06/59305

  15. Re:If you support this takedown by FatLittleMonkey · · Score: 2, Informative

    Watching an arsehole being hoist by their own petard is funny. But does not mean I like seeing nice people being blown up*.

    (* Petard means explosive. From the French, "to break wind.")

    --
    Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.