Do you remember last month when I wrote the blog post announcing the re-launch of the website? I was so excited that months of hard work finally come to fruition, and couldn’t wait share it with all of you! Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived … and now I need your help.
Publishing that blog post revealed an 18-month scheme where my content – 228 blog posts and 863 photos in all – was stolen and re-publishing on the website of a publicly-traded company. When I demanded the removal of my posts and compensation for their use, the company responded by suing GoPetFriendly.com for $5 million. The entire story is laid out here, and I’m asking you to contribute to a GoFundMe account for legal fees to help us show this publicly-traded company that there are consequences for taking what doesn’t belong to you.
Discovery
A few hours after publishing our excited announcement of the website re-launch, I discovered this tweet, which included the title of my post and one of my photos:
Using “GoPetFriendly” in the title (something I rarely do) triggered an alert that notifies me when people mention the website on Twitter. At first I thought this was a kind re-tweet … but then I noticed that the URL provided did not link to my website. A knot began to develop in the pit of my stomach because I’ve been through this before.
History
Two years ago another website was republishing my blog posts on their website without permission. It took weeks to get my articles and photos removed and more mental and emotional energy than I care to admit. I was really hoping to never have to experience that again.
To make it harder to swipe my content, I changed the RSS feed and email delivery of my posts so that our subscribers only receive the first few sentences followed by a link to the rest of the article. I hated making it harder for our friends to follow our adventures, but at least I was doing what I could to avoid delivering entire posts directly into the hands of people who would steal them.
The Treachery Runs Deep
But even that experience did not prepare me for what I found on this website. Dozens of my blog posts (225 at that point) had been duplicated in their entirety. A search revealed 23 pages of results for “GoPetFriendly” on their site.
And the posts included all of my photos, some of which were marked with my logo, which is a registered trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Remember my post about Managing Wet Dogs in a Small Living Space? Here it is on their website:
Copyright Law Protecting Blog Posts
I’m not an attorney, but I’ve learned a bit about copyright protection over the years. This is what I know:
- Whether or not you mark your work or state your ownership, copyright protection attaches to “original works of authorship” the moment it is “fixed in any tangible medium of expression.” For us bloggers, that means as soon as our text is saved on a hard drive or server, it’s protected. And our photos enjoy copyright protection as soon as they’re stored on our camera’s memory card.
- Only the owner of a copyright is permitted to do or authorize any of the following: reproduce the work, prepare derivatives based upon the work, distribute copies of the work to the public, perform the work publicly, and display the work publicly.
- Works can be registered for copyright protection with the US Copyright Office for a reasonable fee. Guidelines for registering online works (including blog posts) is provided here.
- If you choose not to register your work you can still recover actual damages from the infringer, or any profits the infringer earned attributable to your work.
- If you register your work for copyright protection before an infringement occurs, or within three months of it’s publication, and you win a judgement against an infringer, you can recover attorney fees and you can opt to collect statutory damages rather than actual damages.
Statutory damages are the court’s “big stick.” Penalties imposed for infringement can range from several hundred dollars up to $30,000 per work. In cases where the court determines the infringement was “willful,” the damages awarded can be even higher – up to $150,000 per infringed work.
Here is a link to the entire copyright act if you’d like further information.
Cease and Desist
On November 17th, right after discovering the infringing articles and snapping a few screen shots of them, I sent a Cease and Desist letter to the email addresses listed on the infringer’s Contact Us page. A cease and desist is a common tool used to notify a party that they are infringing on your work and demanding that the offending material be removed from their website within 24 hours. I also included an invoice for the use of my blog posts over the past 18 months.
Then I began collecting the URLs of every infringing blog post on their website, took screen shots of many of them, and collected the tweets they’d published using my photos and linking to my stolen posts on their website:
Timeline of Events
The company did not respond to my initial email, but their website stated that they are publicly-traded, so with a little digging I was able to obtain a lot of information from the public filings. I spent hours over the next several days researching the business and this is what I learned:
- The company was organized in 1987 and has changed names six times over the years.
- On January 21, 2015, “… to diversify the Company’s operations and pursue new business opportunities in the pet product industry,” the name was changed to ProActive Pet Products, Inc. from Registered Express Inc., which had focused on the digital mail business. (from the Sept 30, 2016 Financial Statements)
- The infringement of my blog posts began on June 25, 2015, when they first republished my work on their website without permission.
- On August 3, 2015, the company issued a press release announcing the completion of their new website and blog.
- On March 17, 2016, the company’s stock took a huge hit, declining more than 60% in one day, after a series of paid analyst reports had ignited trading over the previous few days. The company continued paying to pump up the stock through the end of June, but the stock price never rebounded.
- On November 14, 2016, the company once again changed its name, this time to GVCL Ventures, Inc. and implemented a 1:10,000 reverse stock split. This press release announced that, during the restructuring, the company also had a change in ownership and control.
The press release went on to describe the company as follows: “GVCL Ventures, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, ProActive Pet Products, Inc., is a Nevada based pet product development company whose primary business is the manufacture and sale of its pet first aid kits and related products. Its expertise lies in the innovative development of its pet safety and health products, its recognition of the demands by dog and cat owners and the need for practical preparedness solutions.” It invited people to “visit ProActive Pet Products, Inc. at www.proactivepetproducts.com.”
- Three days later, on November 17, 2016, I published GoPetFriendly.com Gets A Brand New Look and Improved Functionality, discovered the infringement, and reported it to the company using the contact information on their website.
- On November 21, 2016 I sent a second email to the company using additional email addresses that I’d discovered in the public filings. By that time, three more of my posts had been republished on their site, bringing the total to 228.
- On November 22, 2016, the company issued a press release announcing its purchase of GVCL Marketing, Corp., “… a specialty network marketing company that provides its clients access to a unique and extensive audience that they would not normally have access to.” The press release goes on to state, “In order for the Company to focus on its new business direction, it will no longer engage in the business of Proactive Pet Products.”
Making Contact
On November 22nd, I received a response from the new president of the company stating that the firm was under new management and had no knowledge of any infringement. I explained that I was aware of the change in control, but that the company was still liable for its liabilities. I pointed out that, under the new president’s ownership, the company had continued to infringe on my content, and that if we couldn’t reach an agreement, I’d have to involve my attorney.
At that point the company’s entire website, my posts included, disappeared.
Why Not Walk Away?
Most people have no idea how much time and effort it takes to write a good blog. Unless you’re a blogger, or have witnessed the hours devoted to creating each post, it’s difficult to understand how completely we pour our hearts, souls, and big chunks of our lives into these online chronicles.
But the GoPetFriendly.com blog is even more than my personal creative expression and way of connecting with fellow pet travelers. It’s an avenue for building brand awareness for my company, for improving our search engine results, and driving traffic to the website – which I hope will someday provide a return on all the time and money we’ve invested.
To know that a publicly-traded company scraped my posts and used them for their own gain for more than a year, and then flat-out refused to take responsibility for their actions, is beyond infuriating. This situation is EXACTLY why the statutory damage provisions of the copyright laws were written – to prevent companies from taking advantage of the little guys.
And yet, it happens ALL THE TIME. So many of my friends have had their content stolen. Why? Because infringers know that bloggers rarely have the means to sue them. We send Cease and Desist letters, the company takes down the offending posts after benefitting from them for months or years, and that’s the end. Basically, they suffer no consequences. And I’m sick of it.
After a week of discouraging email banter with the company, it was clear we were not making progress. I asked my attorney to send a letter to their attorney demanding compensation for the use of my articles. We calculated my actual damages to be $250 per blog post, which is how much I receive for writing posts for other companies, plus my attorney’s fees.
Trying to Turn the Tables
What happened next completely blind-sided me. The infringing company filed a lawsuit against GoPetFriendly.com demanding $5 million and a declaratory judgement that would prevent me from suing them for infringement.
The complaint requests that the court issue a declaratory judgment of non-infringement of alleged copyright(s) rights and further seeks declaratory judgment that any alleged copyright, trademark or trade dress rights asserted by GoPetFriendly are “invalid and unenforceable.”
The complaint goes on to explain that, “GVCL denies that it has infringed any copyrights owned by GoPetFriendly and that the infringement, if any, was undertaken without knowledge of GVCL by its former subsidiary, Proactive Pet Products, Inc. a Nevada corporation.”
The fact that Proactive Pet Products, Inc. was a wholly-owned subsidiary and under the complete control of GVCL, that at least three of my blog posts were infringed upon after the change in ownership, and that the subsidiary was shut down almost immediately after I informed management of the copyright infringement wasn’t mentioned in the filing.
Will You Help Me?
This lawsuit is a classic stunt to get me to go away. It’s a cheap attempt by a bully to force me to divert funds from pursuing my justified claim for infringement to defend this bogus allegation. Unfortunately, this is breaking point for most bloggers. Right and wrong succumb to dollars and cents … and not only does the victim get screwed again, she has to pay attorney’s fees for the pleasure.
I hope you will help me defend GoPetFriendly.com and stand up for bloggers, sending a message to content thieves that stealing does have consequences! I believe this is a strong case if we can raise the funds to cover the legal fees. I’ve started a GoFundMe account that you can contribute to here. All the funds we collect will go toward pursing the infringement case for my work, and defending GoPetFriendly.com from this $5 million lawsuit.
I can’t begin to tell you how much your support means to me. Thank you.
Planning a pet friendly trip of your own? We’ll make it easy:
Pet Friendly Hotels | Pet Friendly Destinations | Pet Friendly Activities
Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: GoPetFriendly.com LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, the owner of this site earns a commission from qualifying purchases.
That would be incredible, Peter Greene! If it comes to that, I will definitely let all of our readers know. I’ll be posting about some progress we’ve made on the case in a few days, so stay tuned. Your support means a lot to me.
Thank you, Peter Greene! I’m one pet blogger who never learned to “roll over.” =)
Oh, if you are willing, if this ever comes to a hearing or trial, please let us all know! I, for one, will gladly fly to Las Vegas and show up at the court with my dog in tow (he’s a service dog so he will be in the courtroom with me!). My mom lives in Las Vegas so she will be happy to have me come visit.
It is interesting that they are citing the Lanham Act in their lawsuit. If you were to read the act you will be further dumbfounded. The Lanham act specifically prohibits exactly the type of behavior the company is engaging in. A smart lawyer should be able to pick that up and beat them over the head with it. I honestly cannot see any situation in which you shold not prevail in a court case. The lawsuit has no merit and is clearly frivolous. I would pound a judge with a motion to dismiss before anything else. Once a judge dismisses the case as frivoulous, etc, you will then be able to counterclaim on many counts.I’m so glad to see you standing up for yourself against these bullheaded idiots. I think it safe to say that your readership is standing tall right behind you!
GoPetFriendly.com Don’t give up! Shyster lawyers use this sort of tactic to scare people away. Sadly, most people don’t have the fortitude and intelligence to fight back. I applaud your efforts and I hope you bring down these idiots in a swift and decisive manner!
It happens so often, AJ – it’s really awful. So many people have written saying they’ve experienced something similar, and yet there’s not a lot of case law on the books – because bloggers usually can’t afford to sue. This case was just way over the top, and we’re hoping that by working together we can send a message. Thanks so much for your support!
This is absolutely HORRIBLE!! I hate thieves! We had our content stolen once and succeeded in getting them shut down, but we were never paid out for anything.
Agreed, Paul – unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that any of the people involved have a high degree of ethics.
It’s been surreal, Cathy, and I really appreciate your support!
You wouldn’t think so, Courtney – but their attorney doesn’t appear to have a lot of ethics, and appears to think that filing a suit against me is a good way of bullying me into going away. It’s been an unreal experience, and one that I hope no one else has to experience.
What the heck, can they do that?
OUTRAGEOUS! Headed over to the Go Fund Me page now…
Can you track down anyone else who’s been plagiarised? His lawyer sounds, erm, interesting: http://fortune.com/…/14/cynk-stock-fraud-lawyer-gewerter/
Whether they claimed my content as their own is irrelevant, Ver Thibodeau. Copyright protection gives me the exclusive right to say where, when, and by whom my content is published. This is not an example of sharing my posts – sharing would involve a brief comment with a link back to my website. This company copied my posts, in their entiriety, and published them on their own blog, in hopes of using my content to draw traffic to their website. Not only were they stealing my work, but I may have been penalized by Google for posting duplicate content. This is a blatent as copyright infringement gets – we certainly have a case.
I’m sorry you’ve gone through this too, Debbie, and thank you for your support!
The watermarks remained on the photos, and the links to her articles/blogs were there. They were obviously not trying to claim the work as their own. Work like this gets shared and reshared on websites every day, thousands of times a day. I’m not sure there is a case here.
Having had content stolen too, I sympathize with your plight. I think I will tweet this too. Good luck!
Thank you, Julie – it’s been a pretty surreal experience. I’m hoping that together we can teach content thieves that it’s more expensive get caught stealing than it is to create their own content.
Wow, I’m soooo sorry you have to go through this! What a pain in the ass. I wish you the best in resolving this.
Thank you, Loren Neilson! We won’t let them get us down – 2017 is going to be huge for us, and we won’t let these thieves stand in the way of what we’re doing.
GoPetFriendly.com Wow … so sorry to hear. Good luck and BTW your new site looks amazing, keep up the great work and keep us informed – It’s just shameful what they are trying to pull on you. It is so obvious that you work hard on your blog and your site to keep us pet friendly lovers so happy and informed!
Thank you, Loren. My posts on their blog said they were written by me, though that doesn’t make it any better. Google could even have bashed me for publishing duplicate content!
Sounds awful GoPetFriendly.com Were they crediting you and placing your name and social/web links on the blogs/posts? Or were they specifically passing the info off as their unique content?
That seems like a solid assessment, Stacey. ;-)
This also means Harold P. Gewerter is a huge douchebag for representing this fraudulent company.
Yes, this was certainly no accident, Susan. They were systematic and blatent. We’ve located a fantastic lawyer in Las Vegas and I’ll be keeping everyone informed of our progress. Thank you fo ryour wishes, and a very Merry Christmas to you, too!
GoPetFriendly.com I didn’t realize they had used your content for that length of time. That’s a whole ‘nother story, then, and I hope you have a good lawyer. I hope you and the family have a Merry Christmas anyway!
Thank you for your support, Susan! I’m not surprised by the company’s response to you – I’ve been very careful to state only the facts of what’s happened to me to avoid any further claims by this company.Yes, their position is that the parent company is not responsible for the actions of their 100% owned subsidiary. This argument is not based in any legal reality. And, as I discussed in the “Why not walk away” section of my post above, I feel that simply removing my content from their site does not solve the problem. They used my posts, without my permission, for 18-months to benefit their company. What they did is not just immoral, it’s illegal, and the company needs to be held accountable. Companies do this to bloggers all the time, and if we don’t stand up for ourselves, it’s will never stop.Now they’ve filed a suit against GoPetFriendly.com with a demand for $5 million, so I don’t have the option to walk away – we have to defend ourselves against the lawsuit.I hope that helps explain my position, and again, I really apprecaite your support!
Thank you, Cathy – knowing that our friends have my back makes a huge difference. I so appreciate you for helping spread the word, and I don’t know whether all their shareholders know what they’ve done – if they don’t I hope they find out soon.
I wrote to GVCL telling them what scumbags they were, and they wrote back threatening ME if I tried to discredit their company. They further stated that you are going after the wrong company, and I am not clear on the relationship between the two. But if the company that took your content has now removed it and it’s not available, doesn’t that essentially solve the initial problem? I realize there is a moral issue and the principle of the thing, but don’t you really just want your content to be recognized as yours?
What a bunch of pathetic crooks!! I hope they get burned by their criminal ways. Sharing this everywhere! Great work on your end. Your blog is top notch, I know how hard you’ve worked to get to where you are now. I wonder if their shareholders know what they’ve done? How dare they try to sue YOU! Hang in there.
Did you request that Google take down their site? This is theft with intent.
Yes, this is happening far too often, and I hope we can do something to make a difference. Thank you very much for your support.
Thanks so much, Sam! And I agree – bullies suck!
Wow! They are shady AF! A lot of legit companies these days seem to be stealing from bloggers and think its somehow ok to do this. I hope you get a positive reesult.
Donated. I am against bullies
Thank you so much, Heather. I really appreciate your support.
No question, Jodi – we’re going to have to dig in and find out! I predict my education in accounting is going to come in handy. ;-)
Thank you, Annette. It’s been a tough month, but the support I’ve received since publishing this post yesterday has been absolutely incredible. I’ve heard from so many people who’ve been in the same position, but didn’t have the means to fight. We have to try, or this will never stop. So thank you for your note – it means more to me than you know.
I am in awe. Donating.
This company seems shiesty to me. They’ve changed their name six times? What are they running from/avoiding?
Congratulations on having the strength to pursue this Amy. I am so sorry to see this has happened and know it is really hard to push through, but don’t give up – justice will be served. Stay strong, Annette x
You’re so kind, Nan. Thank you for your note. I’m sorry that you’ve expienced the theft of your work, too, and to have it continue on like it has for you must be unspeakably difficult. This happens far too often and creators are left with little recourse. We’re just one blog, but I’m hoping my case can make a difference for so many other who are in the same boat.
Thanks for the snicker, Sara – I’ve been doing a lot of editing, too. =D
Thank you so much, Jean – I am going to check that out, and I apprecaiate the link!
Thank you so much, Amy! We’re going to do our best.
Absolutely despicable. Don’t give up!! You are in the right and hopefully justice will prevail! Standing behind you 100%. Best to you.
Once you are back in control of your content, and for the future, it can’t hurt to check this out: http://myows.com/ ([Protect] My Original work Now.) Good luck.
Wow, located in NV. Somehow this doesn’t surprise me in the least. $5M eh? Because they are as big as Pepsi Cola or something? These are my polite words after editing.
I’m happy to support you, having suffered this kind of theft in a completely different industry. I never pursed it and a decade later my IP continues to be exploited by bloggers and many others (including ex-employees) who reap profit from it; each one adopting my words and concepts as their own. I recently even heard my own words spoken by a complete stranger on a national talk show! It is incredibly frustrating. I hope you get the contributions you need and wish you much success with the lawsuit. I applaud your willingness to pursue it to the end. No matter how it turns out, just remember your creative ability cannot be diminished or taken away. You will always be the real winner – an innovator and leader. The others will always be– and only be — uninspired.
Thank you, Briana. Yes, I need to be careful about how much I say, but we are aware of Mr. Ryan and several other business that appear to be operating our of the same address. It gets swampy down in there, so be sure you’ve got your hip waders on! ;-)
Thank you very much, Gareth! I’m so grateful for your support – this is certainly a crime that crosses all borders and until companies are held accountable it’s never going to stop.
Thank you, Katharine. I really appreciate your support.
Perfect! Thank you!
Thank you, Cathi. I’d not heard of a SLAPP lawsuits until someone mentioned it yesterday. I really appreciate these links – I’m doing the research and I think this may be an option for us. Thanks again!
That’s a great idea, Katharine – thank you for your note!
Thank you so much, Bob! I appreciate your time and recommendation.
Sorry the hear about this bad news. When I read it I thought of an attorney who has helped out a lot of folks ( i.e. not big corporate ) in video game and youtube industries that were up against lawsuits that were similarly egregious. I linked your story to him on Twitter and he said he’d be happy to help. https://twitter.com/MrRyanMorrison http://morrisonlee.com/
https://www.eff.org/ Might be able to help.
and more helpful info..the law is on your side go get em….http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/anti-slapp-law-nevada
fyi here is a link to Nevada’s antiSLAPP statute (it’s based on California’s anti SLAPP law which is considered the best in the nation) https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-041.html#NRS041Sec635 see section 41.635
This sounds like a classic SLAPP lawsuit. Nevada has an anti-SLAPP statute. Are you considering your options under that law? http://www.law360.com/…/calif-case-law-is-an-excellent…
I will add my support. And I don’t even like dogs! ;) Keep your chin up, and keep us posted!
Also just found out that Keystone Gate Company and ProActive Pet Products have the same address in a strip mall in Vegas. The plot thickens!
So I did a WHOIS lookup of this domain. The company didn’t even buy privacy for the domain smh #amateurs. Anywho, the domain purchaser, Ron Ryan, seems to be the Chairman and CEO of Keystone Gate Company in Las Vegas according to the address and phone number on the record. On their website, they clearly list ProActive Pet Products and Registered Pet as “recent projects” of theirs (but of course, clicking the link goes to a 403 error). Not sure if you came across this info in your research (if you did, sorry for the repetition) but maybe you can include him and this company in your research.
Here from the UK. I will be supporting you. This is absolutely disgusting behaviour and they deserve what’s coming their way. I hope this all works out and you get the damages you deserve. Professional bloggers work extremely hard on their content, so it needs to be protected. Will be sharing far and wide.
Hi Heather Scott Remington! They haven’t scheduled the first hearing yet. The claim was filed last week and they don’t even need to prove they’ve served me until March 14th, so if it gets that far, I imagine the hearing would be set shortly thereafter. I’m really sorry to hear that you and your husband have been through this, too. It’s unbelievable to me that the court even allows a case like this to be filed. I so appreciate your help in spreading the word. With all the support I’ve received today, I’m definitely keeping my chin up. =)
Thank you, Carmen – your support means a lot to me.
Agreed, Cecil – and certainly not what I expected to be doing this week!
I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this, too, Courtney. It’s an awful feeling, and it happens way too often. I really hope that we can do something to change that. Thanks for your note!
Exactly, Heather – it’s a pretty inexpensive stunt to try to scare me away. It only cost them $400 to file the lawsuit against me – if they’d offered me $400 to settle, I’d have told them to pound sand. So, I guess it was worth a try … it doesn’t feel good to be sued, and especially not for $5 million. But the amount is to ridiculous it’s almost amusing. Hopefully, a judge will agree and slap them for filing a frivilous lawsuit. In the meantime, thank you so much for your support!
Thank you, Ryan. This level of depravity is pretty shocking – hopefully we can help them see the error of their ways.
Thanks so much, Rox. I know that you understand what it’s like, and I really appreciate your support and help spreading the word.
Yep, it seems to have been automated to their website, Susan, and once they took their website down, all activity on Twitter stopped.
Thanks so much, Jody! I can’t even tell you how much your support means. It’s been a dark month, and my attorney wasn’t a big fan of me publishing this post, but it feels so good to have this out in the open. I’ve felt very alone, and all that changed today. <3
Thank you, Miriam – I really appreciate your support!
Thank you, Edie – and great question. The claim says “attorney fees and other damages.” Basically, it’s bull. They’re trying to scare me into going away – and truthfully, it sucks to be on the receiving end of a $5 million lawsuit. But the whole case against me is so ludicris that their demand just adds to the ridiculousness. It may end up working in my favor, because a judge should see right through this.
Thank you, Dori – unfortunately, there are way to many bloggers that have been here before me. I hope that we can do something to change that.
Thank you for the idea, Diane – I’ll look into that! It’s no wonder that making a living as a freelance writer is so hard – why hire someone to create content when it’s so easy to steal? And the chances a company will be held accountable are so slim, what do they have to lose? It’s not right.
Thank you, Vera. Unfortunately for them, I’m a pet blogger who’s never learned to “roll over.” ;-)
Thank you, Linda. Your support means so much to me. I hope that the joy and happiness of the season are with you, and that with presents or without, you have your loved ones near. Merry Christmas. <3
I wish I could say that it’s not very common, Marjorie – unfortunately it happens all the time. These things are difficult to detect, and I only caught this case by accident. Plus, bloggers rarely have the means to defend their rights, so some companies feel that there’s little to lose … other than their moral compass, of course.
GoPetFriendly.com yep yep and yep.
Thank you, Susan. I can’t tell you how much your support means to me. It’s sad how often this happens to bloggers, and it sucks that we have to come up with thousands of dollars in attorney fees just to try to protect our content! Even if we win, and can recover the fees – it’s still daunting to have to fund that for months or longer. It’s a bigger problem than it should be, and I’m hoping we can do something to change that.
Agreed, Kayla Block. I want to be careful with what I say, because they might be reading this post, but there seem to be a lot of red flags flying around this company. I’m not even sure that Petco was ever a client. I can find no actual evidence that they generated any revenues from the sale of their pet kits. It could just be something they said to add more legitimacy, and it’s unlikely Petco would have even noticed.
Thank you, Scott. We do have a good IP attorney, but I’ve never heard of SLAPP lawsuits – I’m going to do some research on that!
GoPetFriendly.com I’m actually wondering if the lawyer is more involved with that company than meets the eye based on that article. The lawyer has a history of some very shady companies and I wonder if the company that ripped you off is a penny stock scam all by itself.Something is seriously fishy here and I’ve been poking around for you a bit and all I saw are more and more red flags but I can’t get a handle on what these people are about.It sucks that they’re doing this to you.If I do trace anything out, I will keep you posted. Something isn’t adding up with that whole company and I bet if someone can dig up what’s going on, people would probably be going to jail (not for what they’re doing to you…there’s something even more rotten going on and I’d love to dig it out.)BTW, Petco is or was a customer of theirs.
Under the infringement claim, I’m hoping we’ll be able to recover legal fees. I’m not sure how that will work on the case filed against us in Nevada, Scott – but I hope you’re right!
Thank you, Joseph! I’m going to look into that. Clearly this is a frivilous suit and should never have been filed.
Hi Kayla. Also, if you click on the link to Way Back Machine in the post above, I’ve linked to one of my articles on their blog, which has been stored in the archive.
Thank you, Miranda!
Yeah, unfortunately we’re dealing with some shady characters here, Kayla. =/
No, I hadn’t thought of that, Laura – thank you for the tip!
Thanks, DK! Agreed – and the company’s most recent press release and the complaint they’ve filed against me say they’ve shut down the subsidiary that committed the infringement – which coincidentally happened only days after I informed them of the infringement. According to my attorney that may be abuse of form, which would allow us to pierce the corporate veil and pursue the owners personally. Ultimately, we may not be able to collect from them either, but we might be able to keep them from doing this to someone else in the future. And we can hopefully get the attention of all the unscrupulous business out there that are profiting by stealing other people’s content. Having case law on the books that supports a blogger’s copyright protection would be a win in my book. We’ll fight on!
You may also want to file an ethics complaint against the attorney bringing the case. https://www.nvbar.org/member…/ethics-discipline/complaint/
Ok, I really hate to see crappy people like this “win”, but be aware that there is nothing there. Their last set of published financials show a whopping $1100 in cash and $183,235 in liabilities. Supposedly, they have “License Agreements” worth $400,000 – a suspiciously round number. Worse, the company is reporting NO (as in zip, zilch, nada) revenue in the first 9 months of the year so that really questions the value of any license agreements. And they list a “going concern” statement in their financials – a common precursor to a bankruptcy filing. Thus, even if you win, they simply declare bankruptcy and you still get nothing. Sadly, I think your best case scenario is have your attorney convince them to withdraw their suit and move on. (Their last public financials can be found here – http://www.otcmarkets.com/…/showFinancialReportById.pdf… .
You can often find older archived snippets with Way Back Machine for inquiring minds. Here is the link: https://web.archive.org/…//www.proactivepetproducts.com/ and one to the blog https://web.archive.org/…/www…/pet-blog/
Have you tried getting legal help through an art group? Graphic Artists Guild is national and has probono legal help for artists/photographers/writers… I would say you fit that bill.
The attorney in question seems to have a very checkered past, fwiw. He sounds like a real piece of work.http://fortune.com/…/14/cynk-stock-fraud-lawyer-gewerter/
Well, this is awful and I’m so sorry you are going through this!!
She states that after November 22nd the entire website vanishes.”On November 22nd, I received a response from the new president of the company stating that the firm was under new management and had no knowledge of any infringement. I explained that I was aware of the change in control, but that the company was still liable for its liabilities. I pointed out that, under the new president’s ownership, the company had continued to infringe on my content, and that if we couldn’t reach an agreement, I’d have to involve my attorney.At that point the company’s entire website, my posts included, disappeared.”
No website called proactivepetproducts.com that I can find. Can you provide more information on this?
there are attorney fee provisions for some of these cases,
i’m not an intellectual property lawyer, but you need one, and one that specializes in SLAPP lawsuits – (stratigic lawsuit against public participation) usually a first amendment type issue. see http://www.casp.net/ good luck
I donated and wish it could be more. Another blogger I follow – Chickensintheroad.com – has had this same problem and now puts a watermark on all her photos. Not sure what she does about content. Disgusting behavior.
Are they reallly THAT improverished they need to steal other people’s work for pretend its their own. This is so wrong and so evil.
This is horrible. That they were even allowed to sue YOU just shows how badly the legal system in this country has declined. If I had more than 14 cents in my account, I’d send some. Hopefully next week. As it is, I have no money for buying Christmas gifts for anyone, but luckily have stockpiled some pet goodies so at least my furbabies will have something on Christmas morning. I love your site and hate that someone could have not only stolen your content, but have the gaul to sue you. What is this world coming to?
I am speechless. No wonder they can’t run a business that actually makes money. They are too busy scamming people. I’m sure a judge would dismiss their case in a heartbeat as frivolous. But you definitely are right to keep pursuing them. GRRRRRR!!
This is important. It’s bad enough the internet has or is destroying the ability of creators to make a living, like no other technology we have seen before, and then this. I wonder if there is an organization, like a freelancers guild, that has a legal fund that could take on this case, it’s a good one. The American Society of Media Photographers used to fight these battles, until basically the internet, along with Getty, put most photographers out of busines.
WOW!!!! This is horrible!!! No one should ever have to go through this
I am furious. These people are scum. I will definitely donate. Quick question: What is the $5 million supposed to cover for them? Damages to their reputation? They claim to have no relation to the company that stole your work and they don’t exactly have a high profile, so how did you damage them?
I am horrified to hear about this! Will send money.
Amy, it sickens me that you have to deal with crap like this. Will definitely support you and add money to the fund. And share this story on social media. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do. We’re all here for you guys!
Their twitter is still up, not active but there.
That is so wrong! I’m sorry you have to deal with this crap!
I have seen this classic stunt before – so sorry it is happening to you. This is terrible.
WOW this is absolute CRAP. I can’t believe this sh*tty company is doing this to you. WHAT. THE. PUP. I hope you are able to get this ironed out while tearing this stupid, lazy piece of poo company a new one. I’ve had my work stollen before. But THIS, THIS is just a new level of CRAZY. Keep us updated. Fingers crossed.
Unbelievable!
This makes me so angry. Smoke coming out of my ears kind of angry. I will donate!