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What do you think about AVS systems making $$$ through copyright violation/theft?
I admit that one of the things which first got me into producing pay sites was all of the AVS sites which were scanning my photography out of magazines or snarfing it from my free site. I finally figured if so many people were trying to sell my content online there must be a market for it.
When I find a violation these days, generally because someone emails the offending URL to me, I just politely ask the webmaster to remove it using DMCA language. Most webmasters comply pretty quickly. I'd certainly prefer that they not steal my work in the first place, but I don't usually really get worked up about it when infringements are removed quickly. I don't even have my attorneys send the notices normally as a simple email from me usually suffices.
I just had a weird situation where I notified an AVS through totally proper channels with proper format about a violation. The webmaster of the infringing AVS site removed the infringing content quickly, but the supposed general counsel for the AVS system was totally rude and claimed there was a format problem in the notice I sent but refused to tell me what the format issue was. Then he told me he was only going to accept snail mail notifications from my company in the future. It looks like the guy is not even admitted to the bar to practice law in California.
This is an AVS system which has violated my copyrights over and over for years. I think the least they could do is be polite when busted, but instead it seems like they are looking for any excuse to keep stolen content on their client sites. What do you think about an AVS system making $$$ through copyright violation/theft? Do you think it is part of their business model to steal or is this one representative a bad apple?
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