Has Your Website Been Hijacked?
Building a custom website that accurately reflects your practice requires time, energy and capital. Imagine making that investment only to find out that someone has ripped off your hard work; passing it off as there own! This problem is not new to the internet. Unfortunately, hijacking a website is as simple as “copy” and “paste”.
If you discover that someone has stolen your website or your content, it is time to act fast. Copyright laws differ from state to state, so it is important to take these steps as advice and consult an attorney.
- Contact the offending website and ask politely that they remove the material in question. If you are having trouble finding a contact number, look up the “Whois” record for that domain. Contact the web hosting company listed and report their client’s abuse.
- Send a formal Cease and Desist letter to the offending party. There are several templates available online that provide a good foundation by articulating the legal jargon and potential fines associated with the violation.
- File a notice of Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) infringement with Google and other search engines. This request will notify the search engines of the violation and they will consider removing the offending website from the search results.
Do you need proof? You can pinpoint the exact release date of your website through www.web.archive.org.