DMCA Notice on my own personal site?

Hi there,

I received a DMCA notice on my own personal site and I’m just wanting to get this cleared up by a staff member if possible.

All of the styles on my site were created by me. I admit that I look around the site to find things that give me inspiration, but by no means do I purchase items and resell them or reuse any of the materials. Whenever I would submit for approval on this site, the reviewer would usually say go back and look at the top selling items for inspiration. That’s exactly what I do, but the reviewing process takes so long I decided to create my own site and sell the items there, which I haven’t generated a single sale

Honestly, I just want to make things right. I don’t mind taking the files off of my site because I’m not making any money, I just don’t think it’s right. I can list a ton of items on this site that look almost exactly the same, yet there is no action against the members files.

Thanks!

Has anyone experienced this type of situation?

Anyhoot, I’m taking the content off of my website, in order that my hosting account doesn’t get suspended. From the information that I’ve gathered through the internet, I find that there have been many false accusations against people. Basically, anyone can submit to the DMCA and get other peoples content off of their website, unless you have enough money to hire a lawyer or have the time to issue a rebuttal.

Thanks and hopefully some people will chime in with their feelings on the situation, which in result may offer a more reasonable explanation for DMCA .

Thanks!

Sadly as Envato grows it will start bullying anyone or anything that it sees as competition, you selling your own items that you have created on your site and then Envato making legal threats against you for it is exactly what I’m talking about.

They know that no individual will have the resources to compete with them in court so they can do as they like really, they now own you, have a nice day =)

twiggy99 said
They know that no individual will have the resources to compete with them in court so they can do as they like really, they now own you, have a nice day =)

False!

xstortionist never said who actually sent the DMCA . It is more likely to have come from an author rather than Envato. Envato encourage authors to send the DMCA , not them. I’m not even sure if they can’t send a DMCA , because they don’t own the copyright in the first place.

Secondly, I am reasonably sure that you can easily dispute a DMCA . Just provide evidence that the work is your own to both the sender and your hosting company. At this point you are then legally fine. If the sender still insists the work is a violation then it is with them to prove it, not with you to disprove it. It would be costly for them (particularly if you are in another country) nd if they lose (which they will if the work is your own) then you can counter-claim back any expenses and also damages.

With regards to the original question. My advive would be to take the files down and then try to get them approved here. If they’re genuinely original work and you’re not currently getting sales then what have you got to lose?

With design, someone is always going to claim they created it first but its (very almost) impossible to prove with digital products that you created them first unless you hold some kind of copyright over the image or pattern. As far as I’m aware nobody has any copyrights to elements of web design so you are free to replicate them as you wish. If this wasn’t the case then every website on the plant will be braking DMCA because their website wasn’t first.

What you can’t do is download their item and then resell as your own.

I talked to a lawyer about the situation and he gave me good feedback on the situation. I provided the files and the DMCA notice. I spent a good hour on the phone with him ($75 call by the way) and he assured me that what I have on my site is not stealing nor is it theft. He gave me the site where I can dispute the DMCA notice and told me if I don’t hear anything back within 14 days I can put the files back on my site. He also mentioned that they would have to hire 2 lawyers, one for their district and another one in my district which is Florida. Considering that, you would essentially be paying two lawyer fees, and with me not having any sales it would be a waste of money and the judge would throw the case out considering there has been no damages.

I’m to the point where I’m losing faith in Envato. I spent a large amount of money here and now I feel like I’ve been slapped in the face and wrongfully accused of something that I didn’t do. I’ve taken all of my files off of this site and I believe I’ll be removing my account soon there after.

I contacted support here and they wrote back saying “Thank you for reporting this potential copyright violation to support. We will have it investigated and take the appropriate action necessary.” So, basically, they didn’t even read my initial email I sent them explaining the situation of the DMCA notice. It’s like they just sent a pre-written email and didn’t even notice that I was asking about the DMCA notice I received from Envato and how I was wanting to just make things right and try to get closure on the situation.

With that being said, I haven’t heard anything back. It would be nice to at least get a written response stating there thoughts on the situation.

Philmo said

twiggy99 said
They know that no individual will have the resources to compete with them in court so they can do as they like really, they now own you, have a nice day =)

False!

xstortionist never said who actually sent the DMCA . It is more likely to have come from an author rather than Envato. Envato encourage authors to send the DMCA , not them. I’m not even sure if they can’t send a DMCA , because they don’t own the copyright in the first place.

Secondly, I am reasonably sure that you can easily dispute a DMCA . Just provide evidence that the work is your own to both the sender and your hosting company. At this point you are then legally fine. If the sender still insists the work is a violation then it is with them to prove it, not with you to disprove it. It would be costly for them (particularly if you are in another country) nd if they lose (which they will if the work is your own) then you can counter-claim back any expenses and also damages.

With regards to the original question. My advive would be to take the files down and then try to get them approved here. If they’re genuinely original work and you’re not currently getting sales then what have you got to lose?

The DMCA came from Envato with their letter head on the faxed paper work to my web hosting provider.

I had 4 items on this site before I deleted them. They were getting sales and I even seen other authors who got inspiration from my work and I never had any issues with that. I think people are getting butt hurt that individuals like myself are trying to make a living selling digital files like Envato. I have a family to support and I’m just trying to make an honest buck. I’ve never stolen or lied to anyone and I don’t plan on doing so in the near future.

When I got the DMCA notice I did everything I could think of to get more information on the situation to find out why they would send a notice. I contacted support and I haven’t heard anything back other then a pre-written email that you can clearly see nobody gave the time to read what I wrote. I even wrote on this forum in hopes of hearing from the staff’s perspective.

^ seems like the pictures SCREAMS …

WTF !!!!!! he don’t take our designs like an inspiration he’s selling our designs!!! If Envato don’t send the DMCA I will and I encourage to all the other designers to do the same or he pay for the sales that he made or delete that files or we will proceed legally.

This is going to be a HOT thread!