Blatant Theft Of Copywrite Material

[seonai]

Sorry Mr Farang,

are you in dispute about copywrite law or farangs working in Thailand ??? Could you answer directly then we'll all be in the clear. And by the way... you sound like a boring old fart.

Sorry for being honest,

Seonai

[bino]

if you cant beat em, join em, so thats what I did, ripped some of theirs off.

Right on TP..... This is what I would do! Is there any content in their site that you can use?

Let them figure out the complexities and futility of trying to deal with the Thai authorities when they don't like it!

[khall64au]

You'll find many discussions and advice on copyright and stolen content issues here:

http://www.webmasterworld.com

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for this link, by the way OlRedEyes- there is some very useful information on this topic there.

Cheers!!!

[taxin]

Take a look at this http://www.lostinthailand.com/thailand-gui...eal-estate.html.  Then take a look at this - http://lannarealty.com/faq.php #4.  They are the same!  I wrote the text for lannarealty.com but I now see it in lostinthailand's website.  They copied it directly from me without giving any credit and when I contacted them I got the standard answer "we are looking into it and will get back to you" which they never did.  Is there anything I can do?

I notice this isn't an isolated incident - http://www.lostinthailand.com/thailand-gui...chiang-rai.html and http://www.thailand-lawyer.com/land_purphase.html - probably lots more!

(Sorry, title should be copyright not copywrite)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK, firstly your website is NOT the same ! Yours is a pile of crap compared to the "accused" !

Secondly when I click on the accused site I see no resemblance to yours. OK, you might say "but if you click here and look there" I might see it however, I have already made up my mind ! Yours is so bad I would be embarrassed to come on here and accuse someone of copying it !!

What the accused has done is simply used some other fools time (and maybe expense) for his own gain, who’s the clever one ? Not you !!!

I have just done the exact same thing where I have just created (or not as the case may be) a website myself which I copied from another, not just a bit of text but the whole thing ! Saved me about 10,000 baht !

The only way you can stop them is if ..... 1) You are a Thai registered company, 2) You copyrighted the website as a "brand" of your company, and C) The accused is also a Thai company.

My guess is its going to be neither of these so.... its A) get over it or Moan and groan about it on internet forums hoping that someone feels sorry for you..... and guess what ?....... we dont !!!

[bino]

Yours is so bad I would be embarrassed to come on here and accuse someone of copying it !!

If I were you, I'd be embarrased to come on here and admit:

I have just done the exact same thing where I have just created (or not as the case may be) a website myself which I copied from another, not just a bit of text but the whole thing !   Saved me about 10,000 baht !

A 10,000 bt website would be a piece of cr*p.

Why don't you give us the URLs of your site and the one you copied? Show us just how smart you are!

Edited September 23, 2005 by bino

[khall64au]

You cheapskate Taxin... says alot about your ethics and your services (whatever they may be)

[Maestro]

They copied it directly from me without giving any credit and when I contacted them I got the standard answer "we are looking into it and will get back to you" which they never did.  Is there anything I can do?

Of course there’s something you can do: hire a lawyer and sue the perpetrator for violation of your intellectual property right.

[OldAsiaHand]

Don't you wonder what all these idiots do when they're not posting illiterate abuse on this forum? It's like they are hiding in the basement with your crazy old uncle, climb up the stairs every now and then, let go with a huge fart, and then disappear back into their hole again. Good Lord. What a bunch of jerks.

[HarryHacker]

Well, from personal experience I can tell you there are IP laws here in Thailand to cover the content of text within a website. The author of the text is the owner of said text.

T & G were involved with the first and only case here in Thailand which started 3 years ago and ended in stalemate last year. Its very hard to prosecute and also hard to defend. The IP courts here want these matters mediated and settled in a responsible manor. The lawyers will be the winners.

Try to reach some agreement with the other party and move on.

Edit

...and by the way, your legal status would be very important as you need to file a charge with the Police who will take all of the details of both parties involved.

Edited September 24, 2005 by HarryHacker

[Cheeky Farang]

I reckon this is a SMART way to advertise you business.

put it on here with a link and complain about the Thais

Any thoughts ?

[Thaipwriter]

I reckon this is a SMART way to advertise you business.

put it on here with a link and complain about the Thais

Any thoughts ?

Free! no charge! zip! gratis!

Once your IP goes into cyberspace you may as well kiss it goodbye, make sure you get paid for it the first time and be happy with that!

[Tywais]

"Under the Berne copyright convention, which almost all major nations have signed, every creative work is copyrighted the moment it is fixed in tangible form. No notice is necessary, though it helps legal cases. No registration is necessary, though it's needed later to sue. The copyright lasts until 70 years after the author dies. Facts and ideas can't be copyrighted, only expressions of creative effort."

And this url:

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

Edited September 24, 2005 by tywais

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Just out of curiosity does writing for a website require a workpermit?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's work. Of course it does

[Thaipwriter]

so meom, state your case or leave

I think Meom threw in a decent question, i am surpised by your subsequent tirade, having a bad day were you??

Or are you in charge now?

You have the power to demand that people leave?

state your case

[Goldenbead]

so meom, state your case or leave

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think Meom threw in a decent question, i am surpised by your subsequent tirade, having a bad day were you??

Or are you in charge now?

You have the power to demand that people leave?

state your case

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree. What is up with you today Seonai? Very agressive for no good reason it seems.

[Abandon]

I worked for a year on a multimillion dollar CD ROM production here in Thailand. After its release a bunch of Thais were found to be copying and distributing it for free to other Thais in the U.S. - Of course they went crazy and tried to prosecute ... it seems I was the only one who saw the irony - with all the blatant piracy of Holywood movies being sold openly on the street corners.

[mrreality]

Take a look at this http://www.lostinthailand.com/thailand-gui...eal-estate.html.  Then take a look at this - http://lannarealty.com/faq.php #4.  They are the same!  I wrote the text for lannarealty.com but I now see it in lostinthailand's website.  They copied it directly from me without giving any credit and when I contacted them I got the standard answer "we are looking into it and will get back to you" which they never did.  Is there anything I can do?

I notice this isn't an isolated incident - http://www.lostinthailand.com/thailand-gui...chiang-rai.html and http://www.thailand-lawyer.com/land_purphase.html - probably lots more!

(Sorry, title should be copyright not copywrite)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If the information in your site is valuable enough, why don't you file a lawsuit? I'm sure that you can prove that the information in your site was established before theirs.

From past experience, just the threat of a lawsuit could make them 'get back to you' quicker, or at least take you more seriously.

[bkkmadness]

Dont know if this may help if you want to take it further. I would at least mail the webmasters of those sites first and ask them to take it off or provide an incoming link to your site. They may have outsourced writers and not even be aware of the copywright infringement.

This is from 2bangkok

How to sue over copyright infringement on the net in Thailand - January 28, 2004

Stuart McDonald offers this info on how to sue over copyright infringement on the internet:

1) Get a complete copy of whatever is online that is infringing your copyright.

2) Get in touch with some lawyers and file the case.

3) The material is then sent to the court who decide if it is a bonafide case, if it is then the other party is contacted and advised that proceedings are being brought against them.

4) The information generally disappears shortly after that, but as you've already paid the lawyers, you need to continue through to at least a settlement to recoup your costs.

5)The haggling begins, this can take months, as generally nothing happens then there is a bout of haggling the morning that you're due in court.

6) If you settle, you still need to go to court to drop the case.

I settled after two hearings and so dropped the case on the third hearing.

The math

Cases like these are filed through the IP Court (which is a criminal court) - this court has a reputation for speed - it only took my case eight months to run its course. Cases in other courts can drag on for years.

The court can award from 20,000B to 800,000B in cases such as these. Whatever the court awards, it gets to keep half!!! [This is why most of these cases are settled out of court.]Although one would assume that would mean they rule high, in reality they tend not to - around 200,000 is a common ruling for cases like mine.

Legal fees

Fees depend on the lawyers. Mine charged me 75,000B +15% of the take - we settled for 180,000B, so I just over doubled my money. Would I use my lawyers again? No way. They gave me some poor advice midway through the process that led me to turn down a settlement of 350,000 (thinking I could get more) and in the end I got less. Be sure that your lawyers have dealt in this type of material before.

If possible record everything your lawyers say - this makes it much easier when disputes arise later on (as they often do).

Would I do it again? No way. I had no idea who it was I was actually suing. We live in a no security apartment and were concerned about assaults/robberies related to the case, however in the end nothing happened. It was eight months of stress and worry, when, if I'd sent the clown a letter, he probably would have taken it down anyway.

Next time I'd send them some legal mumbo jumbo and see if it disappeared. In this case I needed to act as I had sold the content to another person online and they were upset about it.

The Thai courts are quite intimidating - everything is in Thai and no allowance is made for convenient translations. You are expected to sign off on volumes of documents in Thai without translations being made available. Your lawyer says they're all OK - but to this day I have no idea what I signed.

Intresting little mention of thaivisa through that link actually, though the offending page has been taken off this website.

Edited September 24, 2005 by bkkmadness

[ThaiPauly]

The lawyers will be the winners.

Try to reach some agreement with the other party and move on.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Never a truer word spoken.

I have just settled a lawsuit back in the UK out of court.

My Lawyers told me that if I went to court and lost I could be facing costs of up to one hundred thousand pounds. My Lawyers were charging me 195 pounds an hour.Ridiculous rates, alsways best to find ways round these problems

[Curt]

What are the documented fiscal damages incurred from this act of plagiarism?

How much is it worth you, financially, to recieve your credit, or have the offending material removed?

If you have been discussing this with the Thailand office, you are pissing upwind.

The registered admisitrative contact for LostinThailand.com:

Creagh, Chris [email protected]

Travel Solutions Thailand

77 Portobello Road

London W11 2QB

United Kingdom

07984155564

Maybe they might understand your concern.

[spacebass]

Take a look at this http://www.lostinthailand.com/thailand-gui...eal-estate.html.  Then take a look at this - http://lannarealty.com/faq.php #4.  They are the same!  I wrote the text for lannarealty.com but I now see it in lostinthailand's website.  They copied it directly from me without giving any credit and when I contacted them I got the standard answer "we are looking into it and will get back to you" which they never did.  Is there anything I can do?

I notice this isn't an isolated incident - http://www.lostinthailand.com/thailand-gui...chiang-rai.html and http://www.thailand-lawyer.com/land_purphase.html - probably lots more!

(Sorry, title should be copyright not copywrite)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The answer is 'No you cannot afford to do anything about it".

[Mr. Farang]

Dear Khun Lannachiangrai,

After reviewing the two web sites more closely, my "free armchair" advice is:

ไม่เป็นไร

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Farang

Edited September 25, 2005 by Mr. Farang

[mpdkorat]

I reckon this is a SMART way to advertise you business.

put it on here with a link and complain about the Thais

Any thoughts ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Great minds........

[mpdkorat]

I worked for a year on a multimillion dollar CD ROM production here in Thailand. After its release a bunch of Thais were found to be copying and distributing it for free to other Thais in the U.S. - Of course they went crazy and tried to prosecute ... it seems I was the only one who saw the irony - with all the blatant piracy of Holywood movies being sold openly on the street corners.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Anyone found a good copy of Tom Yum Goong yet, I have been looking but have not found one to date. Tried to buy one from my usual source but was told that the police would confiscate and arrest if a copy of this movie was found.

[bluebear]

yeh, they are great about protecting thai movies from piracy - thats why a lot of the new dvds dont have english subtitles

anyway, back to the point. i dont know about doing anything to the company but you can write to google and the other search engines and get them to remove the web site from their results and replace it with your complaint.

of course you have to have some proof you were online before they were.

[lannachiangrai]

Thanks Curt,

I was able to do a google search on "Chris Creagh Thailand" and found that he and his girlfriend Oi have a travel agency in Samui called Travel Solutions. His phone number was on the site so I called him and found out he was in England. I talked to Sab, another farang and she said they couldn't give me a link because that is part of their business strategy (they are trying to sell links) but they said they would try to change the offending text. They certainly weren't very apologetic.

[lannachiangrai]

Just after the phone call I got an email from them and a link has been created!!

Thanks for the help.

[seonai]

Golden Beard and Thaipwriter,

Sorry didn't get back sooner. yes I was having a bad day when I replied to Meom on this post. In effect I don't really care to much I just felt mad about freedom of speech and such like and I had drank 4 vodkas!!!! Truth!!!! Apologies to all offended. Mr Farang I bet you're not so bad after all!!!!

I get a bit defensive when it comes to writing and just being able to write. Any of you guys know about PEN ?

Yours with a wee red face,

Seonai

[khall64au]

Just after the phone call I got an email from them and a link has been created!!

Thanks for the help.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good news! That was the outcome I was hoping for. May try it myself!!!

[bkkmadness]

Sounds like you've had a good result, I think that lostinthailand is a well ranked site and you got a link from their homepage to your site, gotta be good for the search engines let alone traffic you get from them.