website thieving

[luap.h]

I couldn't believe this when I saw it. I was checking to see if our band's website was coming up in Google (seach for manymoremusic", and this is what I found

www.manymoremusic.com
and!!!!!!
http://www.lizziespeaks.com/home.html (the last result)

They stole our website, but changed the information on it!!! To top it off, they forgot to remove the 'hidden' text on the contact page!!
http://www.lizziespeaks.com/contact.html

if you text highlight, or search the source, you'll see

manymore Band website - manymoremusic.co.uk. An Emo-Aggressive Funk Metal band from Northern Ireland, UK

above their "copyright"

WTF!!!!!

Apart from asking them to change it, is there anything else we can do?

[Elmo]

well i cant find the "hidden" txt on the site, so i guess that's ur word against theirs sucks :/

<edit> ahh! i see it, it's only on the contacts page! they've taken it off everywhere else...

[DeludedGuy]

LMAO! Thats sad, bunch of *******!

Its not like its very hard to make a website these days.

[MD]

You could write to Easy Space and advise them the image of your band is being tarnished by this plagarism, but to be honest, there is not an awful lot you can do, get as many screenshots and source codes and then once you have them wirte to them and ask them to get thier own design.

Another good way to do it is to get a friend to email them and say they are the band manager and say that you will take the group to court unless they take down your site design immediately.

In all honesty, I have had this happen to me, the worst one was me annoucing a new design with screenshots and within hours competing sites had added the same functionality with the same layout and launched it 24hrs before me, that pissed me off soemthign rotten.

[blue..matt]

very sad indeed

though i cannot talk, when i first started web design for a few punters, i used to give them examples of sites, then just rip the HTML off it (shocking i know, but i was just starting out at the time)

the www is full of freaks and theives

[directhex]

the yahoo.co.uk address suggests they're Uk based

and yes, they're in direct violation of UK copyright law. it's not satire or anything protected, it's theft.

take a snapshot of their website (google for & download/install wget, open a command prompt, and type "wget -m www.lizziespeaks.com" when in a convenient folder), then drop them a friendly email telling them that you've noticed their site, and that they've copied your design, that you'd like them to change it. if they don't reply or tell you to feck off, tell them you'll be starting legal procedings, and file a complaint in the small claims court.

of course, i'm sure other peopel on here have more experience of these scenarios. Xev, care to lend a hand?

[shiato storm]

i'd have to agree on infringing copyright law, especially since they've been so inept as to keep the hidden details on their pages...pretty obviously not their original work. I wouldn't contact them but their service provider/web space provider and see what they say about plagarism/copyright etc.
I'd then go with the legal approach etc., people often give up their erroneous ways when faced with possible legal entanglements...

[MD]

go to the shop on thier site and click order, you get the guys home address

m@

[shiato storm]

...apply baseball bat to skull with firm swinging action...

[Twigman]

We need a foot bollocks interaction I think.

[luap.h]

cheers for all the suggestions guys - we sent a mail asking them to change it a few days ago, still no change yet. Rest assured, website has been snapshotted for future reference

[0iD]

Read their forum? UEA gig post. Dood gives his phone number out....???

[Blub2k]

I suggest that a few "new" people join their forums and start threads like
"anyone recognise this website from manymore etc"
"who's a thieving swine then"
and so on
if enough people join then they will get the message.

[0iD]

Sounds like a plan to me

[shiato storm]

right then, lets go...!

[directhex]

i can't condone forum invasion, even under circumstances like this.