"... On Jul 27, 5:38 am, Molly Brogan <[email protected]> wrote: ..."
On top of the above is what you can do if the copyright of something of which you have been the original author is violated -- about all you can do is send them a cease and desist order, which if they snubbed you could go to a court of equity to force them into compliance. But you couldn't sue them for monetary damages because there would be none. First of all, in posting on a forum such as this you have no expectation of profits so there is nothing to sue for. There are four elements to a lawsuit. There has to be a duty (such as not to steal someone else's work and represented it as your own), then there has to be a breach of that duty (such as that person taking your words and using them as their own), then that breach has to be the proximate cause (the most direct result) of damages which you suffered. Since you had no intention to reap a gain from your words here, there was no loss except to your ego which is not a compensable item. Now since you're a published writer a good attorney might be able to work up a case for damage to your reputation as a result of the copyright violation. And if the no-good low-down thieven varmint has actually made money from your words you can always sue for that too. In answer to your other question, you can register your copyright at any time you choose but since it's a time-consuming and not inexpensive process, the only time you do is with works you have published for money but your copyright is created when you first publish your thoughts. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
