Our of our clients ("Company ABC") recently became aware of a company on the East Coast of the United States ("Company XYZ") that had stolen a significant portion of Company ABC's website and used it on their own website.
Company XYZ stole Company ABC’s entire business model along with photos taken by Company ABC's owner and huge chunks of Company ABC's original text that were simply copied and pasted onto Company XYZ's website. Company XYZ's website was similar in content, overall message, arrangement, and text. Company XYZ's billing policy, fee structure, and FAQs were identical to Company ABC's website, which pre-dated Company XYZ's website and domain name by at least two years.
Upon learning of the rip-off from us, Company ABC sent Company XYZ harsh emails demanding they remove from their website every item they stole from Company ABC. Company ABC's lawyer also sent a Cease & Desist letter warning Company XYZ to remove stolen content. Within days, and after a few stern follow-up emails from Company ABC, the copied material was removed from Company XYZ's website.
These copycats found Company ABC's website, liked what they saw, and decided to pirate it. Company ABC will be watching Company XYZ closely and will vigorously defend their intellectual property from anyone who attempts to steal their copyrighted material without permission.
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* The real names of Company ABC and Company XYZ have been changed to protect privacy.
This article has been cross-posted to our blog with permission from our customer.
