[center]A Warning and Information About Copyright Infringement [u][/u][/center]
As many know, I have run forums, as well developed and published websites for years. Within these forums and websites is design and literature which is my creation. The fact that 'I' created this information means that these are my 'Intellectual Property'. I legally 'own' the material.
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.
IP is protected in law by, for example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. By striking the right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP system aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish.
Copyright - "Copyright" is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps and technical drawings. (http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/)
My responsibility, especially as the 'owner' of IP, is to protect it from theft by others who might think that it is okay to copy and publish elsewhere. But, I also have the responsibility of protecting these forums and sites by ensuring that no person posts others' IP on my sites or boards, because that puts my forums and sites in danger of being removed from the internet.
"DMCA prevents the unauthorized duplication of digital copyrighted works by regulating digital intellectual property (IP) owners and consumers. Since DMCA was passed in 1998, similar bills and legislation have been adopted internationally."
What does Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) mean?
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is U.S. copyright legislation that implements the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty and the 1996 WIPO Copyright Treaty. DMCA prevents the unauthorized duplication of digital copyrighted works by regulating digital intellectual property (IP) owners and consumers. Since DMCA was passed in 1998, similar bills and legislation have been adopted internationally. (http://www.techopedia.com/definition/14196/digital-millennium-copyright-act-dmca)
I am writing this to stress the importance for everyone who has websites or runs forums to make sure that you do not have others' IP anywhere on your forum or site. If you suddenly see your forum disappearing or your website is simply gone one morning, you can assume that either a 'guardian' agency, who do have access to even 'private forums', found copied information, or someone has filed a DMCA report that you have illegally 'copied' information on your site or forum. In order for your board or site to be 'removed' from the internet, the infringement of others' IP must be blatant and intentional. You should not consider that excuses like, "I was given permission to use that design" will fly unless you can show written consent for exactly what you were allowed to copy. And, telling others' that your site or forum was 'hacked' is ridiculous. If your board or site is removed from the internet, it can be assumed that 'copied' information was found or you failed to comply to the servers' 'terms of service'. You cannot 'pretend' the you have not been informed and given a chance to counter and explain.
For instance, I am responsible for creating and enforcing guidelines to stop members from posting and/or including in chat any information that is protected by copyright. We have even had members argue that it is 'okay' to use others' IP from books or articles. I am not willing to lose my board, because members refuse to see the seriousness of this. Instead, we have lost members who think that our staff was 'mean to them' by telling them to stop.
I am going to include an example. I created our forum (Ivory Garden) some 7 years ago. I designed the board, I wrote every word included on that board. Most of the written work remains on our current board - igdid.com. The integrity of our board is 'believed' by the tone of my writing. My intellectual knowledge is included in our missions statement, guidelines, etc. People come to our board and decide whether we are a trusted and professional by what they read. The design of the board is unique to my taste and gives the board a 'feel'. I often have people state that they joined our board based on what they 'read' in our mission statement and guidelines.
One of our administrators decided 5 years ago that she 'deserved' to take our board, design, written work - which was protected by law - to another site and publish it as her own IP. Nothing was really reported, because the board was nonproductive, until one day recently, she decided that she also deserved to recruit members from our forum as well. This caused a huge problem when the members she recruited read mission statements, guidelines and rules that she did not write, assuming that she also had the integrity that was implied in the work. She has no integrity, since she first, was guilty of theft and secondly, acted unprofessionally breaking TOS by recruiting members from our board. These are serious allegations, which have been proved through independent sources. In fact, this person 'feeds' her own forum with members taken from other forums by telling people that she is trustworthy while trashing other owners' credibility. She uses deceit and false empathy to lure members. When she is caught and the stolen work deleted from the internet, she tells further lies to her members proposing that she is 'keeping them safe' from the IP owner - hoping that they will see her as innocent.
The forum "Multiple Paths to Healing, which has been taken down for theft of my IP by her, will not be returned to the internet. This is not her only 'theft'. She proposes to also own the IP on 'her' website which she literally stole my password, removed my name and put hers' as the owner of the url. This website is about to be also removed. This entire website was designed and written by me, and I always protect my work.
These thefts were intentional, and she will pay for them. She will lie, cheat, and back-step to everyone who will listen, but those who matter have found her guilty. The proof is that her board is gone. No one can hack a server and remove a forum. That is just not a plausible explanation. Obviously, the owner of the IP 'is' the person just trying to protect herself from the lies and theft of this unethical character. Proper agencies who enforce the copyright laws make the decision and have access to remove IP theft from the internet.
Kate - the owner of Multiple Paths to Healing - 'knew' and purposefully stole the work she presents as her own. Her plight is now explaining to people who trusted her that she can still be trusted after they find out that she is guilty of stealing an entire board and website - as well as abandoning those who then trusted her as a staff person five years ago by lying again and again to try to make herself sound innocent.
Granted, others may accidentally put someone else's IP on their sites or forums. The last thing that you ever want to happen is to wake up one morning with no site or forum only to discover that it was removed because of IP theft.
My warning: be very careful to know and understand copyright law and what DMCA means. In order to protect your own work, learn how to recognize and find when your IP has been stolen and what to do. There are literally hundreds of places to report. There are even places to report and get a finders' fee. I found that Multiple Paths to Healing had stolen my IP by simply taking a paragraph from my mission statement, putting it in google search and finding it copied on "Multiple Paths to Healing" forum. Kate - the owner - has been warned many times to remove the information, but ignored the warnings for 5 years. I have found my mission statement on a couple other forums also, but when asked, they did remove the work immediately and apologized. Those are ethical owners who take pride in their own work.
This is 'not' drama, but me trying to protect my work. I am ethical and do not hack or lie, but believe that my work is important enough that it should not be used by an unethical thief who proclaims herself to be the 'victim'.
I, for one, am hurt that her deceit and ability to control others has effectively turned those who I so trusted and cared about against me. I understand that this is the internet - a place where we have to be careful of trusting. I have spent the past 8 years working 'only' to give survivors a place to be - safely. Anything else that is said about me is simply untrue. I am sad that some 'view' this as 'drama'. I detest drama and gossip.
This issue has been around for a long time. I have removed many posts on our board which violated copyright. Everything written here and elsewhere by me is copyright protected. It is easy to have read the information on Multiple Path to Healing forum and website and recognize that I am the IP owner.
Just remember to always write your own information. People can then decide, based on what 'you' wrote whether you are trustworthy and what you stand for. Present yourself as truly ethical by following Terms of Services and copyright laws. You will be able to stand tall as trustworthy at all times - despite who might attack or lie about you.
I hope this was helpful to all who run forums or websites, have IP on the net, and or who trust those who have lost boards or websites or people who protect them. Those who 'steal' others' IP are worse than abusers. They are stealing the creative heart and soul of a person and pretending that they have one.
I and the people who have been lured by this owner -Kate- are the victims who, if we don't protect ourselves, remain the focus of her and her followers gossip and lies.
Thank you all - I care for every person - regardless of what you believe and where you are standing on these issues.
The very best to you all,
Felicity Lee
All rights protect - do not copy - 2014
As many know, I have run forums, as well developed and published websites for years. Within these forums and websites is design and literature which is my creation. The fact that 'I' created this information means that these are my 'Intellectual Property'. I legally 'own' the material.
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.
IP is protected in law by, for example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. By striking the right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP system aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish.
Copyright - "Copyright" is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps and technical drawings. (http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/)
My responsibility, especially as the 'owner' of IP, is to protect it from theft by others who might think that it is okay to copy and publish elsewhere. But, I also have the responsibility of protecting these forums and sites by ensuring that no person posts others' IP on my sites or boards, because that puts my forums and sites in danger of being removed from the internet.
"DMCA prevents the unauthorized duplication of digital copyrighted works by regulating digital intellectual property (IP) owners and consumers. Since DMCA was passed in 1998, similar bills and legislation have been adopted internationally."
What does Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) mean?
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is U.S. copyright legislation that implements the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty and the 1996 WIPO Copyright Treaty. DMCA prevents the unauthorized duplication of digital copyrighted works by regulating digital intellectual property (IP) owners and consumers. Since DMCA was passed in 1998, similar bills and legislation have been adopted internationally. (http://www.techopedia.com/definition/14196/digital-millennium-copyright-act-dmca)
I am writing this to stress the importance for everyone who has websites or runs forums to make sure that you do not have others' IP anywhere on your forum or site. If you suddenly see your forum disappearing or your website is simply gone one morning, you can assume that either a 'guardian' agency, who do have access to even 'private forums', found copied information, or someone has filed a DMCA report that you have illegally 'copied' information on your site or forum. In order for your board or site to be 'removed' from the internet, the infringement of others' IP must be blatant and intentional. You should not consider that excuses like, "I was given permission to use that design" will fly unless you can show written consent for exactly what you were allowed to copy. And, telling others' that your site or forum was 'hacked' is ridiculous. If your board or site is removed from the internet, it can be assumed that 'copied' information was found or you failed to comply to the servers' 'terms of service'. You cannot 'pretend' the you have not been informed and given a chance to counter and explain.
For instance, I am responsible for creating and enforcing guidelines to stop members from posting and/or including in chat any information that is protected by copyright. We have even had members argue that it is 'okay' to use others' IP from books or articles. I am not willing to lose my board, because members refuse to see the seriousness of this. Instead, we have lost members who think that our staff was 'mean to them' by telling them to stop.
I am going to include an example. I created our forum (Ivory Garden) some 7 years ago. I designed the board, I wrote every word included on that board. Most of the written work remains on our current board - igdid.com. The integrity of our board is 'believed' by the tone of my writing. My intellectual knowledge is included in our missions statement, guidelines, etc. People come to our board and decide whether we are a trusted and professional by what they read. The design of the board is unique to my taste and gives the board a 'feel'. I often have people state that they joined our board based on what they 'read' in our mission statement and guidelines.
One of our administrators decided 5 years ago that she 'deserved' to take our board, design, written work - which was protected by law - to another site and publish it as her own IP. Nothing was really reported, because the board was nonproductive, until one day recently, she decided that she also deserved to recruit members from our forum as well. This caused a huge problem when the members she recruited read mission statements, guidelines and rules that she did not write, assuming that she also had the integrity that was implied in the work. She has no integrity, since she first, was guilty of theft and secondly, acted unprofessionally breaking TOS by recruiting members from our board. These are serious allegations, which have been proved through independent sources. In fact, this person 'feeds' her own forum with members taken from other forums by telling people that she is trustworthy while trashing other owners' credibility. She uses deceit and false empathy to lure members. When she is caught and the stolen work deleted from the internet, she tells further lies to her members proposing that she is 'keeping them safe' from the IP owner - hoping that they will see her as innocent.
The forum "Multiple Paths to Healing, which has been taken down for theft of my IP by her, will not be returned to the internet. This is not her only 'theft'. She proposes to also own the IP on 'her' website which she literally stole my password, removed my name and put hers' as the owner of the url. This website is about to be also removed. This entire website was designed and written by me, and I always protect my work.
These thefts were intentional, and she will pay for them. She will lie, cheat, and back-step to everyone who will listen, but those who matter have found her guilty. The proof is that her board is gone. No one can hack a server and remove a forum. That is just not a plausible explanation. Obviously, the owner of the IP 'is' the person just trying to protect herself from the lies and theft of this unethical character. Proper agencies who enforce the copyright laws make the decision and have access to remove IP theft from the internet.
Kate - the owner of Multiple Paths to Healing - 'knew' and purposefully stole the work she presents as her own. Her plight is now explaining to people who trusted her that she can still be trusted after they find out that she is guilty of stealing an entire board and website - as well as abandoning those who then trusted her as a staff person five years ago by lying again and again to try to make herself sound innocent.
Granted, others may accidentally put someone else's IP on their sites or forums. The last thing that you ever want to happen is to wake up one morning with no site or forum only to discover that it was removed because of IP theft.
My warning: be very careful to know and understand copyright law and what DMCA means. In order to protect your own work, learn how to recognize and find when your IP has been stolen and what to do. There are literally hundreds of places to report. There are even places to report and get a finders' fee. I found that Multiple Paths to Healing had stolen my IP by simply taking a paragraph from my mission statement, putting it in google search and finding it copied on "Multiple Paths to Healing" forum. Kate - the owner - has been warned many times to remove the information, but ignored the warnings for 5 years. I have found my mission statement on a couple other forums also, but when asked, they did remove the work immediately and apologized. Those are ethical owners who take pride in their own work.
This is 'not' drama, but me trying to protect my work. I am ethical and do not hack or lie, but believe that my work is important enough that it should not be used by an unethical thief who proclaims herself to be the 'victim'.
I, for one, am hurt that her deceit and ability to control others has effectively turned those who I so trusted and cared about against me. I understand that this is the internet - a place where we have to be careful of trusting. I have spent the past 8 years working 'only' to give survivors a place to be - safely. Anything else that is said about me is simply untrue. I am sad that some 'view' this as 'drama'. I detest drama and gossip.
This issue has been around for a long time. I have removed many posts on our board which violated copyright. Everything written here and elsewhere by me is copyright protected. It is easy to have read the information on Multiple Path to Healing forum and website and recognize that I am the IP owner.
Just remember to always write your own information. People can then decide, based on what 'you' wrote whether you are trustworthy and what you stand for. Present yourself as truly ethical by following Terms of Services and copyright laws. You will be able to stand tall as trustworthy at all times - despite who might attack or lie about you.
I hope this was helpful to all who run forums or websites, have IP on the net, and or who trust those who have lost boards or websites or people who protect them. Those who 'steal' others' IP are worse than abusers. They are stealing the creative heart and soul of a person and pretending that they have one.
I and the people who have been lured by this owner -Kate- are the victims who, if we don't protect ourselves, remain the focus of her and her followers gossip and lies.
Thank you all - I care for every person - regardless of what you believe and where you are standing on these issues.
The very best to you all,
Felicity Lee
All rights protect - do not copy - 2014
