My admittedly Quixotic battles perfectly demonstrate something over which Congress is deliberating, according to a recent mailing from the copyrightalliance.org.
To cut to the chase....: Complain to your Congressmen about copyright infringement
This form goes automatically to your representatives in Washington. There is a form email, and you simply add your contact info. PO Boxes work.
Click on this URL to take action now
http://capwiz.
This is the serious stuff: The highlighting is my own.
Letter from the Copyright Alliance Director of Outreach, Lucinda Dugger.
RUMOR HAS IT that the U.S. House of Representatives will be introducing its version of the rogue sites legislation in the coming weeks. I have been reporting to you about the legislation over the past year. We have seen it take on various forms and names, but the underlying purpose of the bill remains the same: to provide new tools to remove advertising and legitimate payment processing from foreign rogue internet sites that are dedicated to infringing activities, and to make those sites less accessible to US users.
You may recall that the Senate introduced its version of the bill in May. For a recap of that bill, click here.
The Debate Heats Up
Washington, DC has been teeming with supporters and opponents over the bill in the recent weeks, and we expect the debates to continue over the coming months. Though the Copyright Alliance holds a position that this bill will support both artists/creators and the creative industries broadly, technology giants and others are lining up organizations to misrepresent what the bill does. They are claiming that by preventing unscrupulous parties from making money distributing your works without your authorization, the bill is somehow a threat to free speech and innovation. But it is clear that no one has a "free speech" right to commercialize your work over your objections.
I hear from many of you about your struggles with digital theft through these rogue websites and know that protecting the rights and work of artists enhances creativity, free speech and innovation. If you want to share your story of digital theft, send an email to: info@copyrightallia
Additional Help for Small Business and Individual Copyright Owners
As preparations continue for introducing the bill in the House of Representatives, we have also heard from Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX). As part of his effort to crack down on rogue sites, his office is interested in exploring additional remedies to help effectively enforce the rights of small businesses and individual copyright owners harmed by infringement. He has requested that the U.S. Copyright Office conduct a study about the feasibility of alternate "small claims court" procedures that could be quicker and less expensive for copyright owners to pursue. We will keep you posted so that you can help us weigh in once the study begins.
Take Action
Show your Senators that you support the bill and encourage your Representatives to quickly introduce their version of the bill by sending this letter to Capitol Hill.
Feel passionate about this issue? Let us know. . .we are looking for a few strong voices to help us get the word out about these issues. To chime in send an email with your name, address and contact information, and a little bit about yourself to info@copyrightallia
(redacted paragraph, cut for lack of links and length)
Best,
Lucinda Dugger
Director of Outreach
ONE VOI©E: SPEAK UP FOR CREATORS' RIGHTS
Now, for my little anecdote.
I've been watching, semi-helplessly, as a site that ignores DMCA notices shares one of my ebooks. Banner ads by various businesses fund this digital theft, as you can see for yourself.... which is why I include the link.I wrote to Papa John's Pizza using the only online contact available. They are not set up to receive DMCA complaints and obviously a robot is in charge of Customer Service. Check out the response I received to my complaint that they are funding copyright infringement.
Rowena,
On behalf of Papa John's Pizza, we would like to apologize for any
inconvenience you encountered with your recent order from Papa John's. We
are truly sorry the problem from the restaurant caused your order not to
meet expectations. Our goal is to provide not only a superior quality
pizza, but also a World Class Customer Experience to our consumers at all
times. Your comments have been sent to the Owners/Operators for this
location and someone should be contacting you soon.
Thank you for taking the time to complete the Internet Feedback form.Your
incident number is PJIA-8MTTW8; please refer to this number in any future
correspondence. We want to encourage you to call your local Papa John's
whenever you have questions or comments, but if we can be of further
assistance, please visit us again at www.papajohns.com.
Sincerely,
Consumer Services Team
For the record, I've also complained to PayPal 's Infringement Report team, because there is a Donate button at the bottom of the page (in a footer run by wibiya to whom I have also complained) which does work, and PayPal does take 1c of profit for every $1.00 donated to the site owner.
Since the Donate button is still there and still goes to PayPal, I infer that PayPal needs a bit of Congressional scrutiny.
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