Consumer Law, Warranties Theft of Services, Copyright Infringement, and/or Liability Issues?

[bfphantom]

Greetings,

I work for an online sports handicapping service that operates out of Las Vegas. We are not a gambling site; we simply sell our handicappers' selections to our customers for them to then wager online or in casinos. Our handicappers post their picks in an area of the site where only paying customers can access them with a unique username and password.

However, there are several gambling forums that allow users to post our selections, word-for-word, for potential customers to see. These posts are literally cut-and-pasted from our site with the name of the handicapper they are ripping off listed above them.

My question is this: does this constitute theft of service by the parties posting the information, or is it in any way illegal for them to do? That is essentially what our business is - we sell valuable information - and these people are stealing it and posting it online.

Next, is this copyright infringement since they are essentially plagiarizing what has been written and posted on our site without our permission?

Finally, can the moderators and the people who host the forum be held liable for illegal actions that occur on their forum?

Any information that you could provide would be greatly appreciated. If we have any legal standing we will definitely be looking for representation to pursue this matter since it is costing us thousands of dollars each month.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Greetings,

I work for an online sports handicapping service that operates out of Las Vegas. We are not a gambling site; we simply sell our handicappers' selections to our customers for them to then wager online or in casinos. Our handicappers post their picks in an area of the site where only paying customers can access them with a unique username and password.

However, there are several gambling forums that allow users to post our selections, word-for-word, for potential customers to see. These posts are literally cut-and-pasted from our site with the name of the handicapper they are ripping off listed above them.

My question is this: does this constitute theft of service by the parties posting the information, or is it in any way illegal for them to do? That is essentially what our business is - we sell valuable information - and these people are stealing it and posting it online.

Next, is this copyright infringement since they are essentially plagiarizing what has been written and posted on our site without our permission?

Finally, can the moderators and the people who host the forum be held liable for illegal actions that occur on their forum?

Any information that you could provide would be greatly appreciated. If we have any legal standing we will definitely be looking for representation to pursue this matter since it is costing us thousands of dollars each month.

Sorry to hear about the situation. Here are a couple of ideas that should help you save several thousand dollars per month for the foreseeable future. Please feel free to send some donations to our site.

(1) Your posts on your forums should be subject to copyright law. If you haven't made this clear you should, although that doesn't prevent you from sending a takedown notice to sites that are publishing this information and to the host to potentially shut down these sites. Essentially you send a notice to the site owners and hosts of these sites with information as to the fact that (a) indentifies the copyright information specifically to which you are referring so anyone can find it, (b) you claim that you own it and explain how, (c) you demand an immediate removal. You may also want to let them both know they may be liable for copyright infringement.

(2) You should have terms and conditions of access in your terms of agreement that specifically states that the information obtained is confidential. Their posting any information elsewhere constitutes a breach of contract and would subject these individuals to penalty. Enforcement can be challenging (e.g. if they are located around the country) but at least you've set everything up properly so that these unscrupulous individuals will be put over the barrel and makes it easier for you to get their information taken down.

Good luck to you... literally and figuratively!