Re: Yamaha Shuts Down, Then Licenses To, FZ-1 Site
"Anyway, shame on them for stealing stuff, shame on longride and MO for posting this without first following up, and this leaves the question: If someone was stealing your work product and re-selling it, would you let them license it after-the-fact or sue them back to the stone ages?"
How about just having them take it down instead of going the C&D route? This was a site promoting their products and informing their owners, not pirating for profit. A simple letter to remove the offending material would have sufficed, I am sure. This site never got a letter, but got a C&D order to shut down the site or transfer ownership to Yamaha. Anything that was posted here at MO was not untrue. Yamaha lawyers just went to shut them down, period, with no warning. Yamaha claimed to have no knowledge of what was done. The site currently is still not posting any Yamaha logo, pictures, and even the site URL is in question at this point. Even though the sued ranter was going off on Yamaha, I think he certainly objected to the heavy-handed treatment more than anything. Both sides of every story are not always posted here. That's why follow-ups can be posted. When Harley had a class action suit filed against them, nobody ever went to Harley to ask their side of the case. We only posted the plaintiffs case, which certainly could have been a complete lie and fabrication. I checked the site in question and they are still shut down by a C & D order from Yamaha. So let me answer the question of what I would do if somebody is "stealing my stuff". So, I have someone that is stealing my stuff and making practically nothing because of it, yet is promoting my products heavily and has certainly increased the marketing, loyality, and sales of my product without me paying a dime. Hmmmm. Anyone could figure a phone call or letter explaining the copyright infringement, and why it needs to be removed, with an offer of licensing, would have solved the problem easily. That's my take.