Site plagiarizes blog posts, then files DMCA takedown on originals
Hey, so a common thread here seems to be enforceability of false DMCA notices and how it's a pity there's no penalty.<p>There are penalties.<p>Check out 17 USC 512(f):  <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/512" rel="nofollow">http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/512</a><p>(f) Misrepresentations.— Any person who knowingly materially misrepresents under this section—
(1) that material or activity is infringing, or
(2) that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification,
shall be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, incurred by the alleged infringer, by any copyright owner or copyright owner’s authorized licensee, or by a service provider, who is injured by such misrepresentation, as the result of the service provider relying upon such misrepresentation in removing or disabling access to the material or activity claimed to be infringing, or in replacing the removed material or ceasing to disable access to it.<p>I was the plaintiff in OPG v. Diebold, which was the first US federal lawsuit to establish the enforceability: we won. You can't just issue spurious, false DMCA notices without opening yourself up to large damages, such as the ones that Diebold had to pay.<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPG_v._Diebold" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPG_v._Diebold</a>