Having an RSS feed is not permission to copy content to your blog without attribution. Period.

Which is why this email is all kinds of wrong

Good morning Allison,

I am writing to you on behalf of the owner of the domain [redacted].  I do not own the domain however I share the server where this domain is hosted.

I have asked the owner to remove the url’s listed in your email. These url’s now 404.

I would like to point out however a few items that you should consider in the future:

a.  Your RSS feeds located at: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/sphynxcatblog/OOLE make this content available.  The purpose of RSS feeds is to syndicate your content so that others may use it and you derive the backlinks and credit as the source on the information. This is important on a number of levels and you may want to reconsider your thinking.

b.  Because you provide your RSS feeds.  You have zero legal standing.  You cannot say ” here, use my content “  and then sue someone for using it.  The owner has taken these url’s down because quite frankly he no longer wishes to send you traffic.  If you do not want people using this content you need to disable your RSS feeds.

c.  The owner of [redacted] was linking to you from his sidebar as well as from his trusted Sphynx Owners links areas.  These have been pulled meaning you will no longer have the valuable backlinks from a PR4 site nor the traffic.

I would suspect that based on your actions here that you are either new to online endeavors and or ignorant with respect to these issues. I have no dog in this fight,  as this is not my domain but I do desire that people succeed in their online businesses. Your position(s) in these matters will only harm your site and prevent growth.

Syndication is a good thing, collaborative exchanges of traffic and information are positive. Threats based on misinformed positions will alienate you from traffic sources and business opportunities.

Warm Regards,

Chris Potoski Content Thief| Owner [<-- link added by me]
WhyZoom Media, LLC
whyzoom .com
P: 919-749-0624

I am a hearty believer in sharing information on the internet. I link to stuff all the time. I also ensure I include attribution to any content I use (as required by copyright law in most countries) and if I want to reprint in full I will request permission.

Do not be fooled into thinking if you retain links and have a link to a site somewhere in your site to the site you are pulling from, that copyright laws are covered. You must request permission to reprint work in full (or more than a snippet) before doing so.

Contact the copyright owner for permission first.They may say no, and that is their right. They may say yes as long as attribution is applied. I would have been quite happy to come to an agreement with the blog had permission been sought.

I work hard on ensuring my content is unique and of quality, and in about 40 blogs I PAY for that content to be created and check my staff to ensure they are not fudging by ripping off someone else.

So why was I threatening action over this site apart from the fact they didn’t ask?

1. There was no attribution of the full and direct copy from my RSS feed anywhere on the site (in effect claiming the content to be their own)
2. The blog had no way of contacting the owner so I could not enter communication
3. The host, who appears to be the guy above, did not acknowledge 3 emails, including a DMCA (sworn statement the information was mine)

Oh and why do people think just because I run a cat blog I have no idea about how things work on the internets?

……sound of screeching brakes…………….

Seems I have attracted another dingbat.

I did have the email author’s name redacted from the email above until he replied in a rather unbusiness-like manner.

Links to sites that explain copyright laws and intellectual property use for people like Chris who apparently have no clue -

Nicely worded explanation of website Copyright

Internet lawyer‘s take on copyright infringement

Wikipedia’s page on the DMCA Act

Google’s DMCA process , same as most USA sites