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The Congress shall have Power ... To promote the
Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to
Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings
and Discoveries
(United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8)
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It continues to amaze me- no SHOCK may be a better word, when I
stumble across websites that have copied my material and posted it to
the internet! At least once a month I am notified by internet
surfers just like you or from previous students and clients that someone
has stolen my material.
It's even worse when I come across someone RESELLING my material on
their website, via eBay, in the newspaper, etc; in these instances I
simply have no choice but to VIGOROUSLY protect my intellectual
property! To date, I have had to formally sue 3 people/companies as a
result of egregious copyright violations. I have had several others remove the offending material and
we continue to live in peace, love, and harmony; I give everyone a
chance to work things out first.
I will be taking one to my attorney regarding the worst and most flagrant violation I have seen
to date- not
only was a person selling my material on eBay under the seller ID
HollowayPI
but this person also attempted to negotiate the sale of the RIGHTS to my
copyrighted material to another person for $500! There were at
least 6 auctions with 9 winning bidders! The offending
material was copied from my online course- which is slightly different
than my book- and pasted into a MS Word document that was sent via email
to the winning bidders. Needless to say there is more evidence
available in this case than ever before- I have now talked to 5 people
who have purchased the offending material on eBay- all are being extremely
cooperative and have forwarded me the documents they received
after the auctions were over, I have a signed statement (and copies of
emails from a HollowayPI@aol.com
and a hollowaypi@prepaidlegal.com) from the person who almost bought these rights illegitimately, I
have talked directly to the security department at eBay who have assured
me that all eBay and PayPal records will remain intact- including the IP
addresses captured when the offending material was posted, we will
subpoena Bank Records (one of the customers paid with a money order
which was deposited)- really the evidence goes on and on. The best
thing about these types of records is that they are permanent and it
should be noted that the FBI is responsible for investigating all
violations of United States Code Title 17 (includes the copyright law)
and that these violations are Federal in nature. I've already
submitted my complaint through the IFCC.
Check out one of the eBay
sales pages that were used to sell my material- do you notice
anything unusual about the copy or the formatting used in the ad?
If not, just check out my online course page
from either one of my bail enforcement sites and look at the
bullet-pointed lists halfway down the page- another copyright
infringement. Incidentally, the eBay page I included in this
paragraph was the one where Tim McGarity of Midwest Bail Enforcement in
St. Louis, MO purchased the advertised training material and immediately
recognized is as the same from my book Apprehending Bail Fugitives- he
purchased my book back in October of 2002!
Oh yeah- the documents that were being sold had my name and company
removed and replaced by the offender with the words "Roger
Holloway" and "www.TexasInvestigations. com" in the
Title, Copyright Notices (see below under "Criminal offenses")
and in MOST parts of the book- but not all of them- whoever perpetrated
this crime was not savvy enough to find and change them all. I
have included the first 4 pages of the
offending material here- notice that it's not even formatted- how
embarrassing. It's in MS word.
But to be fair and accurate, Roger Holloway has denied involvement,
though he had access to my online course after his purchase on
8/31/04. Instead, he maintains that he is a victim of a conspiracy
being perpetrated by hackers and/or upset eBay customers who have gained
control of all of his accounts! (Ebay, PayPal, AOL, Web Presence
Provider, etc) He had also agreed to assist in my investigation
but has since stopped returning my email or phone calls.
I wonder where the money went? Surely, the hackers diverted the
funds from these sales into their own bank accounts and then diverted
the sales from other HollowayPI eBay sales back to to the rightful
account owner so that he would not be suspicious of any fraudulent
activity. They would have had to do this several times over the
course of almost 2 months and not garner any suspicion at all.
Then again, that does not explain why one customer sent a Money Order to
a PO Box in Iowa Park, Texas.
If it was a hacker, why would private investigator Holloway
not be observant enough to notice: extra money in his banking
account, unrecognized PayPal Payments that identify the source of the
payment as item number 3943113067
(which comes back to a bail enforcement training material auction), eBay
sales pages that mysteriously appeared under his eBay ID amidst the
others that he admits to posting at the same time, magical money orders
that show up at his PO Box, and lastly- customers (Dennis Fitzgerald)
that call and talk to him specifically about the bail enforcement
training course and then receive 2 additional products from Holloway
(products that Holloway told me that he was selling).
And how did the hackers gain access to my online course????
I had already shut off his access login well before the eBay sales had
started.
A private Investigator's job is observation and awareness- if he did
not in fact perpetrate these egregious copyright violations, then he
certainly is guilty of inattention. He'll have to answer all of
these questions I am sure as a result of a complaint I am filing with
the Department of Public Safety, Private Security Bureau. We'll
let DPS investigators work that out since theft of intellectual property
is covered in the Texas Penal Code.
That's what's great about America- you're innocent until proven
guilty! After all, a lot of us believed that OJ Simpson killed his
ex-wife Nicole and Ron Goldman too-but in the end we were wrong; his
criminal trial jury didn't see it the same way we did. Luckily,
the standard of proof is different in Civil trials and it was easy to
convict OJ there.
To effectively substantiate and prove a crime you must have:
- Evidence-that a crime has
been committed (I have copies of the offending material and eBay
pages)
- Motive-which is obviously
financial gain
- Intent-my copyrights were
changed and this is a willful act that required deliberate thought
and
- Opportunity-whoever did this
had access to my online course, which narrows my list of suspects
By the way- where did TexasDetective.com go? On January 6th
2005 @ 1:40pm EST it was gone entirely. Perhaps the
hackers got to his site. No worries, I have complete back up and
printed copies of the entire website (and cached pages) in case Mr. Holloway needs them to
rebuild his website. Since important web pages started
disappearing after I talked to him, I had to copy them to preserve my
evidence in anticipation of litigation. Update:
The website is back up and running now!
I will pursue these violations to the fullest extent allowed by law-
which includes both CRIMINAL and CIVIL PENALTIES and we'll get to the
bottom of this. If perpetrator of this crime holds any
professional licenses (PI Licenses, Notary Licenses, Process Server
Permission, etc.)- I am sure that they will be yanked in a heartbeat and
he/she will most likely lose this part of their livelihood. For
what? A couple of hundred bucks? Such is the life of a
copyright violator.
Why would I go to such an extent? Because I am an author that spent a lot of time and energy
gaining the experience and education that allowed me to write one of the
very best bail enforcement training materials to date and when someone
usurps my right and the economic privilege to enjoy my material, I feel
personally threatened- both financially and academically- as a
result.
Sure, it's going to cost me money upfront but I suspect that the
violator has assets that I want and a professional liability insurance
policy to cover my legal bills. I have the money to bring this to
trial; my daddy always said that it takes money to make money!
When everything is said and done the satisfaction of burying this
violator will be worth every penny.
Below, I have included some very important information for would be
copyright violators. All I ask is that
before you STEAL my material consider the consequences. Hey!
Maybe even ask me for permission ahead of time and we can come up with
something that would satisfy us both!
From the US Copyright Office (information from http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html)
(a) In General. — Except as otherwise provided
by this title, an infringer of copyright is liable for either —
(1) the copyright owner's actual damages and any
additional profits of the infringer, as provided by subsection (b); or
(2)
statutory damages, as provided by subsection (c).
(b) Actual Damages and Profits. — The copyright
owner is entitled to recover the actual damages suffered by him or her
as a result of the infringement, and any profits of the infringer that
are attributable to the infringement and are not taken into account in
computing the actual damages. In establishing the infringer's profits,
the copyright owner is required to present proof only of the infringer's
gross revenue, and the infringer is required to prove his or her
deductible expenses and the elements of profit attributable to factors
other than the copyrighted work.
(c) Statutory Damages. —
(1) Except as provided by clause (2) of this
subsection, the copyright owner
may elect, at any time before final judgment is rendered, to recover,
instead of actual damages and profits, an award of statutory damages
for all infringements involved in the action, with respect to any one
work, for which any one infringer is liable individually, or for which
any two or more infringers are liable jointly and severally, in
a sum of not less than $750 or more than $30,000 as the court
considers just. For the purposes of this subsection, all the parts of a
compilation or derivative work constitute one work.
(2) In a case where the copyright owner sustains
the burden of proving, and the court finds, that infringement
was committed willfully, the court in its discretion may increase
the award of statutory damages to a
sum of not more than $150,000. The court shall remit statutory
damages in any case where an infringer believed and had reasonable
grounds for believing that his or her use of the copyrighted work was a
fair use under section
107, if the infringer was: (i) an employee or agent of a nonprofit
educational institution, library, or archives acting within the scope of
his or her employment who, or such institution, library, or archives
itself, which infringed by reproducing the work in copies or
phonorecords; or (ii) a public broadcasting entity which or a person
who, as a regular part of the nonprofit activities of a public
broadcasting entity (as defined in subsection (g) of section
118) infringed by performing a published nondramatic literary work
or by reproducing a transmission program embodying a performance of such
a work.
(d) Additional Damages in Certain Cases. — In
any case in which the court finds that a defendant proprietor of an
establishment who claims as a defense that its activities were exempt
under section
110(5) did not have reasonable grounds to believe that its use of a
copyrighted work was exempt under such section, the plaintiff shall be
entitled to, in addition to any award of damages under this section, an
additional award of two times the amount of the license fee that the
proprietor of the establishment concerned should have paid the plaintiff
for such use during the preceding period of up to 3 years.
In any civil action under this title, the court in its
discretion may allow the
recovery of full costs by or against any party other than the
United States or an officer thereof. Except as otherwise provided by
this title, the court may also
award a reasonable attorney's fee to the prevailing party as part
of the costs.
(a) Criminal
Infringement. — Any person who infringes a copyright
willfully either —
(1) for purposes of commercial
advantage or private financial gain, or
(2) by the reproduction or distribution,
including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more
copies or phonorecords of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a
total retail value of more than $1,000,
shall be
punished as provided under section 2319 of title 18, United States Code.
For purposes of this subsection, evidence of reproduction or
distribution of a copyrighted work, by itself, shall not be sufficient
to establish willful infringement.
(b) Forfeiture and
Destruction. — When any person is convicted of any violation of
subsection (a), the court in its judgment of conviction shall, in
addition to the penalty therein prescribed, order the forfeiture and
destruction or other disposition of all infringing copies or
phonorecords and all implements, devices, or equipment used in the
manufacture of such infringing copies or phonorecords.
(c) Fraudulent
Copyright Notice. — Any person who, with fraudulent
intent, places on any article a notice of copyright or words of the same
purport that such person knows to be false, or who, with fraudulent
intent, publicly distributes or imports for public distribution any
article bearing such notice or words that such person knows to be false,
shall be fined not more than $2,500.
(d) Fraudulent
Removal of Copyright Notice. — Any person who, with
fraudulent intent, removes or alters any notice of copyright appearing
on a copy of a copyrighted work shall be fined not more than $2,500.
(e) False Representation.
— Any person who knowingly makes a false representation of a material
fact in the application for copyright registration provided for by section
409, or in any written statement filed in connection with the
application, shall be fined not more than $2,500.
(f) Rights of Attribution
and Integrity. — Nothing in this section applies to
infringement of the rights conferred by section
106A(a).
Thank you for your time and courtesy for reading and understanding
everything I have put forth here- if you have any questions, please do
not hesitate to contact me at your convenience!
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