Takedown

I disappeared unexpectedly and without a word last summer when my world seemed to fall apart. Many friends and readers worriedly used every contact means possible to make sure I was okay. I was. Down and out, but I was doing everything I could to hang in there and survive.

There also were a slew of nasty emails and hurtful comments on sites such as Ravelry, where my patterns are listed, because the "supposedly free patterns" had disappeared. The horror!!!

That alone made it a bit difficult to come back when I did. But I gave it my best shot, and it's been worth it.

Now I have an official DMCA takedown notice from an attorney in New York representing an international client who claims one of my photos is not mine. My first reaction was it must be a scam because I've filed a few takedown notices of my own. I've always had to supply the exact link to the stolen work. All I received was a link to my entire website. No help!!! Dude, I'm not taking down my entire site for one image you didn't both to identify.

That doesn't give me the right to not act, however.

So, in the event I disappear again, please don't get angry. I'm doing everything I can to prevent my site from being shut down. But ultimately, I don't know what image I need to remove, and if they don't tell me, it is entirely possible they can shut me down for not removing said image.

I've been rather lackadaisical when it comes to screenshots of things that make me giggle, so one of the screenshot images I have shared in the past may well have been a copyright violation. I hope not. Just to be safe, I've removed a good number of humorous memes I shared last year in an effort to try to battle emotions provoked by longterm seclusion and societal unrest. I also will remove said infringing image if the attorney will be more specific than just a general link to my website, which is all he has provided to date.

Just know that I respect copyright law, and it has never been my intention to violate it. If my blog disappears again, it's not because someone destroyed me with words during a time when I have no real stamina to hold my ground. (I'm hopefully never going to be that rock bottom again...) It's because I may have shared an image I was not aware might violate someone else's copyright. I have links on the sidebar to the right and below about copyright law, plageriarism and my very own DMCA notice. I respect copyright law. Period.

BOTTOM LINE: Don't steal someone else's work. And if you find out you have inadvertently done so, remove it immediately.

UPDATE: There's a new scam in town!!! I finally heard back from the "attorney". I now would never believe he is an actual, practicing attorney if I hadn't looked up him and his firm prior to responding to the first contact. Second contact: "Oops, wrong website. Sorry. It was a different website. But my client is always looking for venues to post permanent links. Would you be interested for $25?" Apparently, this is a thing now. Read about a similar scam here.

NEW BOTTOM LINE: Do Not Give Out Personal Information When Responding To Unsolicited Requests!!! (I didn't!!!)

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: This story just keeps getting better and better. I worried I might have set myself up for a bad case of identity fraud just by signing my real name to my response. So I checked with a real attorney. He thinks, due to grammar, punctuation and law citing, this was either a very sloppy attorney moonlighting as scam artist or scam artist posing as an attorney. He gave me some steps to protect myself, which I am taking. And he asked if I clicked any links. (I didn't!!!)

What if this guy had sent a supposed link to said image, and the link wasn't really an image from my blog but a dangerous download or website? I had deliberately asked which photo, so I was literally asking for trouble without knowing it!!! (I do routinely check mouseovers before I click any link, even links I know and trust.)

NEWEST BOTTOM LINE: Never, ever click on links from sources with whom you are not familiar and whom you do not trust. Sometimes even from those you do trust!!!

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