Ok so those who already know me know that I had a concept for this website, and that I tried to come up with a really good name for it. A few probably also got really annoyed with me coming up with more and more names until I thought of one that stood out, thus how n-raged was born.
Today I received this email (it was sent yesterday, Nov 20th). Talk about snobbish.
QUOTE
This is with concern to your website n-raged.com
We are a company called nRaged Entertainment Forums, our website is www.nraged.com
Your site is a imitation forum site and we will not accept our name being exploited since your domain and website are look very similar to ours. You should be aware that we were in operation well before your website. also being the first to use a forum under the name nRaged we own exclusive rights to this names copyright (for more information about copyright visit
http://creativecommons.org/ for your countries laws)
You have not
1) Asked us permission
2) Stated anywhere on your website that your site is not related to anyone else.
We have copies of your website for the past few months and can show proof of the above in a Court of Law, so if you add them now it is of no use.
This is just a friendly reminder that you are in violation of our Intellectual Property Copyrights.
We give you 2 weeks Notice for removal of the website.
IF we do not receive a reply we will be forced to take further action which involves contacting the local Police and your registrar 1and1 as our lawyers will contact them too.
Owner/ CEO,
nRaged Entertainment
www.nraged.com
How is that a 'friendly' reminder? I haven't read anything before notifying me of there being a possible issue, nor was I ever just asked if I would put up a disclaimer. Friendly reminders don't include legal threats in them.
Here is my reply:
QUOTE
While I can see your point of view on the matter, the name was chosen after scouting through a number of other names. This included me thinking of various names and then polling several people that I know. My name of n-raged was chosen based on popular opinion from several different people, and was not picked nor modeled after your site. The theme of the site was picked before the name, and the software I am using has been registered long before the site. I have logged conversations with others to prove and a purchase license on record this point. Our sites are not similar in appearance, as there are a large number of noticeable differences. If you like, I am willing to include an unnecessary disclaimer that specifically states that it is not affiliated with your website, however, as I did not know of your site and did not visit it before seeing your email, as well as the fact that the sites do not look alike, I see no violations of your property. Almost all of my members are people that I have known for quite some time, including a few from another website that I have been running for a number of years.
Also, for future reference, a friendly 'reminder' doesn't consist of legal threats. Not only have I not done anything wrong, but until your email, I was completely unaware of your website. Had I known of your website, I likely would have included a reference to it. But then, in that case, I would have been trying to find another name for my website.
Furthermore, by visiting my website, you have agreed to the websites rules, terms and conditions, which specifically states that you surrender all legal rights and that any legal fees are the obligation of the visitor, in this case you.
Back on point though. Like I mentioned above, if you like, I am willing to put an unnecessary disclaimer, all you need to do is to ask kindly, without threats of legal action where there is no basis.
