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[LSQ2011]

I've recently started a publication for a field. This field has an association/council, like any other field does (i.e. APA, American Bar Association, etc.)

After the release of our first issue, I visited the association's website to find they basically copy and pasted our mission statement, but plugged their associations acronym into it. They recreated it in a large, obvious font. They also started using multimedia features on their site, in the same manner we do.

These features were not a part of their site before our publication. I know this because the point of our publication was to supplement for the field what was not being found elsewhere.

My question: how should I approach this? I want to let them know that they are treading on thin ice in the way of infringement, without making enemies. If it is the mission statement and media now, will it be our publication articles and photos later on?

This publication isn't acting as competition, although now I see they may be viewing it as such. Do I write a letter introducing ourselves and our intent? Do I email them letting them know that they have copied us twice, but we'll let it slide so long as they back off?

What would be the decent, pragmatic approach to handling this? We don't want to be stepped on because they know we are the smaller fish in the pond.

Thanks so much for your help!

[Kaitlin]

Letting an infringer continue to infringe without speaking up can lead to loss of IP rights.  But this doesn't mean an IP owner has to litigate to protect those rights.  The owner can politely point out the infringement, presuming good faith on the other side, and ask the infringer to stop, which might succeed. 

Or, if resistance is suspected and one doesn't want a fight or to alienate the infringer, a relatively easy and cheap way to maintain rights is to simply to grant the infringer permission to use the protected work.  This can be done for a fee or for free, but it should be in writing (by confirmatory letter at least).  The former infringer, now licensee, can then add "used by permission" (or used and adapted by permission?) to the owner's copyright notice on the copies they produce.