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[jasonhoutx]

I have a website that has been operational since 2006. I have worked hard on it and we rank really well. I have recently discovered a SEO firm has stripped some of my layout but a lot of my content and pictures (even job pictures of our work with my employees in them) and created a website theme with my property and used it to sell it to hundreds of other HVAC companies across the country. I am not talking about a small snipped here and there. I am talking about full pages across most of the site. I have always displayed a copyright notice at the bottom of my page, even though I have never registered for a copyright.

They are effecting me by making money off my property but they are also hurting my rankings in the search engines due to duplicate copy across the web. I believe I need to protect my rights and my property.

This SEO firm has sold this to over 400 different HVAC companies across the country that have been suckered into thinking this is custom work by this SEO firm, but in turn they just stole my companies content.

Is it possible to pursue this SEO company for damages and force DMCA and blacklisting all the URLs from Google. I plan on making someone understand this is wrong and I will protect my property.

Can anyone recommend a great digital/internet IP copyright attorney? or should I stick with a local IP attorney?

[Zonath]

Well, you can use DMCA takedown notices in order to get any infringing websites taken down.  Of course, that's a lot of notices, and if any HVAC companies reply, you'll probably have to sue each one individually for infringement.  DMCA doesn't really cover hyperlinks and search rankings, and I don't think Google has a policy on this sort of thing.

And since you haven't registered your copyright, you won't be able to get attorney fees in any lawsuit for any infringement occurring prior to your registration.

You can also go after the SEO company directly, and once these various other companies start getting your takedown notices, some of them may start suing.  If the SEO company is just some guy in a basement, you may not get much monetary compensation after all the dust is cleared.

[artchain]

The response to this depends a lot on what you're trying to achieve.

The fastest way to get the content off the web is probably to start filing those DMCA takedown notices.  And yes, I'd say once you start getting websites taken down, a lot of very pissed people will be going after the SEO company.

You can also submit a complaint to Google, which may or may not get the sites delisted:

http://www.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=ts.cs&ts=1114905

Of course, your business has been damaged because the unique content you created to promote your business has now been devalued in search engines.  If you're looking for compensation, you should find an IP attorney who is familiar with Internet content and how it affects search engine placement and traffic.