Do I Need Legal Help?

[cmhansen]

It has come to my attention that a site in which I did not upload my music too, has two of my songs and are giving free downloads of the music. I do not allow free downloads because of another problem I had on the internet about a year ago.

My question is, do I have any recourse besides just getting a hold of the site owner and having him stop it immediately? Can I sue the son of a bitch for allowing downloads of my music? Like charging him the price of what a download is going for at other sites and time and mental anguish (That last part was a joke Though I'm not laughing.)?

I really don't know what to do in this situation. Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Chris.

[mikeh]

I've never been involved in the type of problem you have explained - so I can't offer a specific legal opinion.

However, in a law suit, you have to prove damages (and pain, suffering, inconveniance does not count).

So you would have to decide if the damages you could actually prove would be more than the legal costs (which could easily be at least a few thousnad $$$$). How much do you actually earn for a down load? I'm guessing there would have to be a lot of transactions to equal the legal costs.

You could maybe try "small claims court" - but then it becomes a matter of which court (if you are talking two different states - your domain vs. the web site domain) - which can get complex.

If it was my music, I would first try to get the site to stop offering free downloads - if that don't work, you can still decide if the legal costs are worth it.

[NL5]

Contact the site administrator?

[cmhansen]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I don't think at this point it's worth the effort to use legal pressure on the site. I'll contact the administrator and get back.

[Hi_Flyer]

threatening legal action so as to compel the site administrator to remove the file is an option you might consider.

actually going through with it is another story.

[cmhansen]

Problem resolved.

Although I did have to make an account there just to get any where. Thanks for the help guys.