I have to say this was very disappointing to find and I work very hard to make sure our Company here in Atlanta is original, but it seems we have now gone National with other Companies stealing our format and text.  My structure of Our Company is exactly what I say it is, this company is offering an in-sincere service to their clients and I have to question someone who cannot be original enough to come up with their own business concept, structure and format.

I do not mean to offend anyone if they do indeed like this company and I did try calling them, but it is upsetting.

Who is this Company and why did they feel the need to steal My text?

http://www.desirablecompanions.com  

My Company In Atlanta. . . . http://www.EssentialReferrals.com

I am unsure with how to proceed, but feel the next call should be to My attorney.

I know this Company is home to you guys, but feedback would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Monica

Please send Claire to see us in DC!!

at both sites it seems that you do have a point with regard to the text.

on DC's site the Home and Why Us? pages texts seem to be very close to the text on the Welcome page inside the age verification page on ER's site. so with regard to the text i've noted it seems you have a point. but the look and feel of the websites are different so tht might count rather against your claim. i don't want to provide an opinion on that.

i haven't looked further than this since i don't have THAT much time. you should probably talk to someone professional about this and get advice about your position.

i second that and Brit would be nice too EOM

-- Modified on 7/2/2009 4:43:27 PM

-- Modified on 7/2/2009 4:43:55 PM

While I believe copyright may be implicit (IANAL), I am sure you would be on firmer ground if you added a copyright notice to your website on the first page.

It is definitely wrong to plagiarize, but as texcat notes, the look and feel is so different one has to look very closely to see the similarities, and that will probably weaken your case.

what is the big deal? You make it seem like they broke into your house and stole your family jewels. The last thing we need is to be bringing the courts into our hobby. Unless these guys are screwing with your business/girls in Atlanta then I suggest that you let these little things go.

I understand how you feel but question how well this problem would be received if it were ever to be brought before a Judge in court.

If I were to hear that it was I would avoid both agencies for bringing undue attention to those who use the services.

Your point has been made and everyone knows you own much of the original intellectual property they copied.

But please don't go any further than this as I do travel and hope someday to visit those you have.

For the other agency, shame on them.

text content is generally ragarded as copyright as long as appropriate notices are on the website. since i didn't notice any, Essential Referrals might be hard pressed to have a claim.

OTOH if Essential Referrals had a copyright notice some (or has one i missed) they might then have a good case for copyright infringement, theft of intellectual property and all sorts of goodies. it would be too late for them to copyright their content now if they haven't.

this being hobbyland, pursuing that would likely be counterproductive: adverse publicity costs would likely be higher than any damages.

i assure you in the regular commercial world it IS a BIG deal.

Excellent points
I was just saying(in a very short way Lol) that this seems like a bit much over something that I doubt would be taken seriously in court. Plus I wouldnt want to go through so much, using real names in court etc., over something like this.

the prpose of review sites is to provide feedback so we avoid folks who rob, scam, B&S etc.

while infringement on a _possibly_ implied  copyright is small in the scheme of things it is not nothing. _some_ clients may feel a _little_ uneasy about such a controversy.

best to avoid such things from the start.

This is very common with the internet.  Many web designers look at the code of other sites for ideas on constructing a site.  Honestly you would be waisting your time with this.  You will end up spending a lot of money on nothing.  I have noticed tons of sites on the net that have similar code.

Good Day all, happy 4th and a salute to our serving men and women.

Yes, this is a big deal. As many of you don't know, running a legitimate agency who's goal is honorable service is a lot of hard work. ( See my blog posting on the subject   http://dreamsescortblogs.com/blogs/rants/mail-bag-thinking-about-starting-an-escort-agency.htm ) Agencies and independents are no different, some are good and some are bad.

A lot of time and effort goes into an Agency marketing plan, knowing your target audience, website and image. You spend hours working to find the correct prose which reflects the message you want to send only to have someone else who is lazy and dishonest steal your creative efforts ?

Let me ask you an important question gentlemen? If you know a car dealer is prone to acts of dishonesty or unfair sales practices would you do business with them? Would you send your wife, son or daughter to them ?

In effect stealing another Agency's image message instead of creating one's own sends at least to me a clear message of the agency owners level of integrity or more precisely lack there of.

However, that's just my prospective from the other side of the line.


Sincerely,


Lee Dreams

Dreams Escort Service

You can always contact the hosting company of the offending site and tell them what is going on, they will using take action and force the other company to correct it.

as for why they did it. well it shows they are not original and they feel they can get away with shady business practices.

best of luck

I am not a lawyer but copyrighted material is only valid if you have it filed with the copyright office.  Many companies had original idea, fail to file it.  Do you know how many famous people name are being used by others who claimed the domain first?  

Having said that my website hosting has a cookie cutter choices for design - now if someone used that same cookie cutter design and using the same hosting site then can I sue, no.  Only if you deigned your own and you cpoyrighted.  Now if the OP did all these things, but I looked at enough sites to say that is none that original enough to take to a court - especially if it advertises illegal acrivities.

No disrespect but how many gents actually read that when booking a girl? Just from my own personal experience no one ever reads the simple details on my contact page. I would feel some kind of way if my words were stolen too but i think the appropriate first step before posting here would be to send a professional email to the agency in question and request they remove your text and replace it with their own words.

Good luck!

Happy 4th everyone!!!!

Hugs and Kisses~
Mea

all you have to do to have a legally very defensible copyright is a copyright notice. the draft of a novel i am working on has a little "c" inside an "O" and is not even published yet. if anyone lifts my text i can sue their asses to hell and back.

same with software.

not a lwayer either but i do know my rights.

In matters of internet content theft, this issue is so minor this post almost comes off as shill.

Methinks it is "Much Ado About Nothing".

And I think this is much ado about nothing. Not a single client, neither in Atlanta nor in DC, would have noticed the text lifting if the OP had not pointed it out. Even now, neither agency will lose business over it.

The manager of the DC agency cut-n-pasted like a community college freshman, committing plagiarism, but it is not worth the bluster.  It certainly does not give the impression that the ATL agency has gone "National," and she did not invent the idea of an escort agency.  Plus, the websites are in no way similar.  

Nothing to see here.  Please move along.

"blueeyeddoc
as for why they did it. well it shows they are not original and they feel they can get away with shady business practices."

Glad to see you are not using a alias..Maybe it was just me but it seemed quite sleazy..

  "Best of luck"

You are based in Atlanta and have nothing to do in D.C. unless your doing business here I would not make a big deal of it.

The two sites look completely different, if I didn't look too closely I would not find that the text were too similiar.

I think it's really stupid too even mention calling your attorney knowing that type of business your in. I'm sorry but I really couldn't find another word for stupid in my dictionary for my reaction to your post.

*I've never used this agency before but this is just my sole opinion that you were looking for I would assume from your post.

I can sincerely say I appreciate everyone's feedback, some may not understand and some do understand My concerns.

I think quite a few read into it too much and some read nothing at all, LOL.

Anyway, with that said I did call the company before I ever posted and finally received an email and apology and that is much appreciated.

For those who read too much into everything and assumes My business is not a "real" business, if that were the case then I would not be in business at all, in fact we're incorporated and assuming we are an illegal business is just shameful, I am surprised at the thoughtlessness that some people would say such a thing and be so carless with words, a Woman being an escort is not an illegal business and I realize that we can all go around and around This one, but some things are just best un-said and I would appreciate keeping things just like that.

My Ladies have toured to DC before so I think it is a huge concern when an agency from there has the same text as Mine.

Again I spoke with the owners and I hope we have it resolved and appreciate their professionalism in this matter.

With that said I tip My hat to DC and wish you all a great weekend and 4th.

Thank you,
Monica

Using the same text...okay...its bad....
But the reaction should fit the crime...

Two different cities, and different women... etc...

I could understand the outrage a little more if it were money or clients being stolen...but a few text on a completely different website?  

Otherwise, I think it is a pretty good salute to you and your organization because DC has a pretty good reputation here, and if you are the company that a GOOD company has decided to model itself after kudos to you!  It certainly doesn't hurt your name in any way.