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Yesterday I received the following "take down" notice from Go Daddy (my blog hosting company). The Annuity Store insurance marketing company has hired an attorney to stop my blog post from showing their e-mail advertisements and what is behind Annuity recommendations that their agents make. I posted their e-mail advertisement to show the public what they don't see - this is a public benefit. Scroll down to see the claims made.
Dear Customer,
We have received a complete DMCA complaint alleging that copyright infringement is taking place on your hosted site. This notification was submitted pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and GoDaddy’s Copyright Infringement Policy, which can be found here:
https://www.godaddy.com/agreements/showdoc.aspx?pageid=TRADMARK_COPY
In accordance with this policy, as well as the hosting agreement you consented to upon purchase of the service, we will need to suspend this hosting account if this matter can not resolved by removing this content within the next 24 hours or submitting a complete counter notification as described in the policy.
You have two options at this point:
Option 1 - CONTENT REMOVAL
In order to resolve this situation and avoid suspension of your site you will need to completely remove the content that is the subject of the copyright complaint.
Option 2 - COUNTER NOTIFICATION
If you feel that this complaint has been made in error and you wish to contest the claim, you will need to submit a complete counter notification in accordance with the DMCA. Let us know if you require further information and/or instructions on how to file a counter notification.
Please understand that as a web hosting provider, we are not able to make legal determinations as to who is right or wrong in an infringement claim.
Let us know if you have any other questions at this time.
Kindest Regards,
ChrisCopyright DepartmentGo Daddy Operating Company, LLCCopyrightClaims@GoDaddy.com--------ORIGINAL NOTE-----------Subject:Subject: RE: Copyright Claim (Our File No.: 5912000.204) - [Incident ID: 26678507]From:klbynum@fleckman.comDate: Mon, 17 Aug 2015 19:04:09 +0000To:copyrightclaims@godaddy.com
Your resolution
Dear Chris,In response to your email below, I am re-forwarding the Notification of Claimed Copyright Infringement on behalf of The Annuity Store with the changes you haverequested. Should you have any questions or require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.Dear GoDaddy Copyright Agent:Our firm represents The Annuity Store(“TAS”) in various legal matters, including trademark and copyright matters. We write regarding unauthorized activity on the websitehttp://www.meridianwealth.com involving one of our client’s copyrighted works. It is our understanding that the websitehttp://www.meridianwealth.com is hosted by GoDaddy.com, LLC (“GoDaddy”) and that the activity on this site is therefore subject to GoDaddy’s Terms of Service. Please direct all correspondence to us at the e-mailor physical addresses provided herein.In late 2014, TAS sent the attached marketing communication via email to numerous financial professionals. Scott Dauenhauer, an independent insurance agent, financial plannerand the operator of “The Meridian Blog” hosted at http://www.meridianwealth.com, was one of the recipients of this communication. It has come to our client’s attention that Mr. Dauenhauer subsequently posted the entirety of the marketing communication on his blog at
http://meridianwealth.com/2014/12/08/insurance-secrets-whats-driving-those-annuity-recommendations/,despite the very clear indication on the communication that it was intended “for financial professional use only – not for use with the public.” Mr. Dauenhauer is not contracted through TAS, nor was his posting of the communication in its entirety on a public-facing,personal blog authorized by TAS. TAS has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. Accordingly, it is the position of TAS that use of its marketing communicationin this manner constitutes a violation of its copyright in that communication.In view of Mr. Dauenhauer’s unauthorized use of our client’s copyrighted work on the referenced web site hosted by GoDaddy, in direct violation of GoDaddy’s Terms of Service, we ask that GoDaddy immediately take down the unauthorizedmarketing communication on the website at http://meridianwealth.com/2014/12/08/insurance-secrets-whats-driving-those-annuity-recommendations/and disable all access to Mr. Dauenhauer’s post regarding that communication. We would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter and request a response to this notification within ten (10) days advising us of how GoDaddy will comply with theserequests. Should you have any questions or require any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at this email address or the phone number provided below. I declare, under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing information in this notification is complete and accurate, and that I am authorizedto submit this Notification of Claimed Copyright Infringement on behalf ofTAS. Best regards,
Karla Lambert Bynum
/Karla L. Bynum/Fleckman & McGlynn, PLLC
515 Congress Avenue, Suite 1800
Austin, Texas 78701
512.476.7900
512.476.7644 fax
www.fleckman.com
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