Tabberone's Hall of Shame - Copyright Scams

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not tay ber own

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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"
Edmund Burke

Last Updated - June 24, 2010

Stop others from using or 'stealing' your work by proving it's yours. Copyright Creators protects copyright by collecting and storing information about the authorship and ownership of your work. The information collected can protect copyright internationally.

Flashy web site and great catch phrases but it still promises what it cannot deliver. While a work acquires "copyright" upon being fixed in a tangible form, copyright only means the author own the rights to that work, assuming that the work is original and that the work is copyrightable. "Copyright protection" is obtained through actually registering the copyright with the US Copyright Office. Without a certificate of registration, obtained before the infringement, one cannot sue in federal court for statutory damages or legal fees. The implication given by these folks is that by depositing your information with them you are protected fully. Fundamentally, you are not protected as they infer you are.
Copyright Creators does nothing to stop others from "stealing" your work, if in fact someone does use something of yours that is protectable. Notice the cute wording where they say the information collected "can protect" internationally. Not "will protect" but rather the more responsibility avoiding word "can". This site, like many others, preys upon the unsuspecting by making spacious promises of warmth and safety while they giggle all the way to the bank with your money.
We have to admit it is a clever idea but so is pretending to be a charity after a disaster and making telephone calls soliciting contributions that will never get to the intended victims. It is still a scam. It is a scam because it cannot deliver what it promises to deliver.

Some hustler named Rene Corga (renecorga@yahoo.com), 4936 Yonge St. Suite 601, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2N 6S3, owns the web site. It certainly is more impressive than the web site for Copyright Deposit but we consider Copyright Deposit to be nothing more than a cheap a scam as well.

Copyright Creators has assembled a team of accomplished experts to continually guide, focus, and advance our copyright protection solutions.

Yea, right. And we have some prime ocean front property in Colorado to sell you right after you register your copyright with Copyright Creators. And just who are these experts? Perhaps they are the employees who work at the UPS Store located at 4936 Yonge Street in Toronto where Rene Corga has Suite 601 reserved for Copyright Deposit? A mail drop, Rene? Really?
Under "Copyright Basics", Copyright Deposit provides better than average information on copyrights. However, then they step in it on their FAQ page:

:: How does Copyright Creators work?
Copyright Creators is an impartial third party that registers all submitted works. By completing the detailed registration form corresponding to the work being registered, members increase the chance of proving ownership in a court of law. Copyright Creators securely stores this information in its original form for the duration of the copyright period. In the event the authorship or ownership of a Copyright Creators’ member is in question, you will be able to provide the courts with detailed documentation of registration along with a copy of the registered work.
[emphasis added]

Four times they use the word "register". We believe that any reasonable person reading that paragraph would believe that their work would be registered with the appropriate government copyright office. We believe this wording is deliberate and that is designed to deceive. That makes this a deliberate lie. Copyright Deposit directly claims that it "registers" all submitted works. There is no other interpretation of this claim. But Copyright Deposit does not "register" anything. But it is not the only deliberate lie they tell:

:: Who should Protect Copyright with Copyright Creators?
Anyone can protect copyright online with Copyright Creators. If you have copyright you want to protect, becoming a Copyright Creators member and registering your work is a positive step in building evidence about authorship, ownership, and the work itself. Copyright registration is used by creators across many industries including (but not exclusive) to: songwriters, producers, academics, book writers, graphic and web designers, programmers, screenwriters, cartoonist and other visual artists, photographers, architects, etc.
[emphasis added]

Another massive, deliberate lie and misrepresentation. But wait! Like the infomercials say, "There's More!":

:: How can Copyright Creators help Protect Copyright?
In the event of copyright infringement, one must be able to prove ownership of the work in question. Copyright Creators detailed registration forms, to be filled-out individually for each work registered, collects essential evidence required by the courts to help prove ownership. Once registered, you will be sent a Registration Certificate which time-stamps your registration. This certificate can be accessed at anytime in your account should you need to prove ownership. Copyright Creators will securely store your registrations for the life of copyright – taking the responsibility off you to maintain a copy of the work and the registered certificate of the work.
[emphasis added]

And so on and so on. Lie after lie after lie after lie. Or, scam artists at work. Take your pick. Under US law in order to begin prosecution of a claim for copyright infringement, one must first show ownership of a certificate of registration from the US Copyright Office, or show that the registration was denied, by the US Copyright Office before they can file a federal lawsuit. Proof of ownership through Copyright Creators is not a certificate of registration with the US Copyright Office.
All the rest of that paragraph is useless garbage. If you are ever in Toronto, we suspect you can say hello to Rene Corga if you stop at the corner of Spring Garden Avenue and Yonge Street. We suspect he will be that fellow in the straw hat with sleeves rolled up at the folding table inviting suckers to guess which shell the pea is under.

Rene at work

Rebuttals
In an effort to provide a balanced view, we make the following offer to anyone who feels they have been wrongly accused on this web site.
If you, or your company, have been referenced on these pages, and you would like the chance to post a rebuttal, we will post your rebuttal (provided it is in good taste) so others can read it. The rebuttal must be submitted in a format that can easily be converted into HTML. We reserve the right to alter the rebuttal to make it more readable. However, we will not alter the content (unless there is offensive material to be removed). We also reserve the right to comment on any rebuttal received. Emails protesting the content of this web site may be treated as rebuttals by us at our discretion.

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