Hi all New to this forum but have read all the threads about these Dessault cases with great interest. I received the same email yesterday and would be grateful if someone could tell me what the outcome of their situation was given that over a year has passed since this discussion was active....are you all in prison? Or sold your homes to pay for a licence?! A little bit about my situation; I am a designer and have from time to time used Solidworks although it is not my default package hence the reason I couldn't afford to lump out the thousands they ask. I am a soletrader and only do this as part of my income, the rest of time is spent lecturing at a university. If pressured I would probably buy the basic license to get them off my back but I fear they will press for the full premium pack which is mega £££££. I certainly can't afford it at the moment. Any input would be greatly received, last night's sleep was restless to say the least.

Hi chaps. I know this is a few months on but I’ve supposedly received one of these emails from CHCJ and got a slightly different story. Im a designer who uses CAD (specifically Solidworks) regularly. However up until March this year, this usage was wholly on an employed basis under full license from the companies who employed me within their office premises. I have just set up on my own (as in - less than. 6 weeks ago) and after a bit of searching bought a second hand Solidworks machine I found on Gumtree which was loaded with what the chap assured me was a legit copy of Solidworks 2017 and 2018. (It’s perfectly normal to run these versions concurrently). As well as some ancillary software that runs alongside. I had always intended to get my own Solidworks licence - as I wanted to upgrade to 2019 anyway but obviously I tested the machine for a week or so to make sure it could handle what I needed and whether I needed to upgrade anything - I did, as it happened, and bought a hefty RAM Upgrade. (At this point I should note - just for detail that the machine is actually a high spec Mac Pro running windows on boot camp - I liked this idea as I also make music in my spare time and the opportunity to dual boot into a little studio set up was a big plus.) I then set up my emails etc. (The email is - I fear you’ll see this coming - linked to the business domain I own and have just set up) so it would be used in the office. However I then removed Solidworks and phoned up the local reseller in Cambridge to find out how light my wallet was about to get. - I know from experience you can buy a monthly license package which is slightly less eye watering. Brilliantly - they signed me up to this thing called the Solidworks entrepreneur programme which gives startups like me free Solidworks for the 1st year and a discount thereafter. Which I was accepted for and given a brand new temporary license that I installed on my newly clean system and a meeting set up with the reseller for next week (today) in order for him to visit my office and install a permanent version based on my needs. This is all seemed great until this Thursday I got a call from him saying that he’d been phoned by Solidworks to say that I wasn’t eligible for the programme because there was an ongoing piracy case against my company. I pressed him for more details and he said I should have received correspondence from the solicitor named in this thread in relation to allegations of using pirated software. Which I haven’t. - emails checked and checked again. He promised to phone back on Friday but didn’t. Im now terrified that I’ve used a pirated version of Solidworks on that machine - which will be linked to the domain and email i set up. - which has - like the other chap on this thread “design” in the name. And that I’ve just installed the license they gave me on the machine with the same MAC address and IP. I should mention that IF the versions which were already installed on the machine WERE pirated - then I can see no way of an unwitting user being able to tell. When the loading screen popped up after i clicked on the icon to launch Solidworks it read “verifying licenses” just as it should. I had no reason to think it wasn’t 100% kosher. Sorry for the ramble. Any thoughts? I can’t afford to pay for the whole thing in one hit. And the version on my machine was the top notch affair with about 6 different add-ons. I’ve literally just started my business and I’m terrified. I’ve got my first contract due to begin this week and as it stands I won’t be able to work.

Hi All, hopefully you can advise me on a sticky spot I’ve just landed in. I’ve had what I believe to be a perfectly genuine threat-o-gram from a firm of solicitors representing Dessault Systems, makers of the Solidworks CAD package. They’ve correctly identified that I’ve used their software without a licence, but erroneously connected it with my very small business operation for which I own a domain and sell a few bits and pieces online. I manage my website, email etc on the same PC that on which I have Solidworks installed. The two uses are wholly independent. I’ve seen the template letter on the CAB website and will be sending off a request for them to comply with Pre-action protocol and prove when I used it. They probably can (whether they do or not remains to be seen). What they most definitely can’t do is connect it to my small business, other than via my ISP. They’ve put 2 and 2 together and come up with 5. I would like to add something to this effect in my response - asking them to prove I used it for my business and pointing out that they will find this impossible. What do you think? Thanks in advance

If I e-mail my MP on a subject, and he/she replies, would that parson be able to state copyright at the bottom of their e-mail/letter. What would happen if I put my question and their reply on say CAG? I was of the opinion that their reply to me could be published if I wished to do so, however I have noted that any answers given to me on a number of occasions by MP’s I have e-mailed have copyright on the bottom.

A friend has chosen a business name which someone else claims copyright on: Name Of Business© How can I check if they have the copyright or have just added the © symbol? I Googled it and found a Gov site but that only lets you check TM's.

Hi, I have a small shop on ebay selling printed Hen t-shirts, babygrows, mugs etc but nothing big but slowly growing with great feedback. Since may this year I have been selling a 2 t-shirt set for newly weds with a design I made of my own after looking at reference material online. But my design was a fresh font and shape and wording. Also at the top of ebay searches which was something I had worked hard for. Now in September I suddenly get these listings removed. Another t-shirt company has claimed copyright violation. I checked the design and it is similar but I have different wording and shapes it just looks too different to accept. The company pointed out their design was registered. I managed to search online and find it but it said registered 10 September 2017, about a week before I was reported. I have been selling my design from may 2017. It also look like the their t-shirt is a new listing. I am suspicious I am being pushed out by a slightly bigger company. I emailed the company as recommended and they replied with the registered number and to not relist my it-shirts. I have since checked them out and emailed the above and asked when they started selling their deisgn but no reply as yet. Can anyone see that this may be corrupt. Thank You

I am writing on behalf of a friend. I do apologise if this is within the wrong thread. My friend is a designer of a certain range of garments. She has a very particular signature style across her designs and has been in business designing such products since 2014. I understand the garment itself and its construction isn't copyrighted, however, her designs, which include texture, layout, colour and overall feel are protected automatically as the creator, is this correct? It has recently come about that several new competitors have entered the market and have been copying and/or deriving designs from the original designs my friend has created. These designs are so close in comparison, that it could be easily misrepresented as one of hers and therefore damage her reputation, not to mention the financial loss. A cease and desist letter was sent to all parties, however, this has so far been unsuccessful. I contacted each of them posing as a customer and asked that they might recreate one of her very best designs for me, and I got a resounding "yes of course, it'll cost xxxx". This clearly show that the competitor in question has no moral issue with the blatant copying of other people's intellectual property, and I wonder what rights my friend would have to fight this. My concern is that if the competitor realises that nothing can be done, this will give her more reason to then continue copying and potentially get even worse in a bid to annoy. What is the best course of action for such a case? Obviously my friend owns the right to her style and there are laws that are to protect her, however, with costs and such, it's a sticky position.

In the early months of 2010, Golden Eye (International) Ltd, a company connected with the Ben Dover porn brand, decided to chance their hand at obtaining settlements from alleged file-sharers in the UK. Although they successfully obtained the identities of alleged file-sharers through the court using the Tilly Bailey & Irvine (TBI) law firm, things quickly went wrong for GoldenEye. TBI pulled out due to bad publicity and the company was eventually fined late 2011 by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority for their mishandling of the cases. In September 2011, Golden Eye were back again, trying to extract money from Internet users via the previously untested route of the small claims court. But in December 2011 it all fell apart following proper scrutiny in the High Court. And now, in March 2012, unbelievably Golden Eye are back again with a third attempt. http://torrentfreak.com/pay-up-or-else-bittorrent-scheme-resurrected-in-uk-high-court-120309/ Posted this here for info, hopefully it wont take people by suprise like acs law. I download nothing, but always expect a letter lol

Hi. I have created a deck of Tarot cards using graffiti images, based primarily on the art work of Banksy. The images are all from publicly viewable graffiti, as opposed to the recent 'Dismaland' exhibition in Weston-Super-Mare, which was purpose built and required an entrance fee to view it. All the work I've used is unofficially attributed to Banksy, although there's no way of knowing this for certain. Public graffiti, nomatter how popular the artist, is classed as criminal damage and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years upon conviction. My question is this... if I were to commercially produce such a deck of cards, would I be opening myself to legal action? I have tried to send messages to Banksy asking for permission, but there's been no reply as yet. Any profits from such a venture are to be donated to a social welfare charity.

Good day to you all. This is a little unusual but I hope someone can advise me on my legal position? About a year ago I started a Facebook group, it turned out to be quite popular and so I appointed some members as administrators to help me run it. One of these administrators asked me if it would be OK for him to design a new header/logo for the group to which I agreed. He designed it using a proprietry computer program, used public domain and royalty free images, the name of the Facebook group and also the accompanying website that I also registered the domain in my name. He has now left under a bit of a cloud and has sent me several messages regarding this logo, he has claimed it is his copyright and I have no right to use it. I told him to go take a running jump and continued to use it. He has now threatened legal action and has said I will be hearing from his legal representative. He has made the same threat to the remaining administrators, holding them jointly responsible. . The simple thing to do would be to change the logo but unfortunately we had it turned into a bumper sticker as well and several members have purchased one, they would quite rightly be a little miffed if we changed it. . So in summary, am I in breach of copyright even though (a) It contains the name of my group and my website? (b) He designed it whilst working for the group © It is made up of royalty free and public domain material? . Your advice would be welcomed.

I recently came in to possession of a digital file which I printed with a view of selling copies. I have received an email stating that there is a copyright on the file and that the "theft" of the file is being investigated with a view of court proceedings being issued and to discover the identity of the person being found out. What do I do???

Hi everyone, hoping someone can give a little advice. A friend of mine has just started a small hobby business selling hand-made cosy sacks for small pets. Lots of people make them and there are various online tutorials showing how to sew them etc. She sells them mostly via her facebook page, but also on eBay and Preloved. Over the last couple of days, she has been receiving angry messages on facebook and ebay from another seller who makes them demanding she remove hers from sale immediately. This seller claims her sacks are copyrighted and that my friend is infringing on her intellectual rights by making and selling them. Obviously this is silly as my friend's designs are not exactly identical and as I said before, many people make them for sale. The reason this nasty seller seems to be picking on my friend is because they have both used the same fabrics for some of their products. It turns out that they both live in the same area and are likely using the same store to buy their materials. A complete coincidence. Yesterday, the angry seller registered the copyright with some online company that gives you a fancy certificate and registration number. I know this means very little, as it's no proof that the work is hers, but she has now faxed a copy to eBay with the intent of getting my friend's listings pulled. She has also allegedly reported my friend's page to faceboook. Just now, my friend received an email from Preloved saying her advert had been removed due to this person's report. My friend is very upset and doesn't know how to defend herself from these attacks or protect her ads and listings on various sites. Does she have any grounds to get a solicitor involved? And is there any where she can get some free legal advice? She has been trying to call her local CAB all day, but the phone is constantly engaged. Thank you for any advice.

Hello everyone. I'm new here. A fine fellow over at Gallifrey Base pointed me this way, for I have a problem, and he thought some of the good people here might be able to help. I run a blog which is a just-for-fun, non-profit thing. I ramble on and say things that may or may not be amusing. In among the writing I include the odd picture, gleaned from google image searches to reflect the subject matter. A few days ago a photgrapher got in touch. I had inadvertantly used one of his images, and he was displeased. Fair enough, I thought, should have asked. I apologised and instantly took the image down. Not good enough, apparently. He wanted paying for my use of the image. I suggested that this was unnecessary - I make no money from the blog, and he was uncredited on the page I got the image from. He would not budge on the issue. I had a look on a site which hosts his images, which gives prices for the use of his images. The one I had used would cost about £38. I offered to pay £50, to cover this and make some kind of apology. He wants £350. I've asked why this is the case, but he has not been forthcoming, and is threatening legal action. I'm not sure what to do. Part of me thinks, fair enough, I should have tried to get in touch with him, and copyright is essentially a good thing that protects artists, so I should just pay up and chalk it up to experience. Another part of me think that, once I've apologised, taken the image down and offered to pay him the standard amount, he should be satisfied. It looks a lot like he's trying to wring as much out of this as he can. I should say that I did not copy and paste the image. Rather, I hotlinked from within the HTML of the blog. As things stand, he has given me seven days to agree to pay the £350. The last communication was from me, asking him to justify the large fee. He has not yet done so. Any help or advice gratefully accepted. Thanks in advance TB

Hi guys, I have a issue that's keeping me awake at the moment, i don't know what to do as I have never been in a situation like this, any help or advise given is greatly appreciated, ok this is the issue: About 2 months ago i purchased about 25-30 tops of a well known British brand name from a warehouse with the intention to re-sell them for some profit, to raise some of my student fees. I believed in good faith the items i purchased were genuine items and not counterfeit as also none of the customers i sold to had any complaints. I sold about 20 on ebay and as i was selling the last couple, eBay closed down the auction and sent me an email for breaching trademark rights, I did not think much of it and did not post the items up again. Then about 3 days ago I received a letter from solicitors acting on behalf of the brand I was selling. I was roughly a 30 page document. They basically wrote that i have been selling counterfeit goods and breaching the trademark of their brand they also included 10 pages of my sales history taken from a website called goofbay.com which i never even knew they can hold my private information, they also said i can avoid legal action if within 7 days i sign their undertaking and send it to them. The undertaking has about 9 points they want me to do, some are crazy demands but i can do most of them including that i have to agree to not sell or deal with their products again which is fine i will never sell again, especially on ebay. But it also says i have to send them documents of all my sales information and sales history and they will take all the money i made, on TOP of that they also want me to pay £550 legal costs. I just started my new year as a student and can barely survive with rent etc i cant afford to pay their demands for doing something i honestly thought was not wrong. i will be grateful for any advise you guys can give me, do these guys really have a case? is there a way i can get out of this without paying them. Thank you in advance guys