I have NOT approved use of my name!

[shiradotnet]

There is a new web site out there (whose link I won't identify because I don't want to give them free publicity) who has sent a mass emailing to dancers soliciting them to advertise. (It starts with a "t"...) This web site publishes Shira.net as being (allegedly) the web site belonging to these dancers.

I have NOT approved this use of my name. I never even heard of these people before today, when dancers started coming forward and asking me if I was aware they were doing this.

Be warned: if these people are willing to lie, using my web site to legitimize what they are doing, they won't treat YOU ethically either!



I don't mind the fact that there's yet another web site trying to create a directory of belly dancers. But I DO mind it when they involve my web site in their unethical recruiting practices.

 

[Mya]

For shame! I haven't heard of them but good for them that i haven't....i'm just ready to give morons a piece of my mind these days.

 

[Samira_dncr]

Sigh. I completely feel for you, Shira. It's good that the BD community is pretty tight-knit...so most of us will figure it out before it gets too out of hand. Have you contacted them to remove any reference to your site?

 

[maria_harlequin]

Oh no! Isn't that illegal?

 

[Shanazel]

I'm confused, probably because I don't have a clue how web sites work. These mobsters have established their own web site and are soliciting advertising for the new web site by claiming they also own Shira.net?

 

[shiradotnet]

I'm confused, probably because I don't have a clue how web sites work. These mobsters have established their own web site and are soliciting advertising for the new web site by claiming they also own Shira.net?

It isn't clear to me what, exactly, they are doing. They have stuck a whole bunch of dancers' names on their site without obtaining prior permission from the dancers. In many cases, the "web site" they claim belonging to those dancers is MINE, Find Belly Dancing Teachers and Performers all Over the World! Belly Dancing Lessons and Dancers! Search for Belly Dancers! and they're putting incorrect phone numbers for those dancers.

One dancer who emailed me said that the listing they put in there for her claims that she is certified in Suhaila's format, which she is not and never claimed to be.

So I don't know what they're doing, but I'm NOT happy that they stole data that took me 11 years and thousands of hours of work to assemble and keep updated.

 

[Shanazel]

Don't blame you a bit for being royally ticked off. Do you have any options for stopping them? Can we mount some kind of a write in campaign for you? Wish I could think of something to help, but I'm way out of my depth here.

 

[shiradotnet]

Don't blame you a bit for being royally ticked off. Do you have any options for stopping them? Can we mount some kind of a write in campaign for you? Wish I could think of something to help, but I'm way out of my depth here.

I don't know if there's any practical thing we can do to stop them. The outcome I could WISH for would be that dancers who receive the solicitations from them would remove their info from that site rather than let that site continue to have it. But it's tricky to request that, because dancers usually want to get their names out there to sell themselves as teachers and performers, and so asking them to boycott this site would be asking them to forego something that some may think is a nice promotional opportunity.

This is a violation of a concept known in U.S. law as a "compilation copyright". A "compilation copyright" refers to a copyright over the collection of items. Each individual contributor owns his/her individual contribution (whether it be a dancer's contact info or a forum message posted by someone or an article appearing in a journal), but the web site owner, journal publisher, etc. owns the right to the compilation. But I don't exactly have a bank account full of money that I could use to press charges against these slimeballs.

 

[nightdancer]

Can you go to their service provider and ask them to intercede based in your compliation copyright?

 

[Samira_dncr]

Or have a lawyer friend send a "cease & desist" letter?

 

[mahsati_janan]

There is a new web site out there (whose link I won't identify because I don't want to give them free publicity) who has sent a mass emailing to dancers soliciting them to advertise. (It starts with a "t"...) This web site publishes Shira.net as being (allegedly) the web site belonging to these dancers.

I have NOT approved this use of my name. I never even heard of these people before today, when dancers started coming forward and asking me if I was aware they were doing this.

Be warned: if these people are willing to lie, using my web site to legitimize what they are doing, they won't treat YOU ethically either!



I don't mind the fact that there's yet another web site trying to create a directory of belly dancers. But I DO mind it when they involve my web site in their unethical recruiting practices.

Thanks, Shira - I was curious about it. I've received 5 emails from them now and reported them for spam. I hope there's a way to stop them from using your name!