Copyright and Intellectual Property Overview

I take intellectual property very seriously, which means that we do not tolerate real copyright infringement BUT ALSO DO NOT TOLERATE unfounded or frivolous accusations of infringement. If you believe that any content or design posted on this site has been copied without permission, then stop for a moment and evaluate if you really know who owns those rights. If the offending material displays text and images that where created by someone else, then there is little room for doubt. However, if a design is involved, then make sure that you really know who owns the rights to that design before accusing others. Remember that jewelry design is as ancient as civilization itself, and what you feel is original could have been created long ago by someone else. It is particularly difficult to determine the legal copyright ownership if the design is derivative, that is, not exactly identical but uses portions of other designs.

Can I report and request removal of content from this site based on copyright infringement?

If you are certain that you are the RIGHTFUL OWNER (or their legal representative) of the content and feel that your rights have been violated, then we recommend that you first try to contact the offending poster directly via email -- many times users are not aware that they are infringing on another person's rights. All contact related to copyright infringement should be done via email outside of our site, so that you can have valid legal documentation of your process and since our Messaging system and the public forums cannot be used to report copyright violations. Most members have their own personal websites and email listed under their Profile pages.

If the poster refuses to remove the material voluntarily, then follow the procedures described below requesting a formal take-down of the offending material from our site and we will be glad to help.

If you are NOT THE RIGHTFUL OWNER of the content that is being violated, then unfortunately we cannot accept your report -- we know you mean well and we appreciate your effort to do the right thing, but the internet is rife with frivolous and unfounded accusations. As a small company we do not have the resources to investigate every accusation for legal and historical accuracy, so we have to follow procedures determined by U.S. Copyright Law. You do have the right to contact any parties you see fit outside of our site, though.

We understand that this might cause some frustration, but please understand that our site MUST comply with industry standards and good internet practices, along with directions provided by U.S. Copyright Law.

I am the owner of a specific technique that I invented. Can I claim copyright protection?

A technique is considered a procedure for doing or making things, and is not protected by copyright. There are other forms of protection for inventions, such as patents.

"Copyright law does not protect ideas, methods, or systems. Copyright protection is therefore not available for ideas or procedures for doing, making, or building things; scientific or technical methods or discoveries; business operations or procedures; mathematical principles; formulas or algorithms; or any other concept, process, or method of operation."

For more information on what is not protected by copyright, please refer to this link http://copyright.gov/circs/circ31.pdf .

Yes, I am the owner of the copyright and my rights have been infringed by someone on this site. What can be done?

Have you tried to contact the member first via email to see if they will remove the material voluntarily? This is usually the best and fastest solution.

If you have tried to contact the offending poster without success, then per instructions of U.S. Copyright Law and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), our site can act as messenger and send your formal request of removal to any offending user that has posted at our site. Upon receiving your formal request (see below for more instructions), we can also remove the offending materials pending a resolution between you.

This process is called "A request for Take-Down", also known as "DMCA notification".

Ok, I have tried to contact the poster and they refuse to answer or to remove the materials voluntarily.

If you are absolutely sure that your rights (or the rights of those you represent) have been infringed; AND you have attempted to contact the poster and have been unsuccessful in having them remove the material voluntarily, then you can use our "Take-Down" procedure. We will act as messengers between you and the other party and remove the materials until the issue is settled between you.

Before initiating, please understand that these procedures must be followed rigorously in order for our site to comply with DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) Copyright law.

To submit a DMCA Take Down notification via email or postal mail, follow the instructions described in our Terms of Use in the Copyright Infringement section and request a formal removal of the offending material.

The DMCA Notice is not difficult to complete, but must be submitted EXACTLY as described in our terms of use in order to be legal and effective. If your DMCA Notice is incorrect or incomplete, we will do our best to instruct you on how to file properly. DMCA Notices are considered legal documents. You should always consult the advice of a lawyer.

I submitted a DMCA notification to you but the offending content is still up there!

We will check your DMCA notice as quickly as possible and may require some time to consult with legal counsel. If the notice is incomplete or incorrect, then we will contact you and do our best to help you to correct it. This process takes great priority over other jobs, so please be patient and we will contact you as quickly as humanly possible.

That is why contacting the other party via email first on your own is usually a much more rapid and effective solution.

I received a message from someone stating that my content is infringing on another person's copyright.

If someone has sent you an email accusing you of copyright infringement, then take a moment to evaluate your content and see if it really is truly original. You may be stepping on someone's rights without knowing. Reply to the email asking questions and historic evidence that the content really belongs to them. If you are in doubt, then we recommend that you remove your content voluntarily. Just send us a message and we can help you to remove it as quickly as possible.

Someone has accused me of copying or of copyright infringement on this site!

We will not tolerate public accusations of infringement at our site and may remove content which could defame members. Read our Community Guidelines for more information. Our Terms of use describe very accurately the procedures available to the owners of the rights for proper removal.

If you have been accused publicly or believe another person has been accused publicly of copyright infringement at our site, DO NOT REPLY to the thread in public forum, or using our Messaging system, since it could start a flame war. Please use the “Report button” located next to the problematic comment or under the member's profile and our Admin may remove it after evaluation.

I received a DMCA Claim from your site and my content was removed!

If you received a DMCA Claim and your Content was removed from our site, please remember that we are acting as MESSENGERS, per instructions of the U.S. Copyright Law office. Our site is required by law to forward you any DMCA Claims we receive and to remove your Content until the issue is settled between you. The DMCA notice does not come from us, it comes from the claimant.

My content has been improperly removed as infringing on copyrights.

If you believe that your content has been improperly removed due to a DMCA claim, you have the option of filing a Counter Notice in order to request reinstatement of your content.

Just send us a DMCA Counter Notice and request reinstatement of your content. Remember that Counter notices must follow the same rigorous procedures as the original DMCA notice or we will not be able to accept it, per instructions of U.S. Copyright Law.

If your DMCA Counter notice is incorrect or incomplete, we will do our best to instruct you on how to file properly. DMCA Counter Notices are legal documents. You should always consult the advice of a lawyer.

Some content has disappeared from this site! Why?

There are many other reasons why we can elect to remove content from our site. Please understand that there will be a valid reason behind every removal, such as, but not limited to: a valid DMCA claim; voluntary removal by the member; or no counter-action by the member. These reasons sometimes may not be disclosed to unrelated third parties for privacy reasons, so try to understand that we may not be able to tell you why it was removed to protect someone else's privacy.

Our Terms of use describe the procedures available to these types of situations and the users involved have been offered options to request proper reinstatement of their content, if it indeed has been misidentified as infringing.

For more information please refer to the Copyright & Intellectual Property section of our Terms of use.