| Guru3d.com Steals Content from Benchmark Reviews |
| Written by Olin Coles | |
| Friday, 16 July 2010 | |
Guru3d Steals Content from Benchmark ReviewsHilbert Hagedoorn Allegedly Violates DMCA for Personal Financial GainToday I learned a disheartening fact: sometimes the people we know and trust will lie, cheat, and steal to keep their position at the top. Hilbert Hagedoorn, owner and "Guru of 3D", a very well known website visited for video card reviews, has blatantly stolen content and material from Benchmark Reviews and fashioned it as his own. Benchmark Reviews was received the only known sample of a product for an exclusive review, which we photographed and shared specifications for our readers. Guru3d used the contents of our article (ProlimaTech Super-Mega Heatsink CPU Cooler Debuts) to build his own story, and manually removed the watermark from our images. Here's the case against him and his website: Attention: Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Claim
Hilbert Hagedoorn
Owner, Designated Agent
Guru3d.com
This message is to inform you that the website https://www.guru3d.com/ has infringed upon the copyright of Performance Computers, Inc, a registered corporation located in Nevada, USA. At 11:45AM on 08 July 2010 the work entitled ProlimaTech Super-Mega Heatsink CPU Cooler Debuts was published at: /index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10896&Itemid=22. This article contains images property of Performance Computers, Inc. Two particular images have been used without permission:
All details of this article, text, and images were created by Olin Coles for Performance Computers, Inc., owner of Benchmark Reviews. Hilbert Hagedoorn and Guru3d.com do not have permission to use this or any other material generated by our company. Hilbert Hagedoorn for the website guru3d.com has willfully and intentionally violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by taking images and material from my company and using it to produce income without permission. They have altered the original copyrighted images and manually removed our watermark (although some portion is still intact). Guru3d.com has published their own story without credit given or sources listed. The infringing work is located here: https://www.guru3d.com/news/prolimatech-to-launch-super-mega-cpu-cooler/, with specific regard to this image: https://www.guru3d.com/imageview.php?image=24961. Original Benchmark Reviews images:
Guru3d/Hilbert Hagedoorn's "edited" version:
We respectfully request that you take immediate action to remove all copyrighted material from the website guru3d.com. Your prompt response will mitigate potential legal costs and prosecution under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1996. Thank you for your cooperation.
Olin Coles
President, Designated Agent
Perfomance Computers, Inc.
BenchmarkReviews.com
While the Digital Millennium Copyright Act does protect the owner in situations such as this, it is very difficult to achieve international enforcement. Whether you are a regular visitor of Benchmark Reviews or merely an avid enthusiast, we urge you to support the protection of copyrighted works. UPDATE 1: (15-July-2010) Guru3d has not responded to our messages, however owner Hilbert Hagedoorn has made the following public remark in their forum.
UPDATE 2: (15-July-2010) Hilbert Hagedoorn has offered another response in his forum. He has also sent an email with the same text:
UPDATE 3: (16-July-2010) Guru3d has removed the copyrighted images and text from their website. Related Articles:
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