Infringing website mystery

[geogphotos]

I found two of my images on what seemed to be from a County Council's heritage/archaeology department.  It's an 'org.uk' domain name

 

Except my images were not anything to do with that county or heritage/archaeology. They seemed to have been taken along with the accompanying story from a news site which had licensed them. One image is credited to a major magazine from where it has been nicked. 

 

I contacted the county council department and they told me that yes they had commissioned this website but that it no longer belongs to them and they have no control over it. The Way Back machine shows that the domain and site has been in use for over twenty years. I see that some of the content - logo, attribution statement, text on webpages - is still in place.

 

The mystery to me is how can a third party 'take-over' the domain and content on this site and use it for its own purposes - it seems that they are trying to push advertising.

 

I think it is true that the Council no longer owns the site and so it looks as though I won't get anywhere chasing the infringements. But it seems that they have been at least careless to lose control of the domain and content and I just don't understand how it could have happened.

 

I'm wondering if anybody more website savvy than me has seen this sort of thing before?

 

I feel reluctant to post the URL here but would be pleased to share information if contacted by email

geogphotosATgmail.com

[Steve F]

25 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

The mystery to me is how can a third party 'take-over' the domain and content on this site and use it for its own purposes

 

You generally have to pay to renew a domain every year. If you don't pay and you renewal passes, the domain is up for grabs by anyone. 

 

Shouldn't be able to take over the website though, it should be copyright to the original website owner, i.e. the county council. Regardless of whether they paid someone else to maintain it for them.

[geogphotos]

Thanks. I am aware that domains expire and that somebody else can take on the domain name. But that doesn't mean that they take all the content with them. 

 

If I failed to renew www.geographyphotos.com the site would go down not be available with all its content for somebody else. 

Edited February 23 by geogphotos

[Harry Harrison]

I guess you've done a 'whois' search. Doesn't tell you everything but does (I think) show changes to ownership of the domain name. Yes, the site exists on a server that is independent of the domain name, certainly does in our case where the domain name just points to a Photoshelter site which would still exist if you were offered squillions for geographyphotos.com and decided to cash in.

 

More info here:

https://www.domain.com/blog/find-a-domain-name-owner/

[geogphotos]

   Data validation:
        Nominet was not able to match the registrant's name and/or address against a 3rd party source on 25-Feb-2022

    Registrar:
        Namecheap, Inc. [Tag = NAMECHEAP-INC]
        URL: https://www.namecheap.com

    Relevant dates:
        Registered on: 03-Jan-2020
        Expiry date:  03-Jan-2025
        Last updated:  04-Dec-2023

[Harry Harrison]

Hmm. With mine and no doubt yours Nominet was able to match on the date it was registered and of course mine hasn't changed hands, not sure of the significance of this.

[geogphotos]

10 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said:

Hmm. With mine and no doubt yours Nominet was able to match on the date it was registered and of course mine hasn't changed hands, not sure of the significance of this.

 

 

I suppose that dodgy websites hide behind anonymity. 

[Harry Harrison]

I guess so, details of possible circumstances from Nominet here:

 

https://registrars.nominet.uk/uk-namespace/data-quality-policy/data-validation-process/

[wiskerke]

To check a domain, I use something like this. (but there are others)

Try it with your own to see what the info means.

 

wim

[geogphotos]

Thanks for all the ideas.

[geogphotos]

Okay, can't see any harm in sharing the website:

 

https://www.historic-cornwall.org.uk

 

 

What do you think?

Edited February 23 by geogphotos

[Vincent Lowe]

Very odd - looks to me like one of those clickbait sites.  A lot of it seems to be about anything but Cornwall.  For instance if you click on the Latest News about Cornwall link the main 'news' is about the housing market in Texas!

 

I very much doubt you will get anywhere trying to get any payment out of them.

Edited February 23 by Vincent Lowe
spelling

[geogphotos]

8 hours ago, Vincent Lowe said:

Very odd - looks to me like one of those clickbait sites.  A lot of it seems to be about anything but Cornwall.  For instance if you click on the Latest News about Cornwall link the main 'news' is about the housing market in Texas!

 

I very much doubt you will get anywhere trying to get any payment out of them.

 

Yes, it is a lost cause in terms of infringements  - I'm just left trying to figure out what happened and how Cornwall council lost control of the site they commissioned. Maybe the company that first created the site for them has gone rogue when the domain name came up.

Edited February 24 by geogphotos

[Harry Harrison]

"The .org.uk domain is a recognised domain name extension for charities and non-profit organisations registered in the United Kingdom. Originally, it was necessary to show documentation as proof of being a non-profit organization in order to register a .org.uk domain, but now the domain is available for anyone to buy. Today it’s still popular with a variety of UK organisations including charities, community projects, and group projects.

You may already be familiar with the .org domain. When combining this globally-known domain with .uk domain, you get the .org.uk domain. This gives you the best of both worlds: it shows you’re a non-profit organisation or charity and also that you’re based in the UK. Those that want to know more about certain charities or maybe even donate to them will look for the .org.uk domain as it evokes trust."

 

I've just copied this from here , I must say that I had always trusted '.org.uk' sites but was never quite sure why. Seems that I was misguided or at least I am now, I can buy my own .org.uk for £12.99 a year, you can buy yours. So who thought that it was a good idea to stop requiring non-profit documentation? Presumably too much administration required, too easy to fake.

Edited February 24 by Harry Harrison

[Rebecca Ore]

On 23/02/2024 at 05:06, geogphotos said:

Thanks. I am aware that domains expire and that somebody else can take on the domain name. But that doesn't mean that they take all the content with them. 

 

If I failed to renew www.geographyphotos.com the site would go down not be available with all its content for somebody else. 

 

If they've pulled the site before the domain goes away, you can be screwed.   My fan-contributed website got snatched by some scammer.   Reported to the site's host, to the site registrar, and told Wikipedia also to break the link.   Never saw more sales from having a web site anyway.