Legit Copyright website?
March 22, 2018 3:25 PM Subscribe
I paid for a copyright for an image on a site called Copyright Registry Online. It seemed to expensive ($135) and I later noticed some possible scam flags about the site online. I'm wondering if anyone knows about purchasing a copyright on third party sites, and even assuming I did overpay could I still get a legal and legit copyright license? Or could they give me some fake license that wouldn't hold up in court?
I usually research this stuff before I jump into anything but I did this on a whim. Thanks for any help.
I'm confused - are you trying to register a copyright of something you created? Or something else? There is no actual need in the US to register a copyright for something you create - you automatically have one. If you want a legal documentation of your copyright in order to bring someone to court, you can do that directly through copyright.gov and their registration portal - no good reason to use a third party website.
posted by brainmouse at 3:35 PM on March 22, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by brainmouse at 3:35 PM on March 22, 2018 [9 favorites]
When I start typing "copyright registry online" into the search bar of my browser, the first search suggestion that pops up is "copyright registry online scam."
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:03 PM on March 22, 2018
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:03 PM on March 22, 2018
Response by poster: When I start typing "copyright registry online" into the search bar of my browser, the first search suggestion that pops up is "copyright registry online scam."
Yeah I saw that after I used the site. Oops.
posted by Liquidwolf at 4:16 PM on March 22, 2018
Yeah I saw that after I used the site. Oops.
posted by Liquidwolf at 4:16 PM on March 22, 2018
More helpfully, if this was a recent thing you could probably call up the customer service line for whatever card you used to pay for this and contest the charge. I did this for the first time the other day when I got ripped off at a gas station and it worked surprisingly well. The people at my bank didn't give me any bullshit, they were very polite and said they'd open an investigation and a few days later my money was back in my account. Only took about ten minutes of my time. Worth a shot!
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:25 PM on March 22, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:25 PM on March 22, 2018 [9 favorites]
Please get in touch with your credit card company!
posted by Seeking Direction at 4:25 PM on March 22, 2018
posted by Seeking Direction at 4:25 PM on March 22, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks Anticipation and Seeking Direction, I just cancelled my credit card ( the payment was still pending ). So I pulled the plug on that whole thing.
posted by Liquidwolf at 4:39 PM on March 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Liquidwolf at 4:39 PM on March 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
thanks for posting the Q.
this is good info to have in AskMeFi for future generations.
posted by calgirl at 4:58 PM on March 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
this is good info to have in AskMeFi for future generations.
posted by calgirl at 4:58 PM on March 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm not sure that cancelling the card will be sufficient to prevent the charge. I'd expect to contest the charge later.
posted by Aleyn at 6:05 PM on March 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Aleyn at 6:05 PM on March 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
Yeah… I wondered about that too but wasn't quite sure how to put it. OP, if you haven't already, you should probably talk to your credit card people and explicitly tell them that this is a fraudulent charge from a scammer. Otherwise, if it's pending, it may still hit your account in a day or two—regardless of your having cancelled the card.
Even if you cancelled the entire account, they may still hold the debt against you since the charge was initiated before the account was cancelled. Maybe someone who knows better will come in and contradict me, but I'd suggest making it really clear with the credit card company that the charge is fraudulent and that you contest it (using the key phrase "this is a fraudulent charge and I want to contest it") if you haven't already done so.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:16 PM on March 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
Even if you cancelled the entire account, they may still hold the debt against you since the charge was initiated before the account was cancelled. Maybe someone who knows better will come in and contradict me, but I'd suggest making it really clear with the credit card company that the charge is fraudulent and that you contest it (using the key phrase "this is a fraudulent charge and I want to contest it") if you haven't already done so.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:16 PM on March 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
Yes, just cancelling the account probably won't do the trick unless you also claim that the charge was not legitimate.
posted by praemunire at 6:19 PM on March 22, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 6:19 PM on March 22, 2018 [4 favorites]
If you’re going to contest the charge (and you should), you need to do it in writing, and you probably can’t do it until you get your statement. Your statement likely contains the procedure to dispute a charge in the small light print.
posted by infinitewindow at 8:04 PM on March 22, 2018
posted by infinitewindow at 8:04 PM on March 22, 2018
Also if you cancelled the card/account there’s usually a grace period in which you can re-instate it, and thus contest the charge. This may or may not be worth your time and money.
posted by artificialard at 8:52 PM on March 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by artificialard at 8:52 PM on March 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
Cancelling your card won't help; you're still on the hook to pay for anything you charge! Instead, call the issuer and dispute the charge. The bank loves to help you do this! I've disputed so many charges and they always are so helpful. And they do all the research!
posted by Pig Tail Orchestra at 5:28 AM on March 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Pig Tail Orchestra at 5:28 AM on March 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
If you’re going to contest the charge (and you should), you need to do it in writing, and you probably can’t do it until you get your statement.
This was not true for me when I did it the other day. I bought an energy drink for $3.71 at a gas station and as I was pulling out onto the highway I got an alert saying that I'd been charged $28.71. I called up my bank right then, explained the situation, and in less than ten minutes' time they had opened an investigation. The only information I needed to provide them was standard identity verification stuff; birth date, last four of my social, that kind of thing. A few days later and with no further intervention from me I got a message saying that the dispute was resolved and my account had been credited $25, which it was. I did not need to wait for a statement or send photos of receipts or anything like that. It was instant and painless.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 5:46 AM on March 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
This was not true for me when I did it the other day. I bought an energy drink for $3.71 at a gas station and as I was pulling out onto the highway I got an alert saying that I'd been charged $28.71. I called up my bank right then, explained the situation, and in less than ten minutes' time they had opened an investigation. The only information I needed to provide them was standard identity verification stuff; birth date, last four of my social, that kind of thing. A few days later and with no further intervention from me I got a message saying that the dispute was resolved and my account had been credited $25, which it was. I did not need to wait for a statement or send photos of receipts or anything like that. It was instant and painless.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 5:46 AM on March 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by praemunire at 3:29 PM on March 22, 2018 [5 favorites]