Typo in URL

[stever]

I just noticed that the letter Getty sent to me contains a typo in the URL.  They broke up the domain name using a -

So, instead of saying the homepage was www.mysite.com,  they wrote www.my-site.com,   which is owned by someone else. 

Does that change anything?  Should I respond and say they've contacted the wrong person - I don't own that domain?

[lucia]

Was the image they claimed you'd included on your actual site? Take it down. 

I don't know other issues related to letter but I'd advise that under no circumstances volunteer that there is a typo in their url.   It may be their records contain the correct address and the typo is on the letter only.  Or it may be that they have the url down with a typo in their records. If they have the wrong url in their records, this might result in their wasting their own time through now fault of your own.  So do not tell them.

[stever]

Thanks for your response Lucia. Maybe some more information would help.

The website URL they used was to a mirror site set up by a marketing company about a year ago. The marketing company owns the URL and put the content up on that site (had to do a whois search to remember that). It was only up for a month or two during an ad campaign, and now is just a parked domain.

I'm thinking that telling them we do not own the domain in question could put an end to it. The problematic image (in a banner from a freelance designer) is no longer on our current site.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

If it was a mirrored site and the banner / image in question was pulled and served from there, what you have is an issue of hotlinking, and this is not a copyright infringement, telling them this and the fact that you do not own the domain in question, should make them go away. This is almost exactly what Lucia is dealing with. This is not something they will likely pursue once made aware of the facts...but then again they tend to not want to hear anything except for the cha-ching sound, so you may have to go around with them for a bit. Lucia drafted a very well written response to her situation, and I'm sure she will chime back in here..

[Jerry Witt (mcfilms)]

Probably the less said at this juncture the better. "I do not own the domain you referenced."

Done.

[stever]

I'm going to reply just as mcfilms and buddhapi have suggested. I'll let you know how it turns out.  The ELI site and forums have done a lot to give me perspective, and recover from the initial shock of the letter from Getty. Thanks for the help.

[Matthew Chan]

Sometimes the best solution is the simple one.  If you don't own the domain, you don't own it. That is it.

Having said that, they might go back and check to see if they made an error. If they made a typo and discover it, then you will be right were you started. However, I am all for NOT making it easy.

Probably the less said at this juncture the better. "I do not own the domain you referenced."

Done.