Someone else stole my work and put it on other websites
Unfortunately, there are many websites which steal files, mods and liveries from Flightsim.to. Mostly, creators have decided to upload their works exclusively here, but those sites distribute them on their own servers without properly crediting the authors, let alone asking for permission at all. We are aware of this fact and are constantly monitoring the situation of new content ripping sites. If you find your file being shared on other websites, and you have not agreed to this distribution, please act quickly so that you or we can remove the copyright infringement. Follow this guide to properly takedown copyright infringements of your file.
Option 1 - Contact Flightsim.to
If you have uploaded your file exclusively to Flightsim.to and nowhere else, we may be able to help get it deleted from the other website. We will act on your behalf and file a takedown notice to remove the pirated file. All you have to do is report the links to us, and we will take care of the legal enforcement as best we can. This is the easiest and simplest way for you to remove an illegal distribution. Keep in mind, this option is only available if you have not uploaded or distributed the file anywhere other than on Flightsim.to.
- Create a ticket here.
- Please include the link to your original file on Flightsim.to.
- Please include the link to the copy of your file on the other, infringing website.
- Kindly let us know whether you already have taken legal action or not yet.
- Attention: Please create a ticket for each file. If you need to report more websites or different files, please create a new ticket for each.
We will keep you updated on the current progress.
Option 2 - Take action yourself
If you don't want us to act on your behalf, you can also file takedown and abuse reports yourself. To do so, you must first contact the website owner, and then, if he doesn't respond, the hosting provider. Use our pre-made templates which you can find below. Copy them and replace the links and your name accordingly.
How to contact the website owner? Please check whether the website provides a contact option. Most of the time you will find an email address or a "Contact" button at the very bottom of the page, which you can use to contact the website owner. You need to send him our template with the replaced links and your name.
How to contact the hosting provider? If the website doesn't respond after two days, contact their hosting provider with a written complaint. In order to find the hosting provider, you have to start a WHOIS query via this website. Enter the domain of the website to lookup. Scroll down a little until you find the record for the IP address. You then need to start a new lookup for the IP address you just found. That will give you the name and contact details of the hosting provider. Take a look at the email address given there or visit the company's website to look for contact options in abuse cases.
Known Sites
- allflightmods.com
- Abuse Form: https://abuse.scaleway.com/
- IP Address: 163.172.33.204
- Experience: There is no option to contact the website owner directly. In case they deny your request, send it once again until they remove your file. They first always deny with stupid excuses, but simply create another ticket, insisting on your rights.
- msfsaddon.com
- Abuse Mail: [email protected]
- Experience: They remove your file within 48 hours. If not, contact Flightsim.to.
- flyawaysimulation.com
- Abuse Mail: [email protected]
- Escalation Mail if ignored: [email protected]
- IP Address: 195.224.144.107
- Experience: They remove your file within one week.
Please note that you can only enforce rights for the files that really belong to you. You must have created these files yourself and are not allowed to use works by third parties or other authors, for example. Make sure you are the legal owner of the work before you act, as you can only claim copyrights for work that is solely self created.
Additional Note: Protect your files
There will be always content ripping sites and unfortunately it's very unlikely that we can stop them entirely. However, you can at least make ripping your files a lot harder for them by following the tips below.
- Always enable the "Only members can download" option, which helps us to better track and ban content rippers.
- Before uploading your file, put a ReadMe.txt inside your archive, clearly stating that you uploaded your file on Flightsim.to exclusively. Mention your profile name and indicate that other download sources are illegal.
- Before uploading your images, add custom watermarks on your image, that somehow state your profile name and Flightsim.to. Place those watermarks with low opacity somewhere near the middle of the image.