March 5, 2009

Robert T. McQuaid
Dufferin VOCA
RR 5 Orangeville
Ontario L9W 2Z2
CANADA

Email: rtmq@fixcas.com

Registrant:

Brent Oxley
11251 Northwest Fwy
Houston, TX 77092
Fax: 1.9254072896
Email: support@hostgator.com

Re: Copyright Infringement of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2)

Dear Mr. McQuaid and Mr. Oxley:

I represent NCS Pearson, Inc. (Pearson), the exclusive licensee or publisher of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), which is a secure Assessment restricted to purchase by qualified individuals. The copyright owner of the MMPI-2 is the Regents of the University of Minnesota and NCS Pearson, Inc. is the exclusive licensee for distribution of the MMPI-2 in the United States and Canada.

Copyright Violation

As you are aware, both Canadian and U.S. Copyright Law give the copyright owner the exclusive rights to reproduce and control the distribution of its work. According to our information, you are distributing and infringing version of the MMPI-2 on an unsecured website, thereby allowing the materials to be downloaded to unqualified individuals without our permission. Copies of the screen shots are provided for your information. The website in question is located at:

http://www.fixcas.com/scholar/mmpi.htm

Both United States and Canadian Copyright Law give the copyright owner (or their designee) the exclusive rights to reproduce and/or license of its copyrighted property. The MMPI-2 and its normative data and scoring algorithms are protected works under both United States Copyright law and Canadian Copyright law. Both laws provide protections for such works of authorship with severe penalties for violations. As the United States (1989) and Canada (1928) are signatory members of the Berne Convention, as a citizen of Canada you are obligated under The Berne Convention to recognize the copyright of American works in the same way the United States recognizes the copyright of its own nationals. Only licensed parties are allowed to reproduce any copyrighted portions of it, whether in computer software or otherwise. Specifically, any of the following, unless done under license, constitutes infringement:

1. reproduction of some or all of the MMPI-2 items, such as for generating a report of critical or omitted items;
2. reproduction of scale definitions (scale membership and scored direction) used for raw scoring tables for the basic clinical and validity scales of the MMPI-2; and
3. reproduction of the MMPI-2 Norms for the basic clinical and validity scales.

My client demands that you immediately cease using its proprietary material. We have notified your ISP (see attached) regarding the infringing material pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). If necessary, my client is prepared to file suit to protect its valuable intellectual property and will do so unless the following confirmations are received no later than ten (10) business days after receipt of this letter:

1. A letter of assurance, confirming such activity has ceased and that the material has been removed from your website, along with the initial posting date of the instrument from your website administrator;
2. An affidavit signed by an authorized individual, warranting that all materials have been removed; and
3. An accounting of the number of hits on the MMPI-2 link and proof thereof; and
4. An accounting of the number of reproductions used by your group outside of the website;
5. And where you originally found the infringing work.

My client is dismayed at the blatant and egregious violation of its proprietary materials. Please be advised that any further distribution of the materials after receipt of this letter is actionable and will be pursued. I have also sent a copy of the letter to your hosting company/service provider to notify them of the infringement. Once we receive confirmation of the above, we will contact you regarding a reasonable settlement for these acts of infringement. If you have any questions, please contact the undersigned attorney directly.

Sincerely,
/Carl W. Covert, Jr./
Contract Attorney
Carl.covert@pearson.com
210-339-5195

Attachments -->

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March 6, 2009

Ann D Cieslak, Executive Director and Corporate Secretary
Board of Regents
University of Minnesota
600 McNamara Alumni Center
200 Oak Street SE
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis,
Minnesota 55455-2020
Phone: 612-625-6300
Fax: 612-624-3318

cieslak@umn.edu

subject: Legal threat

Madam:

I enclose an email in the form of a legal threat. Unusual for this kind of communication, it does not include a return address, and is signed in the name of "Covert", suggesting it may be a spoof.

Is this a legitimate communication on your behalf?

Robert T McQuaid
558 McMartin Road
Mattawa Ontario P0H 1V0
Canada

phone: 705-744-6274
email: rtmq@fixcas.com
web: www.fixcas.com

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UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Office of the General Counsel

360 McNamara Alumni Center
200 Oak Street SE.
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Office: 612-624-4100 Fax: 612-626-9624

March 9, 2009

VIA E-MAIL AND U.S. MAIL

Robert T. McQuaid
558 McMartin Road
Mattawa Ontario P0H 1V0
Canada

Re: Your Recent Communication

Dear Mr. McQuaid,

Your March 6, 2009, e-mail to the University of Minnesota's Board of Regents was forwarded to me. Please be advised that NCS Pearson, Inc., is the University's agent for the marketing and distribution of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Pearson's duties include the monitoring and enforcement of the University's copyright interests in its various MMPI publications.

I have confirmed with Pearson that the March 5, 2009, e-mail you received came from Pearson, that Carl Covert is one of Pearson's contract attorneys, and that the e-mail involves a current copyright infringement matter that Pearson is investigating. You should follow up directly with attorney Covert using the e-mail address and/or telephone number included in the email.

Very truly yours,

/signed/

Brent P. Benrud
Associate General Counsel

Driven to Discovers