Cyndi's List Files Lawsuit Against Another Genealogy Web Site

In the November 2, 2012 newsletter, I posted an article entitled Cyndi's List versus the Rip-off Artist. The article is still available at http://goo.gl/iHtti. I quoted Cyndi Howells as stating, "I've spent the last two days documenting and laying the foundation for a lawsuit because my entire web site was copied and put on another person's for-profit site. This has been gut-wrenching and heart-breaking. I'm exhausted and upset. And in the end it hurts all of you too because I didn't get any other work done on Cyndi's List during this time."

The two sides apparently have not been able to reach an agreement. On December 21, 2012, Cyndi Howells filed a lawsuit against Barry J Ewell, owner of Mygenshare.com, in Washington Western District Court, Tacoma, Washington, for violation of copyrights.

The case is listed as Case Number: 3:2012cv06074 in the court docket and a brief summary is available at http://dockets.justia.com/docket/washington/wawdce/3:2012cv06074/189401/. However, a subscription to PACER is required to read any of the details. PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) is an electronic public access service that allows users to obtain case and docket information from federal appellate, district and bankruptcy courts, and the PACER Case Locator via the Internet. Registration is required to access PACER.

COMMENT: It is sad to see disagreements degenerate into lawsuits. However, I have to support Cyndi Howells on this one. She has spent thousands of hours developing a a web site that provides valuable information to genealogists.

Any rip-off of her "sweat of the brow" work by a another person can be argued as to legalities. However, regardless of the words of the law, such an action obviously is impolite and in very bad taste.

I have no idea how this case will finally be settled, but I can only hope for the best for Cyndi.