My extension was cloned

Add-ons addons.mozilla.org
#1

I am the author of the extension Simple mass downloader

Someone had cloned it about two months ago, see Multiple downloader

This person changed the theme color from blue to green, replaced the extension icon and also has removed the help menu of the extension.

He took the latest version of my extension (there are about 25 on my extension versions page) without even the slightest improvement.

Like many other firefox extensions, my addon has the Mozilla Public License, version 2.0. My knowledge of legal issues is very limited, but I believe that even under the terms of this license such cloning is not tolerable.

Apparently, this person does not have an email address to contact with.

On the other hand, he apparently does some form of marketing and now his clone has even slightly more users than me.
Perhaps he is targeting donations in the future or something like that.

I’m not so comfortable with this situation and my opinion is that this extension should be removed from AMO.

1 Like
#2

Hi @gelprec, sorry to hear about this. Could you please report the infringement by filing a DMCA Notice with Mozilla’s Legal team?

#3

Thanks for response.

I have read your URL but I’m not really familiar with all these legal things and I’m not sure I understand the steps there.

Step 1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner, or a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner;

I don’t have any sort of electronic signature. It’s enough then to sign somewhere with my real name, take a picture and send it as a physical signature?

Step 2. An identification of the copyrighted work(s) that you claim have been infringed;

Is the extension URL of my extension on AMO sufficient here?

Is there something on my developer page which could be used as evidence that I am the author of the extension and not someone else?

Obviously I have access to my own developer page or to the email address associated with the extension.
This email address could be interpreted as a digital signature?

Sorry for all these dummy questions.

#4

Sure, no worries!

I don’t have any sort of electronic signature. It’s enough then to sign somewhere with my real name, take a picture and send it as a physical signature?

It should be sufficient to sign your email with your legal name, your address, and your phone number.

Is the extension URL of my extension on AMO sufficient here?

Yes!

Is there something on my developer page which could be used as evidence that I am the author of the extension and not someone else?

No further information is necessary, but if you’d like to include screenshots of your work vs. the infringing work, that would be fine.

1 Like