Over the past months we've been navigating a legal challenge that has taken up a great deal of the time and energy we'd much rather have spent building this platform for you. You deserve to know what's happening, so we're being open about it.
What happened
Global Pet Sitter has offered a review-import feature since day one, letting members bring their review history from other platforms onto their profile. A few months ago we received a formal legal claim from another house-sitting platform, through their London law firm. Their claim: that they own the copyright in reviews written by their own members, and that letting members bring those reviews onto Global Pet Sitter is copyright infringement.
We strongly disagree with this position. First, despite our explicit request, it has not been demonstrated which specific elements from certain reviews would qualify for copyright protection and why. It was merely asserted that this would be the case. Second, many reviews are short, factual statements that may not attract copyright at all. Third, where copyright does exist, it belongs to the person who wrote the review, not the platform hosting it. A concealed clause which is not subject to negotiation and generally and prospectively stipulates that all intellectual property rights would be transferred, does not change that.
What we believe
- We believe the reviews you worked hard to earn, belong to you.
- We believe you should be able to take your reputation with you wherever you go.
- You decide over your GPS review history.
What changed
Despite our position, the pressure escalated to the point where our hosting provider received a formal takedown notice and was legally required to act. Faced with a choice between losing the platform entirely or adapting the feature, we chose to protect Global Pet Sitter's future. Where a platform claims copyright over your reviews, we now mask the text of those imported reviews. Everything else, including reviews written on Global Pet Sitter, still appears in full. Your profile, your history and your reputation remain intact, only the presentation of those disputed reviews has changed.
We want to be honest: we didn't make this change because we think the claim against us is right. We made it because the community we're building together is worth protecting.
Where we go from here
We're not going away. We're contesting this claim with the support of our professional indemnity insurer and our legal counsel, and we're building Global Pet Sitter on one simple principle: your reputation is yours, and you should be able to take it wherever you go. If you believe that too, stay with us, talk about it, and help us push for a sector that works for sitters and pet owners, not against them.
Thank you for your patience, your support and your trust.
The Global Pet Sitter team
