The Gentle Reader will not find any mention of the DMCA in the text of the CreateSpace email attached at the bottom. The idea that I relied on the DMCA in my communications with CreateSpace is simply an invention of the CabinBoy’s™ fevered imagination.
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From: Bill Schmalfeldt bschmalfeldt@[redacted]
Subject: OFFICIAL DMCA COUNTERNOTICE Notice of Copyright Concerns Received: 5817150
Date: 23 November, 2015 at 01:30 +00:00 UTC
To: DMCA: Copyright copyright@createspace.com
Cc: himself@wjjhoge.com
In the matter of the DMCA Takedown Request by WJJ Hoge III, 20 Ridge Road, Westminster, MD of my copyrighted work, a book by the title of “Confessions of an Undercover Troll,” I claim under threat of perjury:
I have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.
That the person filing the DMCA takedown request is not the copyright owner of the work.
That the person filing the DMCA takedown request is not the “appointed agent” of the copyright holder.
I submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the District of Wisconsin, Eastern District.
According to the US Copyright Office, Mr. Hoge has 10-14 days to produce a court order from the above District Court proving himself either the copyright owner, or the appointed agent of the alleged copyright owner, revealing the name and address of the person for whom Mr. Hoge has made the claim as an appointed agent. Mr. Hoge does not provide CreateSpace with such a court order from the US District Court for the District of Wisconsin, Eastern Division, by Monday, Dec, 7, then by law Create Space is obligated to make my book available at once and should file charges against Mr. Hoge for filing a false DMCA Takedown Request.
Please respond indicating that you understand your duties in securing my rights as the author and copyright holder of this book, and that you will restore it as soon as you can legally do so.
My Electronic Signature
William M. Schmalfeldt
[redacted]
Saint Francis, WI 53235
414-[redacted]
On Nov 22, 2015, at 7:04 PM, Bill Schmalfeldt <bschmalfeldt@[redacted]> wrote:
Please provide, at once, the logic Mr. Hoge uses to file his DMCA takedown,
Is he:
A: Claiming Ownership of the work in question or
B. The appointed agent for someone else claiming ownership of the work?
Until such time as either of these questions are answered, what you have is a false DMCA takedown as only the copyright owner or his/her appointed agent can request a takedown. Please restore the book at once until these questions are answered.
Please understand that I intend to pursue charges for false DMCA takedown unless this matter is resolved at once,
Wiliam M. Schmalfeldt
On Nov 22, 2015, at 5:30 PM, DMCA: Copyright <copyright@createspace.com> <copyright@createspace.com> wrote:
Dear Bill Schmalfeldt,
We have received notice from a third party regarding copyright concerns over “Confessions of an Undercover Internet Troll , Title ID:5817150 . Please be advised that we do not involve ourselves in third party disputes and therefore have removed the availability of the title through our systems until this matter is resolved.
Here you will find information on the party that submitted the notice:
William Hoge
himself@wjjhoge.com
Please also be aware that we will be supplying your contact information to the party that filed this notice.
Once a resolution has been reached between both parties concerning the title, please contact us via copyright@createspace.com so that we may take the appropriate action regarding the title.
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Stupid is as stupid does.
UPDATE—This just appeared in my email inbox. From the timestamp it appears that it was sent a few minutes after the Cabin Boy™ disconnected from his last login to Hogewash!—
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From: Bill Schmalfeldt bschmalfeldt@[redacted]
Subject: Re: CreateSpace – Notice of Copyright Concerns Received:5817150
Date: 23 November, 2015 at 20:39 +00:00 UTC
To: DMCA: Copyright copyright@createspace.com
Cc: himself@wjjhoge.com
Could you answer a question for me and answer it quickly as possible, please, regarding your removal of “Confessions of an Undercover Troll” from your CreateSpace shelves?
The complainant, WJJ Hoge III, says he did not file a DMCA takedown request. He merely informed your that I had copied something from his website.
Which is true? Did he file a DMCA complaint, or did he merely inform you that I used a part of his website without his permission?
This is a very important question. If it was a DMCA takedown, I have an avenue to address that, If you just automatically remove a book because some jerk comes along and claims he was copied, what’s to stop me or anyone else from taking every book off your shelf by stating “the author stole from my work”?
Mr. Hoge claims I “stole” several paragraphs from his Hogwash.com blog, dated September 3, 2012.
Here’s what was posted on that date.
Some bozo calling himself the Liberal Grouch appears to be a member of Brett Kimberlin’s clown posse, and he’s threatening to sue Aaron Walker for defamation. He believes that Mr. Walker defamed him because he was accurately quoted in postings tweeted by Mr. Walker.
You can find the details of the exchange in question here, including tweets/posts that the Liberal Grouch deleted (perhaps in an attempt to erase evidence?).
Team Kimberlin is saying that they will start a “legal defense fund” for the Liberal Grouch if he sues Mr. Walker. They have the right idea because he will need a defense fund when the counterclaims come back from Aaron Walker.
Oh, and if Bill Schmalfeldt (if that’s his real name) is stupid enough to sue Aaron Walker, I’ll be first in line to make a substantial contribution to the Blogger Defense Team to help defray Mr. Walker’s legal expenses.
UPDATE—@LiberalGrouch tweets that I should read his side of the story. I have. My comments above stand.
Now, here’s what I wrote on pages 8-9 of “Confessions of an Undercover Troll”
Some bozo calling himself the Liberal Grump appears to be a member of Brent Timmerman’s clown posse, and he’s threatening to sue Aaron Slouch for defamation. He believes that Mr. Slouch defamed him because he was accurately quoted in postings tweeted by Mr. Slouch.
You can find the details of the exchange in question here, including tweets/posts that the Liberal Grump deleted (perhaps in an attempt to erase evidence?).
Team Timmerman is saying that they will start a “legal defense fund” for the Liberal Grump if he sues Mr. Slouch. They have the right idea because he will need a defense fund when the counterclaims come back from Aaron Slouch.
Oh, and if Bill Parvocampus (if that’s his real name) is stupid enough to sue Aaron Slouch, I’ll be first in line to make a substantial contribution to the Blogger Defense Team to help defray Mr. Slouch’s legal expenses.
UPDATE—@LiberalGrump tweets that I should read his side of the story. I have. My comments above stand.
Now, if Mr. Hoge filed a DMCA takedown, he needs to get a court order from the US District Court for the District of Wisconsin claiming copyright infringement. As Mr. Hoge has never registered these 5 paragraphs with the US Copyright Office he will find hard sledding in trying to sue me for infringement for an obviously derivative, fair use of the material. He has until Dec.7 to do so, or the book goes back up.
If he did NOT file a DMCA takedown, I am not asking you to settle a copyright dispute as none exists, I have applied for copyright for this book, Mr. Hoge has not applied for copyright for his blog, so he could not prevail in court.
If Mr. Hoge did not file a DMCA takedown, I expect you to return my book to the shelves immediately or face legal actions for abrogating your duties under the DMCA Act of 1998.
Sincerely,
William M. Schmalfeldt
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I really didn’t file a DMCA notice. I used Amazon’s online form which has nothing to do with the DMCA.
UPDATE 2—<sarc>I’m sure Amazon is quaking in their collective boots at the prospect of facing “legal actions for abrogating your duties under the DMCA Act of 1998.”</sarc> OTOH, he’ll have to sue them in Seattle, and the weather is nicer there in the winter that it is in Milwaukee.
He was unsuccessful, as this 
Just so. The Cabin Boy™ rages on.
The Cabin Boy™ has made noises about a copyright LOLsuit against his most recent former employer over a DMCA takedown of material he had posted on his latest YouTube channel.
I’m also told that the Cabin Boy™ has a channel wasting bandwidth at YouTube where he had been posting bootleg clips from his radio program and that his now former employer has had the clips removed via DMCA takedown notices. It’s been reported to me that Schmalfeldt says he’s filed counter notices, claiming that he owns the material because he wrote it. IANAL, but I’ll bet the broadcasting company will claim ownership under the work-for-hire doctrine. Unless Schmalfeldt has a written agreement specifically exempting work written for use on his program from being work-for-hire, a court might find that the material is “work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment[.]” (17 USC § 101) So I’ll also bet that he’ll lose. Again.
I do not have a copy of the order yet. I will withhold any comment until after I have reviewed it and my options going forward with counsel.
