® Trademarks and © Copyright, All rights are reserved.

TRADEMARK RIGHTS DAMAGES CLAIMS:

While reserving all rights, we will in most cases not seek damages from infringers in the event they agree to cease and desist and do so within a week of being served a cease and desist notice, instruction or similar (or sooner if the damage caused is severe and/or intentional). However any person or entity that continues to infringe beyond the one week window after being served with a notice to cease and desist will be liable for damages to the full extent of the law. Any legal costs incurred by us, damages and the like will be payable by the infringer. As a rule, online infringers must forfeit ownership of their infringing domains to the trademark rights holder. Law changes in 2014, allow trademark owners to seek punitive and aggravated damages for infringement which do not need to be in proportion to the infringement. That is the damages award can be many times greater so as to deter the infringer from reoffending, and other like-minded persons or businesses. The relevant case law is at: Leisure and Anor v Skyrunner and Anor (2014) and Halal Certification Authority v Scadilone (2015), with punitive damages in each case being about $100,000 and $300,000 paid by the offenders, even though actual damage to the trademark owner's businesses was minor.

DOWNLOADS, INCOMING LINKS CONDITIONS, ETC:

Persons reproducing any material from these sites other than as immediate downloads from the world wide web, or for favourable and accurate promotion of our public interest activities, run the risk of prosecution and costs payable. See link here for "Snakebusters", "Snakeman" and other promotions and similar. We also reserve all Intellectual Property (IP) rights for our books, magazine articles, scientific papers, species name authorities as lawfully acquired, photos, CD's, DVD's, videos, etc. (In 1999 the Age newspaper (Melbourne, Australia) paid the website manager $10,000 after illegal use of copyrighted images. In 2006, WA Film company Prospero and associates paid out $39,500 after using our "Snakebuster" trademark, following our legal action against the company. In 2011 we forced the closure of over 1,000 (Search engine optimised) webpages as well as many other webpage removals and alterations to remove unauthorised "backlinks" bootlegging the "snakeman" trademark. There have also been a number of other matters in which unauthorised use of Hoser trademarks (including "snakeman") and other intellectual property (most commonly published material and photos that have been illegally bootlegged) has resulted in substantial financial losses for those who transgressed). We have forced the deregistration of registered business names (companies) that use our registered trademarks in several states and will do so for any others that come to our attention. Several counterwrits to deregister our trademarks have not only failed, but resulted in further costs paid by the relevant infringers.

In terms of our business interests, we will refer all Trade Practices Act breaches (and similar) that come to our attention to the Federal ACCC (or State equivalents) without warning for criminal prosecution. By way of example, in October 2010 we got a court enforceable order against a newly licenced and inexperienced snake handler who had made false claims on his website to gain customers for his allegedly "Accredited Snake handling courses".

Notwithstanding the above, and in line with our commitments to wildlife research, conservation, making the world a better place, and dissemination of accurate, factual information, we welcome links by others to sites on the above servers and will favorably entertain most requests to reprint material in the event that it is to be appropriately sourced, published in appropriate context, properly cited and acknowledged.

In the first instance, all enquiries should be made in writing to:

The Director of Intellectual Property,
Kotabi Pty Ltd, (ACN 007 395 048)
PO Box 599, Doncaster,
Victoria, 3108,
Australia.
Phone: (within Australia) (03) 9812-3322
Fax: (within Australia) (03) 9812-3355
E-MAIL: Go to Our bookings page for our currently in use e-mail address.

Kotabi Pty Ltd and the other relevant above names, (such as "Raymond Hoser", "snakebusters", "snakeman", "Reptile Party", "reptile parties", etc and certain words and phrases as used on these sites and related published material) are all registered companies, webdomains, and/or trademarks and/or businesses in Australia, with appropriate fees and registration information lodged with the appropriate government authorities. Use of these (above) names (in any form or variant) for business or related purposes by unauthorised individuals may constitute a breach of the Companies Act (as amended), Trade Practices Act (as amended) and other laws and we reserve all rights to take actions against any persons we find in breach of these laws or any of our legal trading rights or other liberties.

ACCURACY:

All reasonable steps have been taken to ensure the factual accuracy of all materials posted on the above named servers.

The only potential exceptions to this is where material of a historical nature has been posted on sites reprinting scientific papers or similar, usually about reptiles and/or other wildlife/animals and their current (in use) common or scientific names. However in these cases correcting material is either immediately given and/or directed/indicated by material on the web page.

BOOKS, SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND PUBLIC BENEFIT PUBLICATIONS:

We publish both online and in hard copy, books, journals and the like for public benefit purposes. Some material is available for free download after publication in hard copy including all issues of Australasian Journal of Herpetology (AJH) and may be used for research and education purposes and routine citation in normal scientific discourse without payment of a fee. However it must not be resold in any way and we reserve all copyright and the rights these publications ordinarily retain. Material must not be misrepresented, quoted out of context or similar and doing so, leaves the perpetrator liable to legal action from us, as we reserve all rights.

We sell books and journals in hard copy and/or disks, and do not offer refunds on the basis of content or similar. We have faith in our products and our reputation for accuracy and value spans many decades. Persons unhappy with this position are advised not to buy from us in the first instance.

Besides books, we have over some decades published material in numerous peer reviewed scientific journals worldwide and other relevant journals, the owners of these publications in turn having relevant rights over that material as publishers. Due to the significant IP value of our books, Kotabi Publishing commenced publishing books in 1994. Due to the wide citation of and significant IP value of our scientific papers and related publications, we created the journal Australasian Journal of Herpetology in 2009 in order to retain full control of our valuable publications IP for our most significant new publications. In the eleven years since 2009 Australasian Journal of Herpetology has published well over 200 significant original scientific papers and monographs in 49 volumes of AJH, totalling more than 3 million words (equal to about 50 standard sized books), formally naming over 1,600 biological entities (species, genera, family), with a list of papers and newly discovered taxa current for 8 August 2020 available here. We have also owned the registered trademark for the name Australasian Journal of Herpetology since 2015 in a number of classes and including everything of relevance to our activity (including print and online). Besides rights to the trademark claims, these rights extend to copyright and IP, including that of any legally created scientific nomenclature (in accordance with the The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature current in force edition), including as name authority within Australasian Journal of Herpetology and any other relevant publications, including those pre-dating 2009. We reserve all rights in all relevant legal dominions, including reserving the right to take action against rule-breakers who seek to steal or dilute our lawfully obtained IP and without warning if deemed appropriate. We have zero-tolerance for the dishonest and anti-science act of Taxonomic Vandalism (as defined by Hoser 2015a-f) and anyone who engages in this unlawful practice against any of our intellectual property will have appropriate action taken against them without notice and as our time and competing commitments allow.

VIDEOS AND SIMILAR MATERIAL ONLINE:

We publish both online and elsewhere for public benefit purposes, including on social media sites. This potentially includes snake or other animal catching, handling, medicine and surgery or similar. In line with our publications policy, we retain all rights but are receptive to material be used for the purposes of education and conservation so long it is not altered or misrepresented for the purposes of defaming us, posted on so-called "hate pages" or for the purpose of diverting our clients or potential clients to unsafe inferior product or service. Some videos of events depicted may be in the form of re-enactment due to logistical, legal, ethical, animal welfare or other issues and this may or may not be stated in the relevant clips or elsewhere but in legal terms may be presumed if such is required or could be reasonably be inferred or assumed.

COMPLAINTS:

In the unlikely event that inaccurate material is shown on any of the above servers (or businesses) and exception is taken to it, the person/s affected are asked to immediately send a written explanation WITH SUPPORTING MATERIAL to the above address and including all their own verifiable contact details. Unless the sender of such material receives a written acknowledgement of receipt of the material by someone for and on behalf of the web site manager/Kotabi Pty Ltd (and/or related entities), the sent material should be deemed unreceived and effectively unsent. The onus is on the sender to ensure receipt and to comply with the preceding directions.

If material on the above servers is found by the site manager to be factually wrong, it will be removed, if this is appropriate. However material will not be removed, if a complainant makes assertions of fact that are not properly supported by independently corroboratable material and/or sources. The onus is always on the complainant to do this.

Kotabi Pty Ltd do not entertain complaints regarding alleged offence by type of site content, taste, humor, language, images used or decorum. Do not send complaints in relation to these matters; simply click away from the sites instead.

Kotabi only respond to complaints re accuracy of material on these sites (see above).

We cannot endorse products or services promoted on these sites or via links, other than those sold directly on these servers via "order form" style websites. These products include, books, CD's, DVD's, photos, other forms of communication, information, and media, snake removal services, and other products and services. Details of the terms and conditions of these products is provided where appropriate. For books and CD's these are on the "imprint page" or equivalent.

No refunds are given after purchases are made via these servers or elsewhere. We have complete faith in our products and services as do all reasonable customers (we do not give "product refunds" other than those required by law) and have distrubuted tens of thousands of products to happy customers and been viewed online and elsewhere by several million people. Prospective purchasers or clients are therefore invited to make their own inquiries and make decisions accordingly.

LINKS TO OTHER (NON-SERVER) SITES:

No endorsement is given to sites and servers linked to those listed above, or what they say and promote. No responsibility is taken for accuracy of material on those sites. Cross-links to other servers are provided as a service to web-surfers only. The same applies to sites accessed via search-engines placed on these above servers webpages, that are not themselves on the above servers.

LINKS FROM OTHER SITES (OUT OF OUR CONTROL) TO OUR SITES:

See the relevant rules and regulations at: www.smuggled.com/kotabi3.htm.

"POLITICAL AND/OR ELECTION COMMENT":

Any material published on any of the above servers at any time may be deemed by some as "election comment" or similar, depending on relevant laws in relevant juristdictions. In the event this is so, all is "Authorised by Raymond Hoser, 488 Park Road, Park Orchards, Victoria, 3114, Australia", in accordance with relevant laws and the like. This does not necessarily mean it is written by Raymond Hoser, but in most if not all cases, authorship of the material on the servers and webpages is easily ascertained.

"PRIVACY POLICY":

We respect people's privacy and will not knowingly divulge private information, except if in the over-riding public interest (e.g. when exposing corruption or misconduct) (see Warning 4 below), or we make a judgement call that the relevant person or entity would want their information passed on. However, due to inherant risks of theft, raids by government officials, hacking and the like (all of which have happened to us in the past), we cannot be responsible for any breaches of privacy emanating from us in the first instance.

FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS:

All reasonable steps are taken to ensure that all transactions, financial and otherwise are done ethically, properly, with fairness and within the laws of Australia, the USA, UK and International law. On 30 July 2015 a government tribunal (VCAT) ruled that Raymond Hoser, owner of the relevant business entities was a legal cleanskin who at age 54 had never committed a criminal offence in his life. Details of that ruling judgement are at:
http://www.smuggled.com/snake-man-cleared-again-Corrupt-wildlife-department-pulled-into-line-by-judge.htm

Kotabi has been a registered company and trading since 1991. Our GST ABN is 84 007 395 048.
For the previous decade we traded under the registered business name of "Death Adder Services".

We cannot be responsible for infringements by third parties, should they occur. As best as possible, we keep all client/ customer information, including credit card details, phone numbers, etc, strictly confidential and do not sell or pass this information on to third parties.

Notwithstanding the above, we reserve the right to archive e-mail addresses for use by ourselves or third parties who may receive them in any mailout.

RECEIPT OF ORDERS:

Kotabi Pty Ltd and this site manager will not entertain any complaints in relation to alleged non-receipt of goods (e.g. books, certificates, etc) ordered for a period of one month after the order is acknowledged as received, for any orders shipped to addresses in Australia.

Kotabi Pty Ltd and this site manager will not entertain any complaints in relation to alleged non-receipt of goods ordered for a period of four months after the order is acknowledged as received, for any orders shipped to addresses outside Australia.

WARNING 1 - CONTENT:

While all steps have been taken to ensure the accuracy of material presented on the above websites (and related entities/materials), some material, images, language or content may offend some viewers/persons. We make no apologies for this and ask those likely to be offended, NOT to view these sites or material and not to do any form of business with us or deal with us in any way. Hoser / Kotabi / Snakebusters material is trusted for it's truthfulness and accuracy, even if this causes distress. In education we have a sense of humour to aid in teaching people and maintaining attention of the audience. If easily offended, do not deal with us.

WARNING 2 - FALSE AND DEFAMATORY STATEMENTS ELSEWHERE:

Various people including disgruntled persons named in the Hoser corruption books, business rivals and others, have in recent years made numerous false and defamatory statements against Raymond Hoser and persons and businesses associated with these entities. Some of the sources have been successfully actioned and the offending material removed from the internet and/or printed retractions made in other relevant publications. We have successfully actioned these people on a number of occasions. However in this age of electronic communications and the scourge of anonymous postings, several persons of no financial worth and excessive time on their hands have persisted in deliberately making false statements about us in various media, not all of which we have either rectified or even been made aware of. Because we operate with the highest of morals and ethics, all adverse statements of any form relating to Raymond Hoser, Snakebusters or other related entities should be regarded as patently false, even if written in a convincing way or emanating from a source claimed to be reliable such as "wikipedia", which for example is regularly edited anonymously to make false and defamatory statements, sometimes within minutes of being corrected. This also includes the vast majority of posted online (adverse) "comments" about scientific papers and findings of Raymond Hoser, often couched as opinion based on misrepresentation of actual publications, designed to damage the impeccable reputation of Raymond Hoser and his world leading scientific work on wildlife spanning four decades.

WARNING 3 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT WARNING:

We reserve all rights to take actions for any rights infinged, including for copyright, intellectual property, including "dilution" or defamation and may take (legal) action without warning if any of our rights are transgressed. This includes in relation to third parties such as webmasters, moderators, administrators, carriers, distributors, retailers, advertisers, suppliers, ISP's and others. These rights also extend to all other media and relevant areas, including print, television, normal business trading, international and any other.

WARNING 4 - RECORDINGS, PROTECTION, SURVEILLANCE, PHOTOS, ETC:

In order to fulfill our obligations under animal welfare, wildlife regulation, employment and safety laws, we will without notice or warning record by any appropriate means any or all interactions between ourselves and others including at wildlife displays, our holding facilities, phone calls, in transit, and as required to protect our lawful interests, including those of our animals, our staff, our clients and our property in all forms. This is in line with accepted practices at banks, hospitals, government departments and other places liable to criminal attack. Anyone who may have something illegal to hide or who may engage in illegal or improper actions have therefore been warned. If you do not wish to be recorded in any way, avoid us and do not deal with us in any way. Assume any illegal actions will be recorded in some way and if neccessary criminals will be prosecuted as seen in the examples below:
Snake thief Matthew Christopher Gatt of 12 Domain Drive, Hillside, identified by hidden Camera, charged, convicted and fined $8K
and
Woman who made unlawful threat to kill via blocked telephone number on 10 Feb 2019 (Crystal Kniese, wife of Stewart Gatt of Ballan Road, Wyndhamvale) identified by recorded call, has court orders made against her.
and
Criminals Margaret Irvine Osborne and Bana Osborne of Morwell, busted on video trying to steal snakes at a Snakebusters: Reptile display and then attempting to unlawfully smash a car in the car park. Court makes orders against them.
We claim copyright over all images, recordings and the like we generate.
Routine images, videos, recordings, archived material and the like of normal lawful activity will not be deliberately misused by us and ultimately destroyed as required when deemed of no use in any way.

Snakebusters - Australia's Best reptiles ... Bookings terms and conditions at:
www.smuggled.com/SBSTer1.htm
and authorised mirror sites.

Snakebusters - Australia's Best reptiles ... Terms and conditions for reptile call-outs at:
www.smuggled.com/SCT1.htm
and authorised mirror sites.

This statement is posted on www.smuggled.com/Kotabi2.htm and authorised mirror sites.

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