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Have you ever had someone steal content or photos from your blog or website that you worked hard for? What did you do about it? Stealing articles from someone else is just not right. It's a crime. But why does it happen and what can we do about it?
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This is totally off track from what I normally write on my own blog, Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases, but this copyright infringement and plagiarism issue has really gotten me down lately. In December, 74 of my articles from Suite101 were taken and copied word for word. I had to track them down and send a cease & desist letter to the offending
website. I started out by being polite. That soon changed to leaving
comments.They disabled the comments so no one would see them. After so many
comments, I got an error notice telling me to stop leaving duplicate comments. A few more, and I was shut down for spamming. ME? Spamming my
own articles? I thought about taking the total number of articles,
multiplying by the number of words, and charging them the going rate of
.10 cents per word. YIKES! The total came to $4440.00! I could really use that money to pay down my boat loan. The articles were eventually
removed from the site, but I never got an apology or anything. The
worse thing is, this guy's website is still up and running and probably
stealing more content because he was never held accountable for the
last theft.
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The 74 articles were written over a period of one year. Suit101 and I hold the copyright. There's a little © at the bottom of each of my articles. The offending website included my name at the top, but left no link. It
didn't go anywhere. It could have been handled a different way. It's acceptable to cut & paste up to 50 words as long as the author and
website are cited. A link back to the original article is appreciated.
That way, I still make money. This was copyright infringement, pure and simple.
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To make
matters worse, this is my bread and butter. Suite101 pays me for what I
write through Google Adsense. Some of the stolen articles are coming up higher than my own (I know, how is this possible?) in the
Google search pages. So, the reader that is searching for my article
lands on the stolen content, with no need to go any further and click on my
article. Bottom line - Lost revenue and income out of my pocket. And
while many bloggers write for the ultimate fun of the craft, I do it for both - love of food & writing, AND income.
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Today, I find out that a bunch more have been plagiarized by another site. I haven't finished counting, but it's over 20. This time copying & pasting my articles and using their own name as the author. I'm getting weary of this. I am totally fed up with internet thievery. I've had it! I don't have time for it. I have better things to do with my time...like write more articles so someone else can steal them from me.
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Now, before I offend anyone here, I am NOT talking about "you". When I say "you", I am generalizing. I mean the offending parties, In my experience that happens to be major websites taking my work from Suite101. OK, now that I've put your mind at ease let me go on with my rant.....
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Years ago plagiarism and copyright infringement were harder to accomplish. You actually had to copy the text directly from a book or magazine using a pen and paper or typewriter. It took a lot of time (just so you know, I'm not talking about me here). Todays internet makes it so much easier. Ooooh, look at this! You like whatever she's writing. You like her photos. Just cut & paste something you like and copy it into your own blog! Lift a photo or two from someone else and away you go. Add your own name and viola! Instant content with no work!
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Well, stealing content, articles and photos without permission is not always flattery. And flattery doesn't always get you everywhere! It's just common sense and courtesy to ask permission before you take something.That's why there's a little © at the end of most articles, on the inside cover of most books and magazines, and watermarks on photos.
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This is happening at an alarming rate. But what can we little old bloggers do about it?
Check out this article from Wikipedia on Plagiarism. It'll help inform you on what that dirty word - plagiarism - really is. You can set up a Google Alerts feature that will track certain words that you deem important. Like your name for one, and maybe a few other very specific keywords pr phrases that link directly back to you. It's free and they even have a Feeds For Google Alerts option to alert you instantly if your name or keywords shows up. If you find that someone is stealing your work, the first thing you need to do is send the offending party a polite note asking for your content to be removed or at the very least to add a link directly to your post. This usually works the first time. The offending website or blogger is usually ignorant of copyright laws and plagiarism protocol.
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If that doesn't work, you may have to send them a cease & desist letter. This happens with big websites that think they are above the law, or that no one will catch them. Most times they'll just ignore you. Sometimes, they're tricky and open new websites and do it all over again. In some cases, it's just too big to go after and you feel violated, like someone went through your underwear drawer. Don't expect an apology from these big sites. You suck it up and take it like a man.
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Have you ever had another blog or website steal your work? How did you handle it? How do you protect your work?
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