Bloggers Stealing Articles

[Steven_D]

Has anyone had any experience with bloggers stealing your articles, swapping a few words then slapping the article on their blog.

This person

condoleezza.blogspot.com

has a copy of one of my articles, word for word, same heading, even has my name on it, BUT they have swapped out a few words, like they have done a search and replace for some keywords......

Looking at the stuff on this blog it is all stolen

Thinkgs like this

Lead Coevals Tactic #2:

was probably originally,

Lead Generation Tactic #2

[Qurratulain]

Well, if the article is published with your name, there's no copyright violation, but since they've published it without your consent, you reserve the right to sue. Simply post a comment (as on blogger I don't think so that the email of the author/ poster will be available) requesting them either to remove the content or to give you a linkback. In case if the blogger denies to do so, just report it to google they'll take better care of him.



Edit:

If your article has been modified without your permission, that includes copyright violation.

[labrocca]

Originally Posted by Qurratulain

Well, if the article is published with your name, there's no copyright violation, but since they've published it without your consent, you reserve the right to sue. Simply post a comment (as on blogger I don't think so that the email of the author/ poster will be available) requesting them either to remove the content or to give you a linkback. In case if the blogger denies to do so, just report it to google they'll take better care of him.



Edit:

If your article has been modified without your permission, that includes copyright violation.

All complete nonsense. Never listen to someone in Pakistan for legal advice concerning intellectual property.

You should contact Blogspot asap with the matter. Send an email to their legal and see how they respond. They might cancel the blogger account or they might request you send them an official legal notice (DMCA).

[Lorelei]

i never understood why people do it, if they want content but cant write themselves, why no to take any of the "free articles", there are hundreds of them online.

Originally Posted by labrocca

All complete nonsense. Never listen to someone in Pakistan for legal advice concerning intellectual property.

You should contact Blogspot asap with the matter. Send an email to their legal and see how they respond. They might cancel the blogger account or they might request you send them an official legal notice (DMCA).

as far as i know it's not violation only IF the blogger puts your article in quotes and links back to the source, then adds at least a few words of their own comments about it.

i think that is the only case in which u cant complain (and to be honest dont have a reason as u r used as example. as long as they claim and present it as their own content -- just contact blogspot and they will close his account, prolly.

[zeruel]

Originally Posted by Lorelei

as far as i know it's not violation only IF the blogger puts your article in quotes and links back to the source, then adds at least a few words of their own comments about it.

i think that is the only case in which u cant complain (and to be honest dont have a reason as u r used as example. as long as they claim and present it as their own content -- just contact blogspot and they will close his account, prolly.

I suppose it is the right thing to do if you really want that article to be posted in your blog. Otherwise, it still depends on the owner of the article.

[scorpionagency]

Actually, if your have a Copyright (c) Year: Company or Your name - All rights reserved at the bottom of your website or on the article page he/she got it from. you are within ALL right the copyright holder according to the Federal (DMCA) Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

You have the right to file a DMCA form accusing the Blogger of infringement. 1 or more of the following will happen:

• The article will be stripped off the Blog & server
• The Blog Host will be notified
• The infringer may suffer financial lose
• The infringer's ISP may be Notified
• The Infringer's IP may be permanently blocked from the blogger
• The Infringer's ISP may terminate Service
• The Infringer may become responsible for any & all filing & legal fees you incurred
• ALL the Above

(We are not in any way, shape or form legal representatives)

We had a similar case a year ago with an individual that scrapped some of our articles & hired an Attorney.

In the end (4 Months later) All the above listed happened.

You can research the (DMCA) Digital Millennium Copyright Act Here: www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf (PFD) Or read some on it Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA

I wish you the best.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by scorpionagency

Actually, if your have a Copyright (c) Year: Company or Your name - All rights reserved at the bottom of your website or on the article page he/she got it from. you are within ALL right the copyright holder according to the Federal (DMCA) Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Actually, you do NOT have to have a copyright notice for this to be true.

This was true in the past, but today almost all major nations follow the Berne copyright convention. For example, in the USA, almost everything created privately and originally after April 1, 1989 is copyrighted and protected whether it has a notice or not. The default you should assume for other people's works is that they are copyrighted and may not be copied unless you know otherwise. There are some old works that lost protection without notice, but frankly you should not risk it unless you know for sure.

It is true that a notice strengthens the protection, by warning people, and by allowing one to get more and different damages, but it is not necessary. If it looks copyrighted, you should assume it is. This applies to pictures, too. You may not scan pictures from magazines and post them to the net, and if you come upon something unknown, you shouldn't post that either.

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

[scorpionagency]

Originally Posted by Cricket

Actually, you do NOT have to have a copyright notice for this to be true.

Thats handy to know.... I would personally keep with the strengthened route (Even though it's not necessary).

After my previous legal battle I found that loopholes can be achieved without the copyright sticking the Infringed with all the legal bills & the infringer off Scott free. (This of course depends on their legal research & attorney qualifications of course).

Better safe than sorry in my opinion.

[chicgeek]

Moved to legal issues.

[potchie]

too bad.. does gg acknowledge this kind of issue? or any other SE?

[swiftmed]

yeah i really hate people doing this. i also write my own articles and have experianced similar issues in the past. i mainly find out about people stealing my content by copyscape, i normally email the person informing them they have stolen my content and they have 48 hours to remove it before i will inform their web host, the search engines (and threaten they could penalize him). normally that is enough to get them to remove it, but one other occassion i did have to threaten to take them to court, and within about 3 hours of that threat, they deleted my content.

i hate people who are like this. we work hard to provide quality content, then people pass it off as their own! it really annoys me. good luck with it mate and keep us updated

[sandeeptec]

it is very bad if they have published without your consent

you could report the matter to google

[email removed]

[scorpionagency]

Originally Posted by sandeeptec

it is very bad if they have published without your consent

you could report the matter to google
[email removed]

Do you work for Google? Just noticed you gave him Your e-mail address.

[Steven_D]

Thanks for all the helpful advice re the stolen article I thought about it afterwards and decided that I would rather be scuba diving that trying to do anything about it.

I feel that if they so retarded that they cant write their own articles then they are never going to get far.

Again thanks for the info re copyrights.

[mit]

Oh! not a new thing....

[Educator]

Keep it simple I say, such as:

1. send them a email / comment on their site about this asking for a back link / credit

2. if nothing in 2 days, do it again

3. if nothin in 2 more days, do it again more seriously worded indicating if not they will be reported to service provider

4. if nothing in 3 more days, report them.

Sort of like Dunning Memos for any of you in the accounts payable or accounts receivable area of a company.

It's to the point, takes little time on your part, and who knows, it may have simply been inadvertent on their part that they forgot to give you a back link / credit.

[oogleman]

google will remove sites if you can prove your claim - hit them where it hurts,.

[selfhelpebooks]

I would e-mail the person to take them down.
Perhaps some legal threats would do?
If not, a report to his web host might work.
Good luck

[francis84]

Hay.... Its really hard to fight copy-cat like that...

[vilelink]

One of my friend copied on article and added to his blog. I told him not to do cause it will have effects.

Later, as his blog was indexed. After a week, it was no where to found. I guess it went to sandbox. Is it possible??

vile