Artlcle Copyright Theft, Duplication and Breach of Syndication
Plagiarism of articles is rife on the web. I have sufferred from this time and time again. And it's very annoying that someone steals your work and either gives you no credit or the correct link-back. Worse still I have found some people actually claim it's their own work!
Well I'm not a prolific article writer. Yet, nearly every single article I have written has been plagiarised !! (this will be too probably).
The chances are your article content has also been stolen, adapted or not credited to you.
Now I don't mind if they stick to the Article Syndication Rules and leave in the writing credits and website links. Often I'm glad articles are published elsewhere - it spreads my message, my links or name to a wider audience. That's all well and good...
...but some are deliberately stealing the content as an easy and free way to bulk out their own web sites and blogs for free, for their own gain and usually for SEO purposes such as gaining ranking for certain keywords.
Well the GOOD NEWS is...
the law and web authorities are on your side.
Firstly. How do you know if someone is using your content? The WWW is a big place yeah? Well you can use various tools to find content here are a few:
- Google Search & Google Blog Search
- Google Alerts
- CopyScape
- DMCA
1. Google Search: Learning how to use Google's advanced search features can help you pin-point your article or duplicate content on other people's web sites. Try searching for your article title in enclosed speech marks: e.g. "my article title".
Often article theft appears in blogs where it's easy for the site owner to copy and paste text into their blog software such as WordPress. Google has a Google Blog Search tool which I find excellent for finding author's names, keywords in the article or the article title. Why not try some uncommon phrase that is in your original article, something that the Google Blog Search will find a lot easier.
2 Google Alerts: If you have a Google Account or Sign-on (if not, then get one, they are free) you can use their Google Alert Service. Google Alerts are automated search queries that you set-up yourself in advance and just wait until Google emails you it's findings. It's free and easy to set-up. I use this a lot and it's amazing how I find a lot of duplicated articles / site content. Its helps more if you know Advanced Search techniques.
3. CopyScape: Copyscape is free and briiliant at finding web sites that may be using, copying or infringing your copyright material. It's sole purpose is to search for copies of your page content on the web. You just enter your article's URL or site address and off it goes to find duplicates. It even tells you how many words the rogue site has copied !
You can try it for free but if you want to use it a lot you can buy (very cheaply) search credits. Copyscape is invaluable for finding possible breaches of copyright. I use Copyscape and have found 6 or 7 perpertrators of stealing my content !!!
4. DMCA: The Digital Millenium Copyright Act have a 'Take-down Service' and will help you protect your work as well as bring pressure on the person(s) stealing your content. The DMCA's sole purpose is to look at copyright infringments and help you resolve the issue. I use this as a last resort but it usually scares the culprit site owner to take down the article or stolen content.
Write An Email
Where possible, first get in touch with the rogue website owner via email with your evidence to request they cease and desist from using your content. Give them 4/5 days to comply and if they don't they you can report their site to both Google and the DMCA.
As most people don't even know about copyright or the possibility of a breach of law the above usually has a positive effect. I have tried this numerous times and had the results.
Finally don't stand for copyright theft - it's rife, but you can and should protect your work and get the credit for it too.
Questions and Answers
Article Tags:
article plagiarism
,content stealing
,syndication fraud
,copyright protection
,copyright breach
,duplicant content
Copyright registration with copyright.co.uk is the quick, effectual and low cost method to protect your work from violation and mistreatment.
Many people are wary of their uploaded picture in the internet whether their picture is illegally used by anyone or not. For them, an easy solution is to use watermark in their picture.
Fort Bend non-compete attorney can even give you advice in case a company sue you for breaching any non-compete clause.
When you or someone you know suffers an injury one of the first steps is to hire an experienced attorney. Brain injuries can be particularly complex. This article provides good information that will assist you during what will be a very challenging process.
With discussions on ACTA slowly reaching a point, a group of MEP's known as the European Pirate Party recently also issued their stance in regard to the trade agreement.
If you want the easy and affordable way to create 3D animations, movies and graphics then there are now a shed load of free and very cheap 3D Animation Software titles available to you. There's now no usability or financial barrier to the 'Jo Bloggs' of this world. You CAN ACTUALLY create professional looking 3D Graphics and images for your projects with just a few clicks of a mouse and the minimum of training.... read on to find out more.
If your web site is not performing or in the Internet doldrums, wellguys and gals, it's time to wake up and make next year, a year to change your VERY OLD web site. Give it at least a lick of virtual paint or as I recommend in this article so much more. You need to modernise the site to ensure it starts to get noticed by the people who wanna buy your product or service right? Do nothing and your site is another Do-Do, dead in a the cyber grave yard !
Is it wise to go cheap (or free) with web templates? Many people and start-up businesses cut the costs of web design by buying a pre-designed web template and then 'do-it-themselves' only to find it might look great 'off-the-shelf' but after their own unskilled editing attempts their website becomes a visual mess or breaks somehow. Why? Well here's ten good reasons...
Too few people have or use a visitor activity log on their websites. You need to know how many people visited your website last week to guage if it is doing it's job, surely? Often 'Hit Counters' are free so you have no excuse to learn about your visitor's habits.
Discuss this Article
Comments on this article