Plagiarism – When someone steals your content!

[WeAreFunkyFresh]

How would you react and what would you do if you discovered a business in your field, providing the same services you do, did a copy and paste of content from your website on to their own, literally just replacing your business name with theirs?

This actually happened to me last week. I'd discovered they were not only using my content on their website but also on the same forum that we both use (full story for those interested can be seen here). I'll be honest I didn't know what to do so I spoke with a friend who is a lawyer and gained advice that my content was covered by copyright law and that the business who had stolen my content were in breach of it.

I could've called the individual and asked them to change the content but if I'd have done that, no-one would've ever known I'd done it, they could've denied it, anything, so I decided to reply to the thread where my content was, stated the facts and gave them 14 days to change the content or I would be legally taking it further. The individual did apologise but their reason for copying was ridiculous ("It was late at night, I don't know what came over me"), they have since changed the content.

At first I thought the way I'd publicly mentioned it would've been seen as a bad way to handle it, however I've had so much support that I know I did the right thing. And I'm glad I did as people now see this individual and their business for what it really is.

Since discovering my content was stolen by this individual, it has been noticed that most content on their blog is also stolen from other websites and blogs. This just goes to show, they clearly lack in confidence to produce their own material.

I'm just curious to know how you would have handled such a situation?

 

[RedEvo]

Yes, very annoying and well done for dealing with it and getting a result. It's usually overseas companies who steal our content and chasing them isn't worth the effort.

d

 

[Richie N]

Same thing happened to us with our recruitment site last year, we contacted the company and asked them to remove the content. They informed us they wrote it but our site displayed Copyright 2008 and their's 2009, so it's worth displaying the year on your site.
A member of this forum also wrote the content for us so we could prove it was our content.
They never removed it, just tweaked a few words and to this day they still have the content, we since had to change ours.
Even if they tweaked a few words we wouldn't have a case.
There is a thing you can have on your website which prevents people copying and pasting the content but the website guys will tell you more about that.

 

[RedEvo]

Copyscape is one service.

d

 

[WeAreFunkyFresh]

Yes, I've recently discovered a website called copyscape which sends a notification anytime someone plagiarises your website content. Is that what you mean?

 

[RedEvo]

I'd be more inclined to report them to Google but (and this is the important bit) don't tell the company you've done this. In this way if Google removes them they will stop getting traffic. Just a thought

d

 

[Richie N]

I'd be more inclined to report them to Google but (and this is the important bit) don't tell the company you've done this. In this way if Google removes them they will stop getting traffic. Just a thought

d

That's exactly what I did and would definitely agree this is a good move

 

[bdw]

I regularly find websites that are using my copy. I have been using Copyscape for several years. It works but you have to pay for it.

What you can also do is set up Google alerts for pages that you think people may copy. This is free but not as easy or efficient as Copyscape.

 

[akirk]

it is almost impossible to stop people copying you - esp. if they tweak the content a bit - key is to ensure that your website is continually updated / changing...

Alasdair

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

Hi Liz,

Excellent post and the thread on the link is certainly an interesting read. I agree that the excuse given is very poor and to me that makes the apology even harder to swallow.

Superbly handled

Simon

 

[ShoppingCentreEvents]

I had the same thing this year, someone alerted me to the fact that someone else had copied my copy and site design. I sent an email with screenshots of their site, and accessed all there registration details through the WHOIS enquiry. I also gave them a facesaver by saying either them or their webdesigner had plaguerised my site and that they had 14days to take the site down or change it.
They blamed it on their webdesigner, apologised, changed the site design and re-hashed some of the words!

 

[JohnnyCash]

Not very much you can do about it to be honest.

The last time it happened to us, we just threw up a quick blog post - http://www.searchengineoptimisation.org/moneydashboard-com-content-thieves/ Write it in a way its going to rank for the business name, and anyone else will think twice about dealing with them... just make sure to keep everything on the page 100% factual.

The director (presumably) of that company keeps coming back and viewing that page, but there is zero he can do about it because everything on the page is 100% true. I guess it annoys him that we rank page 1 for his url, but then that will maybe make him think twice before he steals content that someone else paid for.

 

[bdw]

I guess it annoys him that we rank page 1 for his url, but then that will maybe make him think twice before he steals content that someone else paid for.

Actually in Google you are on page two position 1 so I doubt that this is any more than a minor irritation to him. You have to be realistic. Anyone searching for his URL will find nine out of the first ten results pointing directly or indirectly at his website so there would be no need to look any further and most people who chanced on your page would not be interested in trying to understand what was going on.

 

[JohnnyCash]

Actually in Google you are on page two position 1 so I doubt that this is any more than a minor irritation to him.

If you're designing websites for a living then I'd assume you understand datacentres and different people seeing different results... That aside, it obviously annoyed someone there as he comes back and checks the post religiously.

Anyone searching for his URL will find nine out of the first ten results pointing directly or indirectly at his website...

Sure, if you're trying to go to his website then thats what you'll do without even thinking. But if you are searching for things about his website, rather than trying to go to his website, you'll find it.

and most people who chanced on your page would not be interested in trying to understand what was going on.

Unless the visitor was mentally retarded, it wouldn't be that hard to work out what was going on. The headline tells you, the content confirms it. And I guess if you were thinking about doing business with them, you'd be concerned with their theft enough to read through the article...


But like I said there is very little you can do about it. Force them to take the content down, then write a post about them or not, and move on.

 

[bdw]

Unless the visitor was mentally retarded, it wouldn't be that hard to work out what was going on.

I think you overestimate Joe Public here. I doubt that many people would really care or take the time to read what you are saying about this company.

Don't get the wrong idea, you have my sympathy. I regularly have similar problems and I use Copyscape too. It's just that I am not sure about trying to damage the character of the company CEO when he probably had nothing to do with it.

Did you ask them to remove the offending content before taking this action?

 

[JohnnyCash]

They never bothered replying to my first email, so we put the post up and sent the url and the content was down within minutes. Using the owners picture probably wasn't the most politically correct way to go about it, but it certainly worked... the site they ripped the content from is definitely going to be our biggest earner this year so I wasn't going to mess about and risk my own work getting filtered out of Google because of a thief.

I agree that joe public doesn't care, but really its not them a post like that is aimed at, it would more be journalists, investors, business partners... anyone that if they seen it it would be damaging.

Well I'm off to get the train back to Prague and civilisation, have a good day everyone

 

[bdw]

G@vin L|ttlej0hn, content thief

I just think that it is a wee bit unfair to attempt a character assassination like this on someone who may not even know the problem exists.

You have singled him out, posted his picture and personal information about him and he probably had nothing to do with it. Do you honestly think a company CEO would instruct his staff to steal 160 words of content from a small business website like yours?

It's a bit too personal for my liking but perhaps that's just me. I would be interested in hearing other people's views on this.

.

 

[WeAreFunkyFresh]

What's funny about my situation is, had we of not noticed she'd stolen our content, we wouldn't have found out she was also copy and pasting people's blog entries and making them out to be her own....!!

 

[Mike W]

What's funny about my situation is, had we of not noticed she'd stolen our content, we wouldn't have found out she was also copy and pasting people's blog entries and making them out to be her own....!!

Did you just come across it by chance or was it something you were searching for?

 

[WeAreFunkyFresh]

I came across it by total chance. We post on the same forum, I noticed she was offering what I offered so I thought I'd see what she did and then suddenly I saw the content I'd written. I couldn't believe it! It turns out since, thanks to Copyscape, that I'm not the only one she has copied from for her services! At this point, those businesses don't know and I'm wondering whether or not to notify them also...

 

[Parthelan]

At this point, those businesses don't know and I'm wondering whether or not to notify them also...

Oh yeah - tell them and inform the blog owners too. Maybe some of them will be beligerant and letigious enough to sue her. That'll learn her !!!!!!!

 

[bdw]

Anything else happened on this one?

 

[Gavin Littlejohn]

I just think that it is a wee bit unfair to attempt a character assassination like this on someone who may not even know the problem exists.

You have singled him out, posted his picture and personal information about him and he probably had nothing to do with it. Do you honestly think a company CEO would instruct his staff to steal 160 words of content from a small business website like yours?

It's a bit too personal for my liking but perhaps that's just me. I would be interested in hearing other people's views on this.

.

Thanks Bryan for offering us right to reply and making us aware of this discussion.

I would like to begin by apologising to "Johnny Cash" for using content from his site. This should never have happened and is completely against company policy. Although this is no excuse, the offending article was published by a member of staff and as a result a full review of internal procedures has been carried out to ensure this never happens again. We spend a great deal of time creating original content for our website and others and are very proud of the work we do. I take the issue of plagiarism very seriously and as soon as I was made aware of the issue I ensured that the content was taken down immediately.

I would like to thank "Johnny Cash" for making us aware of the issue, we have learned a great deal from this experience.


Gavin Littlejohn


CEO Money Dashboard

 

[mkgreenfield]

I think you should have given her the chance to change it before going public...

I think it's a bit harsh that her reputation is now ruined with 4N. Different if she kept doing it, but I think as it was the first time, you should have tried to resolve it in private.

I think your actions were too hasty and possibly a bit calculated - you saw it as an opportunity to turn the 4N "community" against a competitor for your advantage.

I read the 4N thread and I must say (without being rude), 4Ners are a VERY strange breed indeed! Is 4N a bit like a cult?

 

[mkgreenfield]

And you haven't let the issue go... You are now attracting EVEN MORE ATTENTION to it by posting it here!

Why would you waste your time talking about a resolved issue? Because you want the other party to get slated even more!

Come on, time to move on now.

 

[Mike W]

I read the 4N thread and I must say (without being rude), 4Ners are a VERY strange breed indeed! Is 4N a bit like a cult?

Yep. Although not as bad as BNI.

 

[roythehandyman]

As far as I am aware, If someone was to copy my content (mugs must be desperate) Google would spot identical content, decide that it found it on my site first and therefore would remove the offending site out of it's listings. There is quite a bit about that action on the net. I have read it quite a few times.

 

[JohnnyCash]

As far as I am aware, If someone was to copy my content (mugs must be desperate) Google would spot identical content, decide that it found it on my site first and therefore would remove the offending site out of it's listings. There is quite a bit about that action on the net. I have read it quite a few times.

This is completely false. Its likely one of them will get filtered out, but not necessarily the one who published it later. Google will usually rank the one it deems to have more authority (ether on a stronger website, or with more links pointing to the individual page).

 

[roythehandyman]

Same thing happened to us with our recruitment site last year, we contacted the company and asked them to remove the content. They informed us they wrote it but our site displayed Copyright 2008 and their's 2009, so it's worth displaying the year on your site.
A member of this forum also wrote the content for us so we could prove it was our content.
They never removed it, just tweaked a few words and to this day they still have the content, we since had to change ours.
Even if they tweaked a few words we wouldn't have a case.
There is a thing you can have on your website which prevents people copying and pasting the content but the website guys will tell you more about that.

I would defiy anyone to attempt to stop me copying anything of a website (not that I would ever do such a thing) There simply no way anyone can prent another fro copy and pasting from a webpage. If there is, the can someone give me link so that I can test it out I love a challenge

 

[JohnnyCash]

I would defiy anyone to attempt to stop me copying anything of a website (not that I would ever do such a thing) There simply no way anyone can prent another fro copy and pasting from a webpage. If there is, the can someone give me link so that I can test it out I love a challenge

Presumably he means copyscape.com, which detects when people copy your text, but doesn't actually stop them doing it. There is zero you can do to actually stop someone in the first place, you can only detect it then react to it.

Same thing happened to us with our recruitment site last year, we contacted the company and asked them to remove the content. They informed us they wrote it but our site displayed Copyright 2008 and their's 2009, so it's worth displaying the year on your site.

Yeah, because someone who steals your content in the first place will be scared to put a fake copyright date on it

 

[roythehandyman]

AAAGGGHHH Just did the quotes around a chunk of some of my content and googled it Someone has nicked my article I don't beleive it. B@:>@s I am going after them right now. The article is here http://plumberoxford.info/will-that...e-or-decrease-the-value-of-your-home-215.html

They have nicked it form here http://www.roythehandyman.co.uk/whatis.htm

I am seething. On the bright side, I wrote an article so good that it was worh stealing!!!

 

[JohnnyCash]

AAAGGGHHH Just did the quotes around a chunk of some of my content and googled it Someone has nicked my article I don't beleive it. B@:>@s I am going after them right now. The article is here snip

They have nicked it form here http://www.roythehandyman.co.uk/whatis.htm

I am seething. On the bright side, I wrote an article so good that it was worh stealing!!!

Edit your post to take out the http://www. on his link, pointing more links to the offending content certainly isn't helping you.

 

[Fill-Your-World]

Wow this thread has me nervous about the content on my sites now! I would be fuming if this happened to us...

Although that being said, Im not sure how or why but the text on my site is unselectable as far as I have tried, so presumably much harder for people to copy and paste...? Not so on our blog site though. *runs off to check out copyscape*

 

[JohnnyCash]

Wow this thread has me nervous about the content on my sites now! I would be fuming if this happened to us...

Although that being said, Im not sure how or why but the text on my site is unselectable as far as I have tried, so presumably much harder for people to copy and paste...? Not so on our blog site though. *runs off to check out copyscape*

Hi Fill-your-pants, there really is no need to fill your pants - its not as big a deal as you think.

If you use a method that renders copy/paste useless on your site, then you rendered search engine spiders useless too so you won't get any traffic from them - not good. And even then, if people want to copy your site they'll just type what you've written into notepad, so you're not safe anyway.

Just run copyscap occasionally, and deal with any offenders as you see fit, there isn't really much more you can do than that.

 

[Fill-Your-World]

Hmm well I dont know what is causing the text to be unselectable on the site then- but we rank very well with google so it is being spidered Im sure...?

Have signed up with copyscape and found a copy and paste of one of our blog articles already....

 

[JohnnyCash]

The only way to stop your text being copy and pasted would be to put it all in an image, or a flash file, which you're not doing.

Quickly looking in your source code, it looks like you're using java to stop people 2nd mouse clicking?

 

[crossdaz]

Hmm well I dont know what is causing the text to be unselectable on the site then- but we rank very well with google so it is being spidered Im sure...?

Have signed up with copyscape and found a copy and paste of one of our blog articles already....

If you can see the source code (and your site wouldn't work if you couldn't) then so can anyone else and so can google.
Everything is copied so I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it unless an established site with some authority was out to get you - which is unlikely.

Don't take this in a bad way but if someone is copying your content I'm fairly certain it isn't any site with any authority or one with any chance of hurting you.

 

[Fill-Your-World]

Don't take this in a bad way but if someone is copying your content I'm fairly certain it isn't any site with any authority or one with any chance of hurting you.

What would give you that impression?

 

[JohnnyCash]

Something in her source code is preventing people copy/pasting from the website itself, either by accident or design. Its not stopping anyone viewing the source and copy/pasting from there though.

 

[crossdaz]

Its not stopping anyone viewing the source and copy/pasting from there though.

Yup, so pretty pointless really - it will stop a casual user wanting to post a snippet of text on a forum for instance but won't be any problem at all to someone who knows what they are doing.