What to do When Your Content is Copied or Stolen: Protect Your Material Against Plagiarism

Recently I was browsing through my hubs (articles) only to discover a neat little © sitting happily alongside three of my hub titles. Imagine my fury when on further investigation I discovered that my three hubs had been copied and published on two other writing sites by two different writers (I will call them writers as the other names I wish to use would see me violate every rule in the book and most likely be banished from Hubpages for eternity).

Needless to say it took considerable time for the colour red to subside and my breathing to return to (almost) normal; however once I could function on a reasonable level I continued my investigation. To my horror the copied articles were complete replicas of my articles; even the google adverts and my personal photos were copied. In fact on one of the sites; I won't mention the name (scribd.com) my name appeared on the top of the article next to the culprits profile. I was disgusted; not only had my articles been stolen but the 'WRITER' (for want of another word) who had stolen them in the first place was a right lazy sod and couldn't even be bothered to type his own name.

The second site was owned by the article copier himself. Unbelievably this guy was equally as lazy and my article was complete with quotes, jokes and personal references. The only thing that was missing was my photo.

I must tell you I hadn't a clue what to do. However, I was that mad I decided to track the two little thieves down. Mission Impossible: My Mantra.

• Firstly I had to identify the domain; the domain is the name of the Internet host, for example: about.com, helium.com or hubpages.com
• Secondly I had to make contact with the domain owner
• In the case of scribd.com I was able to contact their support team through the main page where I left a request and my email
• While I waited for their response I googled everything and anything that had the remotest thing to do with copied content; I found a few interesting items among two of which were...

a) The Whois Record

b) The DMCA aka Digital Millennium Copyright Act

• I received an email a little while later from the scribd.com support team requesting more information on the supposed copied articles
• I responded with a copy of the DMCA and with great restraint kept my reply professional and to the point
• I received another email the next day; I was informed that my content would be removed within the next few days
• Within 24 hours the copied content had been removed: thank you scribd.com
• Result :)

• Copier number two was a little harder to track down as the domain was owned by the culprit in question
• I left a message on his comments page but I got no response
• I filed a DMCA complaint with google as there was google adverts on his page (most articles rely on adverts to make money; no adds no money)
• Using the Whois Record I ran a domain search and found the owner contact details including his email
• I also looked up where the domain was registered
• I sent him a very polite email complete with a DMCA complaint, along with a copy of the DMCA complaint I had filed with google and advised that another DMCA complaint was being filed with GoDaddy.com where his domain was registered
• As I had this persons complete contacts; I also advised that if my content wasn't removed within 48 hours I would have no other option but to sue
• Within 48 hours the domain was closed down and back on GoDaddy.com
• Result :)

The Whois record is an invaluable database among which includes a store of registered users of an Internet domain; in other words their contact details.

All you need to do is type in the domain name and hit search. In most cases the domain name is visible on the main page or is part of the url: for example http://hubpages.com/flowers-poetry-song. The domain name being hubpages.com.

The DMCA (digital millennium copyright act) was introduced in 1998 to address copyright issues that had been made prominent by the world wide use of the Internet. The basic principle behind this act: to exercise your right as the owner of the material in question. Be it an article, photo, video or other specific medium posted on the Internet.

If you are aware of plagiarism regarding your content, file a DMCA complaint with the responsible body immediately.

I am (your name) the exclusive rights holder for the (list the names of your copied articles and their urls ie Beautiful Flowers in Spring: http://laura.hubpages.com/hub/beautiful-flowers).

These exclusive rights are being violated by material available on your site at the following urls (list the name of the copied articles, as they appear and their urls ie Beautiful Spring Flowers: http://writersgroup.com/beautiful.spring.flowers).

I have in good faith belief that the use of this material in such fashion is not authorized by the copyright holder, the copyright holder's agent or the law and therefore infringe the copyright owner's rights.

Under the penalty of perjury in a United States court, I state that the information contained in this notification is accurate, and that I am the copyright owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive rights for the material in question.

I hereby demand that you act expeditiously to remove the material claimed to be infringing.

My contact information is as follows (list all contact inclusive of address, phone and email)

Thank you

Regards

(Your full legal name)

• Locate the domain (usually on the main page or in the url (example hubpages.com))
• Leave a message regarding your complaint (support team, contact page, comments or forums (if available))
• Locate the domain owner (Whois Record)
• Send an email requesting that the copied content be removed
• File a DMCA complaint with the domain owner
• File a DMCA complaint with any advertising agents with adverts on said page ie yahoo, google
• Inform your main domain of the copied content if you are operating on a sub-domain ie Hubpages, Helium
• Follow through to ensure your copied content is removed
• Always be professional and accurate

• Google your article headings regularly to check for duplicate content
• Google 'Plagiarism Checker', enter text in the box provided and the url in the box provided and run a search to check for copied content
• If you write on HubPages; check out the © symbol along side your article headings on the account page and follow instructions as laid out by HubPages
• Register your articles online
• Use the © symbol and your name on your articles and materials
• Brand your content

As writers and artists we work hard to create our material and indeed express ourselves through our creativity and other such mediums. We put our very being into our work, sharing ourselves with others. To find oneself violated through plagiarism is infuriating. Plagiarism is a very personal attack and is a serious crime against the owner.

Our thoughts and ideas mostly stem from our imaginations slowly growing into the detailed material we publish on line. To find our hard work and personal efforts stolen by another is not just a horrid feeling it's down right soul destroying.

I sincerely wish all creative artists, writers and bloggers the very best: keep up the good work and remember. Protect your content.

Copyright© 2011Gabriel Wilson