My hub was copied by another person and posted as her own!

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  1. Peggy W profile image95
    Peggy Wposted 13 years ago

    I discovered a little red "c" with circle around it and had no idea what that meant so I clicked on that hub.  It told me that my hub was apparently copied.  When I clicked on the web address provided...SURE ENOUGH!  This person "lovehihi" has totally STOLEN my hub about Crater Lake even taking one of my pictures and posting it at the top of her hub.  It is listed as one of her top hubs and also listed under Travel.
    In case she stole some of your hubs here is her address:
    http://www.flixya.com/blog/lovehihi/1/Travel

    Here is my original hub title on Hubpages:  Oregon - National Park - Crater Lake - Unbelievable Color! 

    What can be done about this travesty???  She should not be allowed to do this!

    1. Lifeallstar1 profile image60
      Lifeallstar1posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I just looked and looks like she took it down.

      1. Peggy W profile image95
        Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        Hi Lifeallstar1,

        I think the webmaster took it down.  From what others said, it appeared she had not been active on her site for a long time.  Probably a good thing!

  2. blondepoet profile image66
    blondepoetposted 13 years ago

    Peggy the exact same thing has happened to me three times. Oh isn't it enough to make your blood boil over.
    Hubpages should have also supplied a link to filing a DMCA complaint on that site against the copyright. Hopefully then it should be pulled down.

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Yes it makes my blood boil.  This is new to me...I'll go back and see about that link to make a DMCA complaint.  Thanks!

  3. profile image0
    Website Examinerposted 13 years ago

    Here is a link to a recent forum discussion about a similar issue. There have been many other forum threads about "copyright," "copied content" and the like.


    http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/46052

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      THANKS!

      1. Lifeallstar1 profile image60
        Lifeallstar1posted 13 years agoin reply to this

        Did you say anything to the person? I know some sites let you "seed" an article but you have to put the source from where you got it and the URL so the person is using it but it's clearly stated that it is not yours, it was seeded. People do that with news articles like NBC type thing with a topic that is time sensitive usually and you cannot add to it, or pretend you wrote it. That's illegal. I would go say something to the person. That might scare them off since they were probably shocked that you would ever find out. But how does that work if you wanted to put an article you wrote on two different sites?

        1. Peggy W profile image95
          Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I did email her but no answer so proceeded with other options.  I have no idea about writing on different sites...have only written on Hubpages.  You might ask others...

  4. rebekahELLE profile image86
    rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

    leave a comment on her article asking that it be taken down asap and that you will check back to make sure it was taken down.
    sometimes this takes care of it,
    otherwise check out the forum link supplied by website examiner.

    1. profile image0
      Website Examinerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Good point!

    2. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I would have to sign up to comment and did not want to give her the satisfaction...but if all else fails...will do so.  THANKS for all of this advice!

      1. rebekahELLE profile image86
        rebekahELLEposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        it might be worth it just to sign in and leave a comment. I did this once when my hub was copied. he took it down by the next morning as I threatened to report him.

        1. Peggy W profile image95
          Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Going to work on doing that today.  Thanks!

          1. rebekahELLE profile image86
            rebekahELLEposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I just checked her profile on the site and it states she hasn't been active for over 400 days. so I doubt if she's going to see the comment unless she is sent a copy. you might have to contact the website and file a complaint.

            1. profile image0
              Website Examinerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

              Doing a little time perhaps?

              1. Peggy W profile image95
                Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Ha!  Perhaps!  Thanks for the bit of levity!

            2. Peggy W profile image95
              Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

              I just sent off a complaint to dmca@flixya.com and contact@flixya.com with the information.  Hopefully this will soon end this once and for all.  Hope she gets booted off the site!

              1. travelespresso profile image70
                travelespressoposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Good luck with this.  I'm on your side hoping for a good outcome.  Copying is theft and its just NOT right!

                1. Peggy W profile image95
                  Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  I agree!  Thanks for the best wishes.  I have now done all I know to do.  Will hope for some responses sometime soon.

        2. Peggy W profile image95
          Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I just did that on her site.  Had to join Flixya to do it and intend to quit after this is resolved.  If it is not taken down in the next day or so...will take further actions.  Hope this does it!

          1. Peggy W profile image95
            Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Not knowing how soon she would see it and remove it, I also reported it to the Flixya folks in a forum post.  I published my hub on 12/12/08 and she published the stolen copy on 12/13/08 according to the stats.  Amazing that it took this long to show up as copied!

  5. Jane@CM profile image59
    Jane@CMposted 13 years ago

    Make sure you report it to team@hubpages if they are using the article on Hubpages - so sorry this has happened to you.

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      It is a Hubpage article...one of my older ones when I first started.  I did also email them about it.

      1. relache profile image71
        relacheposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        The HubPages rules state implicitly that you retain ownership of your original material and thus, when it's taken from here and used on another site, it is NOT the responsibility of HubPages to do anything about it.  It's your job.

        Only if someone copies work of yours here can the admin team take any action.

        1. Peggy W profile image95
          Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks relache.  Intend to do what I can about this.  Bet she is copying others also since she took mine.  Rotten!

  6. katiem2 profile image61
    katiem2posted 13 years ago

    It's rotten but I guess you can take some comfort in knowing to copy you is a form of flattery.  Sour I know.... shouldn't be permitted.  Peace and thanks for bringing it to our attention.  Peace smile

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I'd rather not have this form of flattery.  This is my first experience with anything like this...at least as far as I know.

  7. Info Bucket profile image64
    Info Bucketposted 13 years ago

    Flixya is not soo popular, many flixyers copy and paste hubs on their blogs.

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Have joined Flixya as I could not comment on her hub without being a member...but got no further since we were going out last night.  Plan to work on it today so I can threaten her to take it down...or else!  Working with a new computer that we just got and am having to learn Windows 7...so taking me a bit longer to navigate around things.

  8. thisisoli profile image70
    thisisoliposted 13 years ago

    Send an email to them entitled cease and desist.  Mention in the email that if the cease and desist notice is ignored legal fees will be incurred for your attorney to file a DMCA.

    A cease and desist gives a lot more leeway than a DMCA (Where the author has certain rights).

    Be sure to mention if a user has infringed on your copyright before, it can lead to their entire account being taken down. Something which will make a content thief think twice, since stealing content takes time and effort, albeit less than that of creating content.

    I recently had someone with two accounts and over 2000 articles removed from article base.  All they had was spam and duplicate content, some of which was copied from me, but it still must have taken them a lot of time to put together. I am kind of hoping that having their illicit methods set back in such a way, will lead towards them trying to do  things properly in future.

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Good for you!  I would hope that people like this could not continue profiting from stealing other people's hubs (blogs).  Will see what I can do.  Thanks!

  9. wrenfrost56 profile image55
    wrenfrost56posted 13 years ago

    Sorry to hear this has happened to you, I've had my work stolen before it's awful. I hope it gets dealt with quickly and thanks for the heads up.

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I do not intend to use Flixya...merely had to join to voice the complaint to her and also reported her to the Flixya folks.  From the time I joined last night I already had 5 private messages...all inviting love type connections.  This has NEVER happened on hubpages.  Seems as though this site invites the less than savory type of person...at least in my brief experience with it.  Intend to discontinue my membership after this is resolved and hope to never hear about them again!

  10. Nera Woods profile image83
    Nera Woodsposted 13 years ago

    yes, there are also a lot of robot spammers on flixya, so I left a long time ago.

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I guess when I started writing, I just was lucky to have landed on Hubpages.  It is a good site with some great writers.

  11. SteveoMc profile image73
    SteveoMcposted 13 years ago

    Peggy W this nefarious activity is concerning.  I am wondering where you discovered the little red c, was that visible when you click on my account, or is it located some other place.   I wish to be alert and watch for it.

    1. profile image0
      Website Examinerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry to interrupt. Yes, that would be shown in your control panel in case duplicate content is detected by HubPages. But you may also want to run your own tests.

      You can run a simple search by copying snippets of your text and then paste that into the Google search box. Or you can use one of the many free tools that are available to check for plagiarism.

      http://www.articlechecker.com/

    2. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hi SteveoMc and Website Examiner,

      Yes, the notice shows up immediately when you sign in to view your hubs.  The little red "c" is attached to the individual hub when you scroll down.

      I checked today and the account was removed from her page...but all her others are still there.  I'll bet my bottom dollar some of those are stolen also.  The writing is not the same caliber on each of her hubs making it look very suspicious.  I am amazed that only my hub was removed.  I would have thought that Flixya might have banished her for stealing other people's work and not allow her other work (hers alone?) to remain posted. 

      I am happy that Hubpages discovered it...but it took a long time!  Apparently she posted it a day after I had posted mine on 12/12/08.  Only discovered a few days ago!

      May have to check into this articlechecker link above.  Wondering if this finds stolen works faster?

  12. PegCole17 profile image93
    PegCole17posted 13 years ago

    So sorry this has happened to your article. Makes me wary of these so called writers who resort to taking other people's work and calling it their own.

    I've also heard that imitation is a form of flattery, but imitation is not theft or plagiarism. It is maddening. And I'm shocked it took so long to be discovered.

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      This is my first experience with this.  I am just glad that this has been resolved...but since it took so long to be discovered, I am now wondering if there are more out there?  She had the use of my hub for a LONG time!  As you say...maddening!

  13. rebekahELLE profile image86
    rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

    nice to hear it was removed! I agree, her profile does not match the writing in the articles. I wonder why it took so long to find? hmm

    1. Hubbin4V12 profile image62
      Hubbin4V12posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      that's scary, it takes a really bold and low person to do that, not to mention incompetent for trying to steal and re use it all on the same website.  Glad to hear that it was removed, Hubpages should implement a code/script for no right clicks on hub text.

    2. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      No idea why it took so long to find, rebekahELLE.

      Really good idea, Hubbin4V12!  Wonder if that is possible?

  14. profile image0
    Website Examinerposted 13 years ago

    Peggy W, congrats on a job well done.

    You and others have been wondering about why it took so long for HubPages to raise the flag. I really wouldn't dare to speculate, but it is possible that further research will provide the explanation - all depending on how the search engines have been treating the two identical articles.

    From what I understand, HubPages' duplicate content filter was not primarily designed to alert hubbers that they may have been victims of plagiarism. All the more reason for hubbers that are concerned about their content being stolen to do their own checks regularly and to use the third-party tools that are available for this purpose.

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      It is a shame that we even have to consider spending our time doing that.  Anyone with a number of hubs...time constraints alone would preclude us from doing it often.  And even if checked one day and OK, it would not mean that the very next day it could not be stolen.  That is probably what the thieves count on!

      If I would start randomly checking my text, how much of it would have to be copied?  What if the thieves copied only a portion of it below and the top part of what we pasted in did not match? Would it still catch them?

      In this case she only took one of my photos.  What if people just steal a photo and attach it to their own written hub of a different title?

      This makes it seem almost impossible to do if one wants to spend time creating more hubs instead of policing past ones.  Sad state of affairs!

  15. profile image0
    Website Examinerposted 13 years ago

    I see your point. There are of course premium tools available to those who are willing to pay to have their intellectual property continuously monitored and protected. Each hubber is essentially a publisher, and each must decide what is right for them. I rest my case.

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Do you use such a site and if so, how much does it cost?  I wonder how many hubpage writers bother doing that?

      1. profile image0
        Website Examinerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        Cost is not the only concern, effectiveness is equally important. And protecting images is different than copied text. Let me better write a hub about it.

        1. Peggy W profile image95
          Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Read your hub and it is a good one!

  16. rebekahELLE profile image86
    rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

    I think we're aware we have to check our hubs at times, simply wondering how something snatched in 2008 could stay hidden for so long. it doesn't look like the snatcher has been active on the other site for over 400+ days, maybe that's one reason her material wasn't being found?

    1. profile image0
      Website Examinerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      This is what I have been thinking, and it is pure speculation on my part: Maybe the copied page had been buried so far deep in the search results that HubPages' filter did not catch it.

      1. Peggy W profile image95
        Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        I'm just glad that Hubpages found it and notified me so that I could have it removed from the other site.

        Thanks to everybody who has responded to this.  Hopefully not too much of this occurs very often so that it does not distract us from doing what we like best...writing Hubpage articles.

  17. AEvans profile image73
    AEvansposted 13 years ago

    It appears the article is gone, Thank goodness! I have experienced it myself and the best thing to do is file a DMCA report. Good grief it is so ridiclous!

    1. Peggy W profile image95
      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hi AEvans,

      Yes..........finally gone and hopefully this will never happen again.  Thanks everyone for your concern and suggestions as to how to handle this.

 
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