Update your copyright notice for 2012

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   Writer Foxposted 12 years ago

   Just a reminder to update the copyright notice on your Hubs to the year 2012.  If you don't have a notice on your Hubs, consider adding one.  There have been many forum posts recently about plagiarism of Hubs.  Although your work is protected without this notice, I feel it is important and have placed it on all my Hubs.

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      Earl S. Wynnposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Good thing to keep in mind. Thanks for the tip, my friend!

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      Uninvited Writerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      There is a copyright notice at the bottom of every page on the site, it covers your hubs also.

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         Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         The copyright notice didn't stop the thieves from stealing my hubs, I always place the notice on my hubs even though HP has it at the bottom. But maybe it's good for filing complaints.

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2. 86

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   Too right Susan! And the thieves pay no attention to the notices no matter where you place them.
   
   I got an odd email this morning from that guy who stole all our work on Triond, apologising and telling me he has removed the content, but how did he get my email address (and real name)? Does Google give them out when they process DMCAs?

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      Writer Foxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      He might have contacted you through the "contact" feature on your profile page on HubPages.  Did the email address match the one you have there?

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         IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes but it wasn't through Hubpages. Plus my real name isn't on display here.

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      Uninvited Writerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think by law they have to name you and give your email address. I never thought of the problems that could cause though...

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         IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Fingers crossed that he really was being polite and nothing more sinister!

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      aguasilverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      He would have received a copy of the DMCA if he asked, and that would have all your details on it.

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   Pearldiverposted 12 years ago

   Well... I prefer to take NO Prisoners!
   
   
   
   
   

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   Moon Willow Lakeposted 12 years ago

   Though it's a good reminder, I don't put a copyright year on my hubs as I primarily fall back on a general, non-dated statement in addition to the notice that's directly on HubPages itself.
   
   I will say that there is software called Dupe Free Pro that anyone can download for free (last I knew). That software can be used to help you monitor whether or not your content has been stolen.
   
   In addition to that, I once read an article that talked about how to help implicate automatic 'scrapers'. I don't remember everything it mentioned, but I do remember one tip in particular. It recommended to place a link back to yourself some way in everything you write; the link back to yourself should be on words that indicate you, too. What I mean by that is if you ever write the word "we" in one of your hubs, then put a link on the word "we" that goes back to your HP profile. That way, if someone ever does copy/paste your article (especially if it's automatically done), then that link will be re-posted on the thief's site. When they are caught, then it's a bit easier to tell who the originator of the work actually is since the link refers back to you. Plus, in the mean-time, it may even give you some SEO from having more links back to you out there. The other idea behind this is that since the link refers back to you, the search engine algorithms will hopefully recognize theirs as being the duplicate and therefore (hopefully) rank them lower.
   
   Of course, none of this may work as well as the article indicated, but I sure do hope it helps!

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   relacheposted 12 years ago

   Pasting a copyright notice on all your individual Hubs is not only redundant given the statements already present but it's a great way to trip the duplicate content filter on all your Hubs.

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   Shadesbreathposted 12 years ago

   Not only that, your work is copyright the day you put it up and stays that way until your death, and, as I recall, for 75 years after if a family member can claim it. Changing the date does nothing (even if it weren't already there) but add make work.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I saw the OP and was about to ask that question, Shadesbreath.  I thought, if I wrote an article in 2010, it was copyrighted in 2010 and remains copyrighted as long as I'm around.  So why do I need to change the date?
      
      Is there a lawyer in the house?

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         Writer Foxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         The copyright notice I place on all my Hubs is just an extra warning to content thieves.  Yes, your work is 'protected' the minute it goes online, but this doesn't amount to a hill of beans to content scrapers.  I also add a 'copyscape' notice.  You can look at the bottom of any of my Hubs to see how I do this.
         
         I've only been on HubPages for 6 weeks, but, so far, my Hubs have not been duplicated on other sites.  The methods I have used on HubPages will prevent about 85% of content scraping, according to my experience on other sites.  No, it's not a 100% guarantee and you certainly don't have to use these suggestions if you don't want to. My suggestion to update the date for copyright notices was just a friendly reminder to those who use a personal copyright notice.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I wasn't questioning your suggestion to add a copyright notice.  I know it's not necessary and won't stop serious scrapers, but it doesn't hurt.  I'm just perplexed as to why you'd need to update the date?  I mean, a book has a copyright date which is when it was published - if they do a new print run, they don't change the copyright date?

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               Writer Foxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Hi Marisa,
               
               The formal copyright notice requires a date and a specific format.  It's very simple:
               
               Copyright © 2011 - 2012 Writer Fox™. All Rights Reserved.

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                  Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  I've seen that format but didn't know you had to keep adding dates to it.  I thought the original date of publication was all that was needed.  Do you have a reference?

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                     Writer Foxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     Check the US government copyright site - easily found on Google.

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                        Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        Thanks, I did, and this is all I could find:
                        
                        "Form of Notice for Visually Perceptible Copies
                        
                        The notice for visually perceptible copies should contain all
                        the following three elements:
                        
                        1 The symbol © (the letter C in a circle), or the word
                        “Copyright,” or the abbreviation “Copr.”; and
                        
                        2 The year of first publication of the work. In the case of
                        compilations or derivative works incorporating previously
                        published material, the year date of first publication of
                        the compilation or derivative work is sufficient. The year
                        date may be omitted where a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural
                        work, with accompanying textual matter, if any, is
                        reproduced in or on greeting cards, postcards, stationery,
                        jewelry, dolls, toys, or any useful article; and
                        
                        3 The name of the owner of copyright in the work, or an
                        abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a
                        generally known alternative designation of the owner.
                        
                        Example: © 2008 John Doe
                        
                        I did a bit of Googling and could only find sites that said "All Rights Reserved" is an old statement that's no longer required (although again, there's no harm in including it, since it sounds official enough to put some people off!).

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                           Writer Foxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           Thanks for posting all of this, Marisa!  The only thing I would add is that if you change the text in any way since the original copyright date, that is when the date of the copyright should be extended.

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   Bard of Elyposted 12 years ago

   I put a copyright notice on all mine and will be updating though I don't find it stops people copying and pasting my hubs all the time! I have loads of copyright alerts!

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   Shadesbreathposted 12 years ago

   You don't need a lawyer, and you certainly don't need to change the dates. It's pretty basic, at least on the level we have here. But, here it is straight off the U.S. Copyright office page:
   
   Works Originally Created on or after January 1, 1978
   A work that was created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 ears after the author’s death. In the case of “a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire,” he term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author’s death. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and seudonymous works (unless the author’s identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.
   
   So there you have it. What's more, you DON'T even need a copyright symbol AT ALL. If you read the site for ten minutes or so, you'll see all you need, and you'll find it says that too about the symbols. Everyone is so worried about the copyright part, when that is not the problem. ENFORCEMENT is the problem. It comes down to "What are you going to do about it?" when someone takes your stuff.
   
   Here's the FAQ page of the copyright office:  http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#what
   
   Here's the Copyright Basics pdf you can print or save if you want (it's very approachable reading):  http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf

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   GmaGoldieposted 12 years ago

   I have been following Relache's lead and will place the copyright and FTC disclosure on my profile.
   
   Sadly, the effort we place on copyright doesn't stop the thieves but it still should be part of our professional standard. I wish the profile page had a box with the copyright and in a tiny font.
   
   I do wish to add in a join now at the end and some other call to actions. But I want them to be a little bit different so the viewer is not bored and so duplicate is not a concern.
   
   Happy New Year@

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