I am a victim of thievery, my articles are being copied a lot. Help!

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   john000posted 11 years ago

   I love HubPages. It is the very first format that has allowed me to earn any money from my writing. Other sites used my writing to make money, but the reward was less than satisfying, as most of you may understand.
   Here is the problem. A lot of my articles are being copied. These articles are being copied word for word, and sometimes the exact title of the article! I have written to the authors plagiarizing and have gotten response from, for instance, Articles.com, but other sites are not responsive and the individuals are not responsive. I have sent emails to the guilty when I could find an email address. I have left comments where my articles have reappeared under different titles. I have notified Google. But in many instances Google cannot do a thing because the author is either not in the Adsense program or somehow is not Google associated, even if it is a BlogSpot blog?
   There have been many answers to the problem of how to deal with plagiarism, but now that it is November 2, 2012, or there abouts, has anyone discovered a more efficient way of dealing with the problem?
   I will be so bold as to give you an example, just one article! My Hub is located at <snipped>. The following have all been stolen.
   This is what I know -
   <snipped>
   By:
   shanil
   
   Health>
   Cancerl
   Jan 28, 2011
   
   Bladder Cancer in Men and BCG Infection / Treatment
   
   BCG Bladder Cancer Treatment
   The purpose of this article is not to criticize the medical community. The purpose is to perhaps save others the frustration I have experienced in trying to help my father who suffered from superficial bladder cancer, and subsequently BCG infection. There will be three parts to this discussion: the basics of BCG treatment, symptoms of BCG infection, and my father’s symptoms.
   You have to go down the page slightly more than 1/2.
   
   
   <snipped>
   second article on the page
   
   <snipped>
   first article on the page
   
   <snipped>
   No Responses to “Night Sweats Men: Bladder Cancer in Men and BCG Infection / Treatment”
   
   <snipped>
   first article
   
   <snipped>
   Tried to find the article but suspect subterfuge. You can see it indexed at Google site above.
   
   I have more articles that are all over the Internet at different article sites. Any creative ideas out there?
   Mind me, I am not blaming HubPages for anything at all - they have been wonderful to me. Repeat: they have been wonderful to me! I just want to know if there is some kind of magic bullet out there that a Hubber may have discovered that doesn't take forever to report and get a response to??
   
   All of you really need to look at what's out there. You are probably being victimized. A couple of the sites above have 250+ views that could have been mine.

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      brakel2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I have a hub where I composed a take-down notice. You can send it to the webmaster. I have had success with it. You might look at it and see what you think. I am sorry you are having this problem. How can you tell the number of views of these sites? What do you enter at Quantcast or wherever? Good luck. I have a similar issue right now.

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         john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you. I am headed for the hub right now - that would save me time when I have a contact to the webmaster. Thank you.

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         Xenonlitposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Wait a minute. I thought that Hub Pages had a handy dandy duplicate checking system that catches these things. Why are you having to find plagiarism on your own?

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            Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            HubPages has explained the copied content finder is very expensive to run, so they do it only for a select number of high traffic Hubs.  It's our own responsibility to police theft of our own Hubs.

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               john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               I can understand that. I don't expect HubPages to police for me other than on HubPages. But it just seems that with all of the information crawlers gather there should be a faster way to eliminate plagiarized material? These folks know where we live, social security numbers, phone numbers, URLs, birthdays, addresses, photos of our neighborhoods. Come on. But thanks for informing me that HubPages as made that pronouncement - as I said in the original note, HubPages is great and owe them, not the other way around.

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      bridalletterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hubpages could make the website secure with programs that protect the print on this website. It makes it impossible to copy it or screen capture it. The problem is if they put that in place, they may pass that expense onto us via monthly fees. It may also prevent us from sharing the articles in social media networks.
      
      You can file a claim with the copyright office. It is a shame Google doesn't do anything. They certainly do on Youtube. I had someone steal one of my videos. I reported it and it was resolved quickly.
      
      If the people are in another country, there is even less that can be done; other than what you have already done.

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         Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         What you are talking about as far as making it "impossible" to copy is far from impossible. It's nothing more than a java script, disabling java gets rid of that ability.
         
         Google does what they can, but unlike with YouTube, Google doesn't own or host the internet. Pretty much all they can do is lower the rankings so it's harder to find.

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         john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I have had success with https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools … ;&rd=1.  I have a routine now of using this form and since my last post on Nov. 5,  I have had about a dozen things removed from the Internet.
         I believe this is the best way to handle things overall.  Thanks for all of the input. Though I guess we all would like faster/easier/automatic ways to deal with these problems, we need to be vigilant.
         Google has responded and done what I asked, so probably more than anything, the frustration I had experienced was from ignorance.
         Thanks again for all the input.

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   RichieMogwaiposted 11 years ago

   It seems to  me that a lot of people are experiencing their work being copied by other people from other sites. It sounds like poaching to me.  I am now in the process of checking my works.  I'm glad you people brought this up.

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      john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      If you put the first two sentences of an intro to your article in Google search you will see right away if anyone has copied your material verbatim. Good luck.

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      john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Also, just to give an example without any article names, this is the response I got from Articles.com for an article hijacked
      .
      Hello,
      
      Thank you for contacting us.We removed the article from our directory.
      
      Best regards,
      
      Adrianna Miller
      
      ArticlesBase Support
      Nice enough - but does anything happen to keep the individuals from continuing this type of behavior?

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         Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         In all reality, there isn't much they, or any other site, can do to stop this from happening. That burden falls on us as writers to make sure our writing isn't being copied.
         
         The best option to combat it would be to write on a blog instead with WordPress installed. WP has a feature that will add a link back to your site at the top and bottom of any copied content, along with sending you a trackback. From their you can either report it, or leave it and take your free advertising.
         
         Also, Google does do something about it, and they do it without you having to report it, or even knowing about it for that matter. In an effort to kill article spinning for backlinks, any duplicate content is penalized.  So anyone who copies any of your work will have their rankings suffer automatically. If this wasn't the case, auto-blogging would still be profitable.

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            john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Even though I have a WordPress blog, I wasn't aware. Thank you. And, thanks for cluing me on the penalty aspect.

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   Uninvited Writerposted 11 years ago

   If they have Adsense ads, report them to Adsense. There is a link on the site to file DMCA notices.
   
   Please delete those links. One I clicked on would not let me leave the page without clicking something. I had to stop the process to get out.

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      john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the heads up on the links. Your time in responding is appreciated. Thank  you.

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   brakel2posted 11 years ago

   The links are to bad sites, as I also discovered. One had a warning. One was a prize, and I barely got off site.   John. Don't give up.

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      john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      OK. Thanks for writing. Good luck.

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   lovebuglenaposted 11 years ago

   Wow! This is outrageous...

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      john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It really is. Seems there should be a fast way to deal with it. Today I got a form from Google which I did not run across before and it is EASIER to use. Earlier, I had URLs snipped - maybe I did something wrong as far as trying to show those URLs. But in the email today from Google I got this.
      
      http://www.google.com/support/bin/reque … t=blogger.
      Using this form will ensure the quickest possible processing time for your
      complaint.
      
      Maybe this URL is ok to print?I have filled it out for one article only. I have a lot more work to do. I guess you have to work to protect your stuff - not unlike buying a lock for your  bike, which you really "shouldn't" have to do.
      I am thankful for the communication from Google. Good luck

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         john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Update Note: I just found out that if an address is not associated with a Google product, but  you wish to make a legal claim to have it removed from search for infringement, you use this address:
         https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools … ;&rd=1
         
         Also, here is a link to a documentation notice of an infringement: http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512/ … ticeID=861 .

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   wrenfrost56posted 11 years ago

   I have just checked one of my hubs and it was copied word for word, and as a consequence my views and traffic has fallen dramatically. I'm not sure how best to deal with the situation or even if it will ever be stopped. I guess the only comfort that you can take from it is that A) our work was good enough to be copied and B) we are not alone in our plight. 
   
   I would like to say that I hope we do not get targetted again in the future, but in all honesty, unfortunately, we probably will.

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   john000posted 11 years ago

   You are right to recognize your work was good enough to be plagiarized! LOL. Lots of people are fighting this stuff on the Internet. I hope, too, that some system will be able to react quickly in such a way as to stop this, but I have no idea either.
   Google has a lot of requests for investigating plagiarism. I think the form in the last reply will help you.
   As you have implied, there is a silver lining in all problems (good attitude, by the way) and we probably have nothing but a better response to look forward to. Thanks.

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   Mark Johannposted 11 years ago

   I also read in some successful people in the internet that suing those fake people are a waste of time. What I learn is that continue your good work and in the end, you will be on the top. Look for some ways you can counter those fake people. I suggest changing your name or categorizing your hubs into pieces, etc.

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      john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I really like what you h ave to say. Initially, one can get pretty upset about the number of individuals taking material without permission. But after awhile, you realize that is just part of the world. No sense wasting good time fighting too much. Your attitude is much appreciated. Your suggestions are worth consideration. Thank you for commenting, and good luck. John

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   LindaSmith1posted 11 years ago

   Go to the learing center of HP. They tell you what to do and who to report plagerism to.

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      Drive By Quipperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      There you go.

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         john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, and the best to you. John

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      john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you very much. Things have been resolving smoothly using the last form I wrote about.  The Learning Center is in my favorites now.

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    brakel2posted 11 years ago

    It's not thorough, and you still must do things on your own. It is still a good starting place. Many hubs give more info.

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       john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Thorough or not, it is a leaf to grab onto, and that is what I needed. Thank  you for taking the time to make a suggestion. It really was helpful. Perhaps, as a person has suggested, I should have gone to the learning center, but after you have run around the Internet (thinking you know how to get information!) you sometimes throw up your hands and write to the forum.
       I really do thank everyone here for the suggestions and input. This is really a great tool to use. I'll try to talk it up either in a Hub or in my comments when someone seems in despair.
       Peace and success to all.

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          RichieMogwaiposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          You're welcome john000.  I also learned a lot from your post and the respondents.  At least, I know what preliminary steps to take when one of my articles gets plagiarized.

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