"borrowing" my ideas

1. 78

   LuisEGonzalezposted 11 years ago

   I have noticed that at least one hubber often writes about the same topic that I write about. That's not odd at all, what seems to be odd is that several of their hubs are on techniques,subjects,projects and so on, on which I have recently written, even down to almost exact titles.
   
   I am not bothered by this, if in fact this person takes my ideas ,titles and subjects and writes a hub with a different spin. What bothers me is that others may think that one of us is taking advantage of the other for their benefit without even the sightless mention of where they were taken from.
   
   This is not a prohibited practice (at least I don't think so) but it just seems to be wrong. Any thoughts?
   
                                                                            

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   1. 54

      cristianneacsuposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I have noticed that at least one hubber often writes about the same topic that I write about. That's not odd at all, what seems to be odd is that several of their hubs are on techniques,subjects,projects and so on, on which I have recently written, even down to almost exact titles.
      ======
      Do you have one sample to see what is all about?
      ======
      I am not bothered by this, if in fact this person takes my ideas ,titles and subjects and writes a hub with a different spin. What bothers me is that others may think that one of us is taking advantage of the other for their benefit without even the sightless mention of where they were taken from.
      ======
      I don't think so, if she/he use manual action and improve your writings then publish under her/his  name... well, this will be fun for you to rewrite even better, finally all around will receive more value.
      
      If she/he use an automatic spin action you can relax.
      =======
      This is not a prohibited practice (at least I don't think so) but it just seems to be wrong. Any thoughts?
      =======
      Of course is wrong but instead of losing time with this issue you can keep going and create more/better articles.
      
      Any way, in my opinion nobody will lose time with such an action if the basic article is bad so you are good, it's definitely a simple sign that your writings are interesting.
      
      Now that I know about you I will come and read everything, thank you.

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   2. 81

      moonlakeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I've seen this being done here too. I have also seen hubs almost copied and put on another site but just enough changed in the writting so it's not exact. I knew for sure where it came from.
      It is strange how you come up with an idea and before you can get it on hubpages there it is and I know I can't beat anyone in their writing so if I see it I just hold back.

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   3. 60

      djdaniel150posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      People do this stuff all the time unfortunately. There's shady people who do nothing all day but cut, copy, and paste articles from all over the web into their own articles on their own domains. They change a few words, then Voila! A whole new article. Google has included new updates to address this issue, and are aggressively penalizing anyone they catch doing this. On Google's webmaster forums I've seen people claiming their entire site was de-indexed for these practices. Shame on them, they got exactly what they deserved. I just built a new website, and have written tons of content for it. I plan on taking aggressive legal action against anyone who attempts to steal my content! They will be sorry when I siphon their paycheck right out of their bank accounts every week because of a legal judgment and they can no longer afford to buy so much as a roll of toilet paper to wipe themselves with.

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2. 63

   Froggy213posted 11 years ago

   I have noticed similar occurrences and it has bothered me also. I hope that all hubbers will consider how close they are to plagiarizing and make sure they are not harming the hub community by their actions.
   
   If it gets too close Luis, I would comment staff.

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3. 58

   Dame Scribeposted 11 years ago

   Unfortunately, it usually comes with the territory of being on a site with a respectable PR as HP holds as for other writers repeating same material, I wish HP would use that same technology in the Q n A section, before submitting, 'has it been done before?' button they 'compete' against our own material but there may still be one or two that is definitely 'yours' I think it says a lot about them too

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4. 90

   Millionaire Tipsposted 11 years ago

   Many people have trouble coming up with topics of their own, and when they see successful hubbers, they may decide to copy the same topics so they can duplicate that success.  It is a fine line though - since it is really bordering on plagiarism if they simply rewrite your hubs in their own words.
   
   This probably isn't the case for you, but it is possible that they simply came up with the idea on their own.  I started a hub about the benefits of keeping a journal, and found that there were many other hubs on that topic.  I completed my hub without reading theirs because I wanted to make sure that I didn't steal any ideas, but then did visit these other hubs and commented on them.  Hopefully no one thought that I wrote my hub based on theirs.

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   1. 78

      LuisEGonzalezposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      That's what I thought at first " that they came up with the ideas themselves"
      But one particular hub talks about several projects and all 6 of them have an almost identical title to mine. Still gave the benefit of the doubt, but  most of these are not that common. Out of 27 ideas for subjects there 16 that I wrote a hub about.
      
      However I just figured out that what this hubber does is write a hub based on an idea for a project/subject/theme/technique after I publish my own hub. The titles are extremely similar to mine but the words are theirs.
      I guess I'm flattered more than anything, but  it still annoys me.

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      1. 72

         AMFredenburgposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         If you seriously feel that someone has plagiarized your work, think about reporting them. You do have rights to your own work, and it is not ethical or legal for someone else to appropriate it. You'll be doing your colleagues here a big favor; you're probably not the only person who has been hurt by this.

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         1. 54

            cristianneacsuposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            indeed

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5. 60

   aykianinkposted 11 years ago

   Suddenly I'm asking myself if I have been accidentally 'borrowing' other hubbers' topics.  Oi.

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6. 60

   Xenonlitposted 11 years ago

   There are a lot of derivative writers who can't come up with ideas of their own, so they feed off of more popular writers. It's sickening, but there's not much we can do unless the editors step up and do their job.

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7. 77

   bridalletterposted 11 years ago

   I have not searched on mine to determine if there are duplicates.
   I would at least contact HP directly, have them review and see if it is a violation. They may decide to close the other person's account. I think that would be worth the contact.
   
   We work hard to produce the work. I know I don't want anyone to nearly copy my work.
   
   On youtube, I watch a bit closer and have found someone that stole one of my videos, placed new music on it and ran it as there own. I completed the copyright process and they removed it. So it really is a good idea to do a routine check here and on the internet. It sounds like there is a lot of theft from HP to other sites as well.

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8. 82

   lanablackmoorposted 11 years ago

   As others have said, I think there are a lot of topics that people just organically choose to write about without actually looking to see if something has already been done on the subject. On many of these topics, that's fine because the topic is so broad or has such mass appeal that multiple Hubs on the same topic from different authors and perspectives is a good source of information.
   
   This doesn't seem to be the case with what's going on with your Hubs. They do seem to be focused on very specific, often esoteric topics, so I think it's highly unlikely that someone is writing numerous hubs on identical topics by coincidence. Especially if this follows a pattern. When I worked in psychological research, writing and editing journal articles, the APA standard of plagiarism included not only copying someone's work word-for-word but copying their thought structure and idea flow as well. People think that as long as they add their "own spin" it's not plagiarism, but this isn't true for any written profession that I know of.

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   1. 78

      LuisEGonzalezposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      One of the things I found to very odd is that I often create (make up) a word for a topic (technique or theme) based on how I do it or my personal style. These are not  actual named photographic techniques, so it is odd that the same ideas with the same made up name I came up with becomes a hub or part of a hub written by some one else.

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      1. 88

         IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         This is the proof of the pudding, so to speak.
         
         If you have made-up words that someone has copied, then the fact that they are copying is blatantly obvious.
         
         In general, in the past anyway, Google has always favored the original hubber who wrote on a specific topic/keyword.
         
         So the first person to use certain keywords got priority.
         
         I have often hesitated to write using certain keywords because the topic was already saturated here on HP.
         
         On the odd occasion I have gone ahead anyway, my hub has been unable to beat the hub that published first, even if I wrote a better hub.
         
         On that analysis, it is better not to write on a topic already covered.
         
         I hope that still works the same, for your sake.
         
         I'd be royally pissed off if someone on here stole a hub of mine and then ranked above me in search.

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9. 83

   CMHypnoposted 11 years ago

   I once had a follower who read all the hubs I had written in a certain niche and left comments like 'thank you for being so helpful'.  I didn't realise until a few months later when I realised that the hubber had written a set of very similar hubs containing much the same information, how literal their comments were lol!
   
   Unfortunately, unless they have copied word for word, there is not much you can do about it. 
   
   Also, when I find something I want to write about, I don't actually search HP, so generally don't know if there are other articles on the same subject or how many there are. So sometimes it is just a coincidence

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10. 54

    Page1 SEO tacticsposted 11 years ago

    I keep my writing based on my knowledge, experiences, and interests, so when I write about SEO it's because that is what I know, and I feel that I can help many online authors get read with my advice. I realize there is quite some competition, but I also realize that at least half of that competition doesn't have the background knowledge in the field as I do making my information more useful.  As for my other accounts  which I use to write about additional knowledge, experiences, or interests I have on other topics I write on them for the same reason, and that is because I feel people will enjoy, or find my writing useful.   
    
    However I am sorry that someone seems to be plagiarizing your thought structure, I feel a great writer will write on their own inspiration instead of borrowing another's.

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    1. 60

       djdaniel150posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I agree SEO tactics. Just because 500 people write about the same topic, does not make them an authority on the topic. I view hubs daily here, and one thing I noticed is that authors tend to write about a million subjects. All my hubs are focused on information technology related subjects only, because that's what I know. The misleading information from people who just want to make a quick buck by scouring the web for information on their next hub, end up misleading people and causing them headaches if anything. Its best to know what you are writing about. Just look at SEOMOZ, the site is riddled with wannabe SEO specialists who have no idea what SEO actually is or how to go about using it, yet they write guides and tutorials about the subject.

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       1. 94

          Jean Bakulaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Hi Luis,
          It does sound like this other hubber is using your ideas. I write about certain topics which are not really common, so I can say what is to be said, and that's that. Sometimes before I write a hub, I look to see if others have written about it, and if so, give it a different spin, or often my view on the topic is much different than the other writer has. It sounds like in your case, the person is copying you though. I can understand you want to give them the benefit of the doubt, and there isn't anything you can do to make hubbers write on different subjects. But I would closely watch the person, especially if the wording gets too close to yours, or the hub is structured too much like yours. If the intro, body and conclusion are the same as yours, I'm not sure, but isn't that a form of plagerism?

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11. 61

    seyoniposted 11 years ago

    I can agree to that.  There are topics I have written based on what I have experienced for the day, and voila, here comes two or three more hubs with very much similar information.  Wow!!!

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