DMCA results - working with the thieves

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wildernessposted 10 years ago
I recently filed about a dozen DMCA's and have gotten pretty good results. A couple google or godaddy asked for more specific information as to where the problem text was on the site, but all but one have been taken down now and I expect that one to follow shortly.

One site owner, however, sent a very polite email asking me exactly what was wrong; he had hired the site done by some "seo expert" and had no idea they had stolen anything. His host had shut down the site advertising his business and he asked for a phone call, which I did.

During the call, after showing him where the problem was, he apologized but said I should have called because this had cost his little business. I told him I had left a comment on his site a month ago, but he said such comments were just deleted as they never applied to his site and I should have called. I restrained myself and politely ended the conversation.

Does anyone take the time to call the thieves and ask them pretty please to take their stolen material down? I just don't have the time for that, feel it would not be effective in any but a very few cases and don't really care if some thief out there loses business because I got their host to shut them down. I may or may not leave a comment on their site before filing with the host, but never, ever make a phone call.
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1. 32
  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I have never made a phone call to a plagiarist. He's responsible for what he posts on his site and if he ignores comments, he's too stupid for words. Fortunately for all of us, the companies who host the sites will do the right thing when you file a DMCA. There's no excuse for stealing the work of others and you don't need to converse with these people.
  
  Just a side note: Some people never learn. Plagiarists just keep on doing what they do no matter how many warnings or DMCAs are filed against them. The word 'copyright' is not in their vocabulary. And these are the same people who never understand why they never make any money on the Internet!
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  A "plagiarist" is it? Guess I'm not polite enough - "thief" is good enough for me, and an accurate description. IMHO
  
  And some don't learn because that's how they earn - by stealing. We (the HP community) have had to chase some for weeks as they simply closed one site and opened another before they figured out to leave HP alone - that wholesale scraping of HP just wasn't a viable proposition.
  
  I've only had one host refuse to take action, and finally got the Swedish govt. involved - that did the trick. It amazed me that they would actually listen to such a minor matter, but the host and site owner were both thieves and they probably had hundreds of complaints.
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  Mary McShaneposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  1. This is the internet and we communicate via the internet.
  2. If he hired someone to create his site, he surely has no interest in the results of that site or he would have either a) seen your comment or b) been a bit more vigilant as to the content and where the designer acquired it.
  3. IF I ever were to make a phone call (and that is a very big IF), I cannot guarantee that I would be cordial, even toned, and devoid of curse words. Judging from my past record with plagarists, I just don't have it in me to be nice in any communication. It is all I can do to "ask" them to remove my work when I feel I shouldn't have to "ask" in the first place. I should be allowed to demand.
  4) CNN removed my article today and sent me an email to notify me.
  YAY!!!
  I could not have done it without the help of Writer Fox and wilderness. I mean that sincerely. Thank you!
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  95
  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  That's great to hear - that CNN took your work down! Success is sweet, doubly so when it's ruining a thief and quadruply so when it's a big company that doesn't want to listen to a peon they stole from.
  
  I've have a handful of thieves that really didn't understand. One poor soul swore up and down that anything on the web was free for the taking; it took a word from his boss to convince him otherwise. Even being sent the act itself didn't work.
  
  Another was a group of school kids making a school project. Same thing - they think it's all free for the taking. I felt sorry for them after ruining their school project, but the lesson learned was probably more valuable than the grade they would have gotten.
  
  These people I feel sorry for and will work with them, but still want it DOWN. I'm just willing to play teacher a bit and explain why. Most thieves I don't even care enough to leave a comment on - just complain to the host in the hopes they will be shut down permanently.
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  Mary McShaneposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  The reporter at CNN is no longer employed there. She left their employ about 3 weeks ago and after I saw my article copied there, I looked at several other articles by her. She stole them too -- from wikinut and Expertspages (where I also write).
  
  @ playing teacher. Sometimes I'm just too mad to play teacher. Ok, not sometimes. All the time. And like you, I don't care if they lose their site or not.
  
  @ CNN - no apology but I'll accept what they wrote.
  Hi Mary,
  This email confirms that CNN.com has received your notification of claimed infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 512 (c)(1)(c) and has removed or disabled access to the material that is claimed to be infringing.
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  95
  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I wouldn't expect more than that. If CNN admits to theft, you could sue and you could re-publish their admission on the open web. Either reaction would be quote bad for CNN.
  
  Take their notice for what it is - a tacit admission of fault - and be happy with it. And have a drink to celebrate beating out the big guys this time!
  
  But I care a great deal if the (professional) thieves lose their site - that is the goal! That and losing their adsense, amazon, and whatever other affiliate accounts they have. It's just the little guys, like the one today, that I don't really want to hurt - they trusted the wrong person to make their site, they got burned by it and that's enough. Bet they pay more attention in the future, and they did say they've fired the guy.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Hooray! Another plagiarist taken down!
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  Mary McShaneposted 10 years agoin reply to this
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  +1
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  Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  No, I have never called the thieves. Most of the time they're not in Australia so the cost would be unreasonable!
  
  I've had a similar situation a few times with small business owners, who have paid someone to create their site. Luckily I've been able to find a contact form on their site and use that to notify them before having to resort to reporting.
  
  The suggestion that it's your responsibility to call him is ludicrous, IMO. It's his site, and regardless of who he got to create it, it's his responsibility to manage it properly!
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I'm having a bit of a problem dealing with a plagiarist in Australia right now. The laws are different and the DMCA is an American law. I usually don't encounter this from Australians!
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I don't recall dealing with an Aussie yet - guess the home repair people there are all honest!
  
  But it surprises me that they don't want to hear about the DMCA. While it is technically an American law, it was written to implement the WIPO, which IS worldwide. I have to wonder if you just ran into an ignorant Aussie - one that thinks the web is all free for the taking like so many others do.
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  Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Australian law is stricter than US. If you use the standard DMCA you should have no problem getting it taken down.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  This is the host:
  https://www.aapt.com.au/
  
  We have tried contacting using their contact form, but that is just for clients and we received no response. (Or, the dingo ate the email.) They don't seem to have an email address for copyright complaints.
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  Mary McShaneposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Looks like another site that wants to use snail mail and personal phone calls (address and phone numbers are the only contacts).
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  Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  That is slightly bizarre because I AAPT isn't well known as a web hosting service here, except for big business. If you want to PM me, I may be able to do some detective work for you.
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I kind of feel bad for these small business owners (mine was just that as well). They don't know any better, they have hired someone to help them out and gotten burned as a result. They are, in a way, in the same fix we are; the victims of a thief, for them a thief that has sold them stolen material that they must now give up after paying for it.
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  Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Agreed. Like I said, I've been lucky that I've been able to contact the site owner using the site's contact form and get it sorted out amicably. A couple of them even paid me for the use of the article (I charged $50).
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  Suzanne Dayposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Well I found out yesterday at my work that the previous graphic designer had pinched recipes from anywhere on the web to throw into a recipe book for the company. Needless to say, once I worked that one out, I told management we couldn't use them (totally plagiarised, word for word with pictures and all).
  
  They accepted it no problems. Looks like that it's the level of work required and the pay that causes the problems. I suspect the last designer was paid peanuts and was told to invent recipe books with no help or even any ingredients....but this only goes to show you just how common it is in Australia.
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  aa liteposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  It is fairly easy to check using copyscape, whether the work is original or not. He should not pay for it, until he checks it. It is possible that he was simply unaware of the whole content stealing, copyrighting problem, but, honestly, if you are going to start a business, then you should learn about it, no?
  
  And it is quite probable that he hired the writer from a freelancing website, and paid him peanuts. People who get paid properly for their work, have a reputation to consider, so I very much doubt they would steal content.
  
  Imagine, if I just decide to copy beautiful pictures from Pinterest to put on my Zazzle designs, Zazzle gets a complaint, and removes my products. I bet you nobody would have much sympathy if I started crying about my business being shut down.
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I don't think so, aa. I don't expect a baker to know the inner workings of his delivery truck engine, and I don't expect a business owner to understand the ins and outs of the internet. That's why they hire specialists, after all. They hire lawyers, designers and engineers. CPA's, HR specialists and CEO's. Because they can't know it all.
  
  And they probably did hire the guy for peanuts - that seems the going rate for that - although I've had thieves that run a physical SEO business, storefront and all, and have made hundreds of sites. Still stealing my work to put on "fake" sites designed to increase the ranking of the site they built. The customer never knew, never saw the copied stuff - just saw his site, built by the thief, quickly rise to the top.
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  aa liteposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I guess you have a point. It's just when I think of content thieves, I think of people who work online, rather than brick and mortar addresses that have a website.
  
  According to the DMCA instructions on HP, we should email the DMCA to the website owner before taking further action. I think calling is excessive, but an email is more likely to get noticed than a message on the site, assuming an email is available of course. But you can usually get the email of the site owner from whois, and since I assume you have to check whois to get the name of the host, then it is doable.
  
  So I guess the proper 'etiquette' is to email the site owner first, then contact the hosting company.
  
  Mind you the kind of stuff I write about just gets stolen by scrapers, and emailing them is totally useless.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Many of these people have no contact information on their sites. On purpose.
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  aa liteposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Indeed, I have noticed that. But usually the information is on whois, no? My webhost keeps telling me every year that I am required to provide make sure my info. is current. Also, if they have Adsense, I think it is a requirement that they provide a contact method.
  
  If they don't have contact info. then obviously they can't be contacted. But Wilderness was discussing a situation where the site owner was unaware that the content was stolen. Presumably since the site was for his 'real world' company, there was going to be a way of contacting him.
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I'm afraid I'm not very polite, then. While I might leave a comment in the comment section of an article if I'm in a real hurry at the moment, that's fairly rare. Usually I just file a DMCA with the host and forget about going to the site owner.
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  aa liteposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Well, given that your content was stolen, I don't think the onus is on you to be polite. Ultimately people are responsible for the content on their site. I mean I can see how some people just hire somebody to make them a site, and don't know much about it, but if the content provider used photos from one of the big image sites, and they decided to sue, he would be liable.
  
  But I think the optimal 'protocol' is to email the DMCA to the site owner first, assuming their email is available.
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Yeah - that guy in the OP, wanting a phone call, got under my skin some. He messed up, not me, and to demand that I call the hundreds of thieves and ask them to pretty please take my stuff off their site was beyond the pale. I made the call (and I returned his email, showing exactly what was wrong) was more than enough - to search the site for a phone number and then call in the first place is ridiculous.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  In the case you described, you did contact the guy by leaving a comment on his site. The guy just deleted it and did not remove the content. I don't feel sorry for the guy and his 'small business.' Content owners are owners of their own small businesses, too, and we don't appreciate shoplifters! If someone lifted something from his business, he'd make a phone call for sure – to the police.
  
  It's really lame how some of these yo-yos always have excuses and want to blame their victims for an attitude problem. He should feel fortunate that you didn't sue him or send him an invoice for using your work on his site.
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  That's the way I feel, too. I have some sympathy for some of them - the school kids that stole one, for instance - but only to a point. And when they turn themselves into the victim they've crossed any reasonable line IMO.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Not only do they want to be the victim, they want to complain about the way you dealt with their plagiarism! The jerks don't deserve anyone's sympathy.
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  Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  The idea of politely asking the major, wholesale scrapers to stop stealing your content & remove it sounds about as useful as diplomatically telling a burglar that theft is against the law. Yeah. Right.
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  aa liteposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Indeed. But Wilderness shows that some people might 'steal' content inadvertently. As in they hire a freelancer to make them a site, and don't know enough to check that the content is original. I can see how that could happen.
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  Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I had that happen with one of my hubs (the same one WF just alerted me that was again stolen. The guy had purchased it from someone. I posted that info earlier in this thread (and I had contacted the guy personally). The major scrapers, though, are another story.
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  Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I think it's usually pretty easy to make a judgment whether to contact the site owner, or go straight for the jugular.
  
  A site which has stolen one article may have made an honest mistake, and I always try to contact the site owner in that case. Like I say, I've actually been paid by such sites a few times, so it's worth the effort!
  
  A site which is obviously scraping large numbers of articles from various sources - obviously beneath contempt and doesn't deserve any kind of warning.
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  Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I discovered one of my best-performing hubs (about dating scams) on the site of a private investigator in a Latin-American country. Unlike most sites with stolen content, this one had a phone number, and it was a USA one, so I called the person. He's an ex-pat who makes his living by helping to track down such scams.
  
  He said he had paid someone $50 for the piece, with everything transacted online (someone contacted him & said they could write something that would 'help improve' his website). He was apologetic and immediately removed it, and was also angry he'd been scammed. I believe he was telling me the truth. He tried to track down the person (they were supposed to be in Australia), but they'd changed contact information.
  
  Sadly, the traffic to that hub, as well as several others that were copied elsewhere, has never returned. I'm not happy about that at all. I'm sure, in addition to the elaborate scraping software, there are many people selling our work and presenting it as their own. Makes me ill.
  
  Usually, I just file the request with Google, but it was clear this was an isolated piece of content, not my entire account. And, there was a phone number. It worked faster than Google (the guy removed it while we were on the phone).
  
  Also, I'm not real sure what Google can do other than getting things out of searches. It can take forever to contact hosts (which is still the best way to get an entire site removed), but as we know, the scrapers just jump ship and get another host.
  
  All in all, I'm tired of the game.
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  Mary McShaneposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  If I were you, I'd pressuring him into giving you the name of the person (organization) he paid for the piece, who probably got the job through a group or website subscription (or job board). If possible, we might be able to celebrate because with that name or website that offers content for sale, we now have a "source" to start figuring out why we are getting copied so much here and by whom.
  
  It's a long shot, but we gotta start somewhere.
  
  I hate this constant pursuing of plagarists. It is mind and body weary and I find I'm getting little results following the rules for takedown.
  
  I'm glad this worked out in your favor and with very little problems.
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  Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks, Mary - I did try to get the name, but he wouldn't release it. And after several attempts, I reached the point of diminishing returns for that effort. Also, why would a thief give him their real name? My impression was that he was trying to research the person due to the scam played on him. Once he realized the contact info was no longer good, he stopped messing with it. I'm not even sure he had an actual name - I can't recall.
  
  It's been quite a while back, so no use spending energy now. I did tell him that whomever had done that was likely stealing more content from others on our site. But even if we had the name he was given, we would not know who it really was.
  
  That experience was at least an improvement over the blatant scrapers who steal hundreds of hubs and take forever to get shut down.
  
  Scrapers have cost me many hundreds of dollars. I'm tired of it, and I truly feel HP should intervene, regularly monitor for copied content & take action.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Hi Marcy,
  You need to have the cache of the plagiarized content removed (delete spaces after : )
  cache of http: //www.woshibaile.com/how-to-spot-online-dating-cons-and-scams-and-how-to-avoid-them
  
  cache of http: //www.woshibaile.com/author/root/page/12/. It i
  
  And, I hate to be the one to break the news, but you've been ripped off again:
  https: //www.facebook.com/sams.uddin.9822/posts/485838588193602
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  Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Oh, crap. Thanks, WF. I'm so sick of dealing with this.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I know. I'm glad you saw that post. I was getting ready to send you an email. (Remember, on Facebook you can also post a comment that the work was plagiarized, but file the DMCA simultaneously.)
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  Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I'm trying to get to the page while logged in - I'll report the guy to FB. Thanks so much for letting me know.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Go get 'em!
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  Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  The FB 'report' tool is useless - they don't even have an option for stolen content, and you can't submit detailed info. Just another indication that site is not ready to play in the major leagues.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Send it here:
  ip@fb.com
  
  And, fill out the form here:
  https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/2 … 8952?rdrhc
  
  Do both.
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  Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks - I had just (finally) found the form when I read your post. I also sent them an email, as you advised. I don't know how many months they'll take to respond. But at least they're on notice now.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  What they'll do, because they're lazy and don't give a shit, is send you this form letter:
  
  In your report, you provided a link that leads to a Page, group or timeline. Typically, these objects contain many individual photos, posts and other pieces of content. It’s uncommon for the copyrights in all these various objects to belong to one rights holder or infringe only one party’s copyrights, although it may violate other rights (such as trademark).
  
  So that we may better understand your report, please provide the following information:
  
  - A detailed description of your copyrighted work(s) that you allege is being infringed. This may be a specific item or items within the Page, group or timeline.
  
  - A description of the specific photos, posts or comments within the Page, group or timeline, that you believe infringes your copyrighted work(s) as well as information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate them. The best way is to provide us with a direct link (URL) to each piece of content you wish to report within the Page, group or timeline.
  
  - An explanation of how you believe each of the pieces of content you’ve identified infringes your rights.
  
  After receiving this information, we would be happy to look into the matter further.
  
  Thanks for your understanding,
  ----------------
  
  Then, you answer their dumb questions and they'll remove the post. (I hope you left a comment on the Facebook page itself. You can refer to that in you email back to them.)
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  Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  When you file a request with Google, all that happens is that they'll take that article out of their search results. They can't do anything else, unless it's on Blogger (in which case they can take the blog down) or they're showing Adsense ads (in which case they may ban them from Adsense, if there are enough complaints). So your content is still on all those sites, and the spammer is still happily posting other people's stuff, oblivious.
  
  I know it gets tiring, but in the long run, it does pay off to file with the host. True, some spammers may go to another host, but some will get discouraged - and even the most determined spammer will give up eventually if he's chased from host to host. Most hosts do have a standard DMCA reporting format and they do respond, so it's no harder than filing with Google.
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IzzyMposted 10 years ago
You do not want anyone in China to steal your work! I went through that hassle a couple of years ago, and lost! China Daily claimed my work and got away with it, and they are such a big site about a million other Chinese stole it too.

I finally unpublished, and when I did, my traffic picked up. (This was the last hub published before my infamous 'Google slap".)

If I'd had the money for a lawyer I would have sued them, but I didn't and had to drop my case when Google told me I needed a lawyer to take it further.

I would advise anyone here that if someone in China steals your work, let it go, unpublish and lose it.

Even the mighty Google will not take China on.
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Yes, China is a special case. Hopefully the rest of the world's government will push the issue hard enough some day to get them on board, too.
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  Suzanne Dayposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I'm only guessing, but if this were to happen, do you think hanging onto the hub because it is older than the "republications" might be a goer? One day, Google might have the ability to prevent duplication on the web and the oldest article will win for authorship.....just throwing this idea out there....
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  The problem is that in the meantime google dings us for having duplicate work even though it knows which one is the copy. At least google usually knows; sometimes it is scraped with minutes or hours of being published, and before google has even seen the hub.
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  Suzanne Dayposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I understand and agree. I came across something unusual when I did my last cleanup though. The first original hubs of mine were spread far and wide in article spinning Wordpress sites, then that practice suddenly vanished after a certain time period for every other hub after that time. I'm assuming this might mean that Google somehow decided to not publish spun articles after a certain month/year, which means it might be slowly getting smarter....and one day might be able to distinguish original authors properly.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Serial plagiarists eventually loose their AdSense accounts and their ability to use other advertising programs as well. AdSense and Google Web Search have even included a place now to report "serial offenders." Unfortunately, new content thieves pop up every day, trying to illegally profit on the work of others.
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Except for blogger, google does not publish articles, stolen or not. Hubs, for instance, are not published by google, but by you, using the services of HP and their server company.
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  Suzanne Dayposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I stand corrected in my choice of words. What I meant was that Google didn't show spun articles in search results after a certain time period. Since these spun sites were made by 100+ people, I'm assuming that while some of them probably lost their Adsense accounts, Google must have become smarter too. I agree with Writer Fox too that if we hit them where it hurts, they won't have any reasons for doing it.
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I have doubts about the intelligence of google. While they have made statements about what they want to do and where they want the web to go I've seen precious little in the way of results in spite of causing great harm to millions of the little people. Google is far more interested in their own pocketbook than in doing what is right for the net.
  
  But there is another problem as well - even if google does remove those things from their SE, there are lots of other SE's. Not as big as google, not as effective, and not used nearly as much, but still a considerable force on the net.
  
  Best method is to get their affiliation canceled. Adsense, Amazon, anything that can earn them money. They will re-coup with false ID's, but it takes time and eventually they will learn not to mess with you. It's just easy to get those things canceled; Amazon doesn't seem to care much and while google will work with you it takes time and they are not real responsive, either.
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  Suzanne Dayposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I will keep in mind your comments. Yes, hitting them where it hurts looks like the best way to kill it off.
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I'd love to cost them all their affiliation, but nearly always have to settle for having the site taken down until they've removed my stuff.
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  viryaboposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I really can't wait for this to happen.
  I have many to send DCMA reports out for, but i don't have a clue as to how to proceed. Yes, i checked out and read how to do it, but those i have sent out reports for still have the red copyright symbol. I must be doing something wrong.
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Mine still have the symbol, too. You can always check to see if the copy has been taken down by doing a google search for a snippet of text. HP does not scan your hubs every day for duplicates; it may take a long time for the red symbol to disappear.
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  viryaboposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks. i checked, and the site is still up and running. With Google ads too . . .
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  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  The next question is who did you send the form to? The site owner or the host?
  
  Because no professional thief is going to pay a bit of attention to whatever you say, but their host will. The host, having stolen material on their servers and being honest, will almost always take action to eliminate that content.
  
  You can also file with adsense - with google. The ad has a place to file on, but it takes considerable time to get reaction there. Same with Amazon or other affiliates - they stand to lose money if they end the affiliation contract.
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  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Has your content been removed? If not, what is the website?
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  viryaboposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  It's still there Writer Fox.
  URL - http: // fastfashionblog.com/2012/12/sexy-and-fat-female-models-career-plus-size/
  Thank you so much.
  reply report
  32
  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  The website is hosted by websitewelcome.com, a reseller of Hostgator hosting. Go here and fill out their DMCA form: http://www.hostgator.com/dmca. Hostgator is a reputable company and will always remove plagiarized content.
  
  You can also send an additional DMCA request to abuse@websitewelcome.com. If you don't know what to say in the email, send me an email and I'll forward the correct text.
  http://writerfox.hubpages.com/#email
  reply report
  95
  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Yes, I've had excellent results with hostgator. Fill out the form right, giving them what they legally need to see and they are all over it.
  reply report
  95
  viryaboposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thank you so much Writer Fox. I really appreciate this. Will send it off right away. I do use Hostgator too and yes, they are very reputable.
  I do have a format for a DCMA request which i use all the time (i just insert a name/offending URL). Thank you for this.
  reply report
  32
  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  You're welcome. These re-sellers are sometimes difficult to track down, but Websitewelcome is a plagiarist I've dealt with before. If it's any consolation, traffic to their sites has diminished:
  https://www.quantcast.com/websitewelcome.com
  
  I won't be satisfied until Hostgater drops them permanently.
  reply report
  95
  viryaboposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  It's so good to hear this . . . "traffic to their sites has diminished".
  reply report
  95
  viryaboposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I notice the Adsense ads have been removed. It was there earlier on!
  reply report
  95
  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Be careful now, you don't your tears of pity for the thief to ruin your keyboard!
  reply report
  32
  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I think she was just surprised that advertising has been removed. My guess is that someone else reported the site to AdSense. Everything I looked at on the site was content from other sites.
  reply report
80
Moon Daisyposted 10 years ago
I'm glad people are having luck with DCMAs!

I wonder if anyone has an opinion they could give me on this plagiarism issue. A health website stole one of my hubs. As I couldn't find an address to email them, I wrote in their comments section that the hub was stolen and it was my original work, and I asked them politely to take it down.

Instead the person responded by acknowledging me at the bottom as a "guest-writer", and adding some links to my other work! They also left another comment apologising and saying that hadn't realised, and asked me if I was happy with the acknowledgement.

Up until now I didn't understand how they'd possibly not realised that they'd stolen my work! But if they'd bought the content, or even employed somebody else to write for them then I see that this is indeed possible.

I didn't respond to them as life got in the way, but I notice they've now removed my comment and their reply to it.

Weighing up the pros and the cons, I'm not sure whether to leave it or not. Is it worth leaving it for the possible hits I might get from the links on their page? Or would I be better off overall making my hub unique on Google (from an ads or a HubPages point of view?)

Thanks.
reply report
1. 93
  Suzanne Dayposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  If it is a duplicate copy of the article, it will hurt your traffic. If it is only a sentence or two with links then it might be useful for backlinks. Google doesn't like duplicate copies and puts them in the "omitted results" as well as downgrading your subdomain (sometimes Google thinks you copied it from their site - it isn't smart enough with the authorship date yet). So if they have copied the entire thing, definitely file DMCA and hit them with everything you've got. Don't bother being too polite, these people are responsible for theft of your hard work and it looks like this bunch have decided not to remove it, as well as hiding your comment.
  reply report
  80
  Moon Daisyposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks Suzanne, it's really useful to know all of that. Yes, it is the whole article, and I will ask them to remove it. Hmm, at first I thought it was sweet that they put my links on their page, (I know, I'm rather naive, lol!) but then they removed my comments. They obviously don't want people to know that they had a stolen article on their site! Will get to it...
  reply report
  95
  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  I will add that it is almost a guarantee that filing a DMCA with the site owner in this case will be useless as they will ignore it. File with the host - the vast majority of hosts are more than willing to take down illegal content.
  reply report
2. 87
  Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Definitely pursue them! It sounds as though they posted a few links to placate you, and now they think you've forgotten about it, they think they've got away with it.
  reply report
83
psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago
I used to be quite active as an illustrator so from time to time I search and send out notices (Thank God for tineye). There are a lot of naive people out there. I try to be patient as most will eventually understand that they need my permission to use my work. I have only had to go after the webhost three times and and once when that did not work I contacted the companies advertising on the site. I can't really afford to sue people but I get rather stubborn when they will not be reasonable.

My fear is that the longer an copy of the work is up unattributed, the more people are finding and taking it. You have to defend the work these days as there are these "orphaned work" clauses that say if the maker of the work is hard to find, it becomes legal to take it.
reply report
1. 32
  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Most plagiarists I find are not naive, though certainly some are. Most are scum and won't remove plagiarized content until they are forced to do so. You are absolutely right to diligently protect your work.
  reply report
73
Anna Marie Bowmanposted 10 years ago
I have one site where no matter what I do, DMCA, comments, emails, nothing gets done. They won't take it down. I have no clue what to do from there. It's through one of those sites where they sort of host it, but don't claim any responsibility and won't do anything if you contact them.
reply report
1. 32
  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  What is the site?
  reply report
  73
  Anna Marie Bowmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  http /movie- streaming.org/ blog/ (spaces inserted).
  
  It's strange, because now, when I click on DMCA, the page locks up. It won't let me do anything.
  reply report
  32
  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Send a DMCA request to: abuse@bluehost.com
  
  This site is hosted by Bluehost, through UnifiedLayer (a reseller of hosting services).
  reply report
  73
  Anna Marie Bowmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this
  Thank you! I will do that.
  reply report
85
Everyday Miraclesposted 10 years ago
I just found one of mine here:

mydrivefm.com/onair/the-mayor-pete-kennedy-46334/writing-a-valentines-day-letter-12060417/

I've sent an e-mail. Here's hoping they take it down. This is one of my top performing hubs on all my accounts and I don't want to have to strip it down, rewrite it and re-produce it. It was stolen on the 12th according to Copyscape.
reply report

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