So there you are, cruising the Internet, when you come across some content that looks oddly like your own. And the more you look at it, the more you realize that not only is it your own, but it is yours, word for word. Your anxiety levels increase, your heartbeat starts to go insane, and the next thing you think of is: What Now?

Unfortunately, many people are extremely uneducated when it comes to what is able to be recycled without an owners permission. To be safe, you should always assume that if you did not write it and you did not photograph it, it is not yours. 

So what do you do when you have a moment where you realize, "Hey! That's mine!"? Launch a full out assault and here's how.

Go right to the website and email them. Wait one week. Allow them the courtesy of knowing that they have done wrong and allow them to rectify the situation. Do not be shocked if you get absolutely no response. You are extending them a courtesy and they obviously do not play on the same field you do.

After you have sent the email, progress to step 2 so you are ready to go if you have too.

In one response to a lifted passage from our site, a different perp in question responded to our request for removal of our content with the following email content:

"Thank you or the email,  Sorry if you actually read the listing there are words changed, and We did not notice a Copy right on the document , This was not a copy paste , But Since it is close to yours we will remove it although by law we do not have to as it is not a copy write product, We will do this only as a good business practice and for the respect only and not that we think we did anything wrong."

Ummm... a:  check the footer buddy.  Most websites have a copyright label at the bottom.  And b:  If you actually read the listing you would note that changing the word electronic cigarette to e-cigarette is not changing the words!  It isn't yours!  Don't use it.  (As the email was processed through the Kijiji servers, we are unable to give credit to this insanely silly masterpiece.  But it is not ours.)

There are very easy to use tools online for determining what is going on here.

Your first stop is www.copyscape.com. In today's world, online entrepeneurs usually have more than one website, targeting the same market from different avenues or keywords. If they are using your content on one site, they are probably using it elsewhere. This will also give you the ammo to determine exactly who you are dealing with. With the world being so flat, it is possible for someone offshore to host in the US and leave very little trace. But as all of us CSI lovers know, there is always a trace.

With the information you have gathered on the sites copying you, do a whois directory search to determine who owns the URL. www.godaddy.com is an excellent place to start. Here, you will do a search on the perps URL and if they have multiple sites, you will start to see certain patterns.

For instance, in our recent hunting expedition, it was very clear that the same perp owned the three sites in question. They were all listed privately, meaning the owners name, address and contact information is being withheld for privacy purposes. However, they were all hosted through the same hosting provider. So with a little googleing, we were able to go back in time and locate a website where the owner is practicing good business tactics and listed their name as the owner. The other dead giveaway is that they hosted their good business with the bad businesses so there is the door. This perp is the owner of 20 different websites.

As you go, you are going to need to keep a detailed log of what you have written, when you posted it and the direct URL that is stealing your information. Now, one thing I would like to point out here: If they are stealing your information but keeping all of your links directed towards you, you might want to let it be. These are free links to your website! But check in often to see if your perp has been learning better techniques of stealing. If they have taken your content and changed your links to theirs, this is stealing and you do have a very good case.

Here is an example of what you should be keeping:

Our content: http://www.e-cig.org/2008/10/19/top-10-places-to-use-your-electronic-cigarette/

Infringing Web Pages: http://www.e-cigarette-global.com/top-10-places-to-use-your-electronic-cigarette-b270

You also need to keep track of dates something was posted. If it is a blog, there will be a time stamp. Don't worry if the date is before yours. They think they are being crafty by pre-dating, but unfortuantely for them, the search engines have access to information that we as users have no clue about.

For instance, Google can determine when a page was first indexed, when it was spidered, etc. They can also reference things that you can, such as a website registered for the first time in May of 2008, can hardly have blog posts dating back to August of 2007 now can they?

Now that you have your facts in order, it is time to launch the full out assault.

First, create the following letter with your facts inserted where necessary:

**** To Whom It May Concern:

We would like to officially request that the owner of the following websites be reviewed for copying content and photos from our website:

www.e-cigarette-mart.com www.e-cigarette-global.com www.e-cigarette-blog.com

Here are specific reasons for our request:

Our content: http://www.e-cig.org/2008/10/19/top-10-places-to-use-your-electronic-cigarette/

Infringing Web Pages: http://www.e-cigarette-global.com/top-10-places-to-use-your-electronic-cigarette-b270

Our content: http://www.e-cig.org/

Infringing Web Pages: http://www.e-cigarette-global.com/about-e-cigarettes-electronic-cigarettes-t46

Infringing Web Pages: http://www.e-cigarette-blog.com/about-e-cigarettes-electronic-cigarettes-t46

Infringing Web Pages://www.e-cigarette-mart.com/cms/about-e-cigarettes-electronic-cigarettes-t46

Our content: http://www.e-cig.org/2008/10/12/electric-cigarette-or-electronic-cigarette/

Infringing Web Pages: http://www.e-cigarette-global.com/electric-cigarette-or-electronic-cigarette-t271

Our photo: http://www.e-cig.org/sale/mini-electronic-cigarette-eliquid-p-24.html

Infringing Photos: http://www.e-cigarette-mart.com/super-electronic-cigarette-deluxe001-blue-device-starter-kit-p-63.html

Infringing Photos: http://www.e-cigarette-mart.com/index.php?main_page=product_reviews_info&products_id=72&reviews_id=45

Infringing Photos: http://www.e-cigarette-mart.com/index.php?main_page=product_reviews_info&products_id=63&reviews_id=40

Infringing Photos: http://www.e-cigarette-mart.com/index.php?main_page=product_reviews_info&products_id=63&reviews_id=39

Infringing Photos: http://www.e-cigarette-mart.com/index.php?main_page=product_reviews_info&products_id=63&reviews_id=38

***Please note: we do have the original file from the photographer as proof this was lifted from our site and tagged as their own.

We have noticed that they are attempting to hide this issue by changing their dates of creation to occur one month prior to ours, give or take. As we have sent numerous requests they remove our content and they continue to do so, we feel this is the next course of action. I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above as allegedly infringing is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Sincerely,

INSTEAD Inc.

*****

To submit to Google: You will need to print, sign and mail a copy of your letter to the address listed. If you have a lot of links, send a copy of the letter to removals@google.com and tell them you are sending one via mail as well.

To submit to MSN: You will need to email your letter to jkweston@microsoft.com

To submit to Yahoo: You will need to email your letter to copyright@yahoo-inc.com

Once you submit your information, you wait. You have a drink and forget about the spawn of the devil stealing your info and wait. What are you waiting for? You are waiting for the big 3 search engines to determine your facts as correct and then, they will remove any and all websites associated with that owner. Bummer for them. Only when the offender can prove that they have taken down the content that has been stolen, will they be allowed back in the organic search engine rankings.

If you can't wait patiently like I can't, feel free to blog about them or write a hub like this one! Submit it all over the place so the word gets out that they are shady and business should not be done with them.

One word of advice here: Make absolutely damn postively sure that you are in the right. If not, you could be fined up to $100,000 by each of the search engines for making such claims.  I am absolutely sure that E-Cigarette-Mart is stealing our content? Absolutely! I have the raw photos with the original backgrounds that I photoshopped out and I vividly remember writing my content. 

Yes. You are going to have to fight for yourself. But with a little hard work and those crafty computer and CSI skills, you will be just fine. As I have just gone through this, if you need ANY help, please feel free to contact me.

It is up to content writers, photographers, etc to ensure that people are not stealing their hard work and taking credit. It is one thing to give credit and copy a passage, it is another to copy and paste and say it is your own.

Good luck on your hunting and I do hope you find resolve with your issue.

According to www.copyright.gov, when you hit publish on your blog, you have just established a copyright for your material.  When you publish a photo to your blog that you have taken, you have just copyrighted your photo. 

Direct quote from www.copyright.gov - "Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device."

If you have any questions regarding whether someone else's work can be copied and pasted to your website, you should probably just give them a link and give them the props.  Or, write your own content!  It isn't that hard! 

This just in!  As I mentioned above, if you are impatient like I am, sitting around and waiting can be quite painful.  So we wrote a blog post capitalizing on the URL E-Cigarette-Mart and Steals our Content.  Within 2 hours of posting, we were #1 for the google search E-Cigarette-Mart.  Within 48 hours, our offender has taken our content down on three of the five sites we are aware of.  YOU CAN fight back!  YOU SHOULD fight back.

Now, is this because the search engines contacted the perp or because we are assaulting him the best way we can, by hurting his "brand" name?  Who knows.  But the results we were looking for are being achieved.  And don't ever feel guilty about going after what is rightfully yours.  When someone steals from you, you deserve justice.  If someone came into your home and stole something and you could prove it, would you sit back and let them go unpunished?  No.  Why is the Internet any different? 

Just yesterday we found yet another site who had lifted our photos.  After sending an email, suggesting he take them down or put links to us, he wrote a very kind letter back saying he would be happy to put links to our site directly under our photos in exchange for their use.  Hey!  A link is a great thing to share.  He's happy.  We are happy.  No harm done.

If you do create a blog post about someone stealing from you, please do go back and update the blog post.  Even though the perp was not kind to you in the beginning, you do not have to extend the same hate.  We have updated our blog post and all articles relating stating that the said perp is making an attempt to right their wrongs.  Don't delete it though.  Just update it. 

They may or may not try it again, but it is a very open reminder to that perp and any other perps that you do not put up with that and you will go after them.  We may not have lawyers or police online, but that doesn't mean we can't police ourselves.