I found some of my content copied on anothe site. I put the URL into the WHOIS site to find out the information. How do I find the email address of the domain registrant? If it isn't obviously listed there, does that mean that information isn't available?
The site that has stolen my content seems to be on a wordpress blog. The Word Press cite says "don't contact us for dmca complaints." When I put the address into the WHOIS site, it leads back to the domain being registered through godaddy. I am so confused I don't even know where to start!!!!
Is putting the dmca complaint language into the comments section of the offending blog post a valid way to begin this complaint process, especially if I can't find an email address?
I would really appreciate any and all advice here. I am so infuriated that people steal content without a care in the world!
Thanks for the feedback. I still haven't resolved this. I have so much on my plate at the moment. Here is the url, although I hate posting it.
http://blog (dot) mt5 (dot) com/glassesvze/2013/05/07/the-positive-and-negative-sides-of-using-cell-phones-for-teaching-and-instr/
If you read it, you will see that they have butchered my article. I almost wonder if it was translated and then translated back to English. The sentence structure is messed up and links have been embedded.
Sounds like a pain in the neck, I hope you can figure out who is copying your content. I see a lot of people that copy things and really it is sickening. If you can find out who the person is, then report them if possible or find some way to call their attention.
It is several people, unfortuneately. I am going to work on one at a time and be more vigilant in the future.
Mistyhorizon2003,
I'm sure they like you, you wrote lots of stuff! On the top of your account page, you get a yellow warning that someone may have stolen your content. If you click on it, the name of the site where it appears is there. Are you sure you don't have that? It's at the very top of the page, black background, yellow letters.
No I have never had that ever in 5 years Jean! Maybe it is because I am based outside of the US. I have never heard of anyone else getting that symbol or info either (until your comment). I wish they had done this in the past for me. I check into my 'account' page every day multiple times, never had anything like you describe, but have definitely found copied content of mine out there.
Wow, I'm sorry. The first time I found my work stolen, I found out by putting a few unique phrases in quotes in the search bar. But then it happened a few more times, and by each hub I have a red copyright symbol--odd choice, but I guess the red points it out. Now that you mention it, I wonder if others have it. It's just as I described it, and it did help me. I got lucky in the sense that by writing to the site, all the people took the content down. Does anyone else have a black bar at the top of their account page, with yellow lettering telling them it appears their content has been stolen? It also gives you the option to file the DMCA form.
I recall the red copyright symbol on occasion, but HP said it was really expensive for them to run the software that checked all hubs to see if they had been copied. I only ever saw the red C's appear on my hub list in 'My Account' a few times, then they never appeared again. The last time I saw them must have been 4 years ago by now. As I said before, I never experienced the other stuff you are describing, including any option to file a DMCA etc.
No, don't leave a comment - the blog owner will just deny it.
You say it's a Wordpress blog. Do you mean that it's hosted on Wordpress.com (it will have a "blog at wordpress.com" message in the footer) or is it just using Wordpress.org software (which may say "powered by Wordpress").
If it's the Wordpress.org software then obviously, Wordpress don't want to know because they're only providing the software. If it's Wordpress.com, then you can fill out and submit this form:
http://en.wordpress.com/abuse/
If the blog is showing Adsense ads, then the most effective thing to do is forget complaining to the blogger - complain direct to Adsense. You can do that by clicking in the little tag on any of the Adsense ads, then following the links to report copyright infringement.
This is my approach. It is quicker and avoids handing over my contact info and home address to some unknown blogger.
Unfortunately, that leaves the duplicate content up - something neither HP nor google likes to see.
Better to file with the host and get it taken down. It's great to get a thieve's adsense account deleted, but more important to the value of your own hub is to get the duplicate removed.
Filing with the host is exactly what we are talking about. Wordpress is the host. I will send them my contact info, not the blogger. The Adsense thing is just to rub it in.
Not my experience. Every time I've complained to Adsense, the content gets taken down. I've never been on the receiving end so I don't know how it works, but I've always assumed the offender must get an email pointing out the offence.
When you complain to Adsense, you have to specify the offending article, so I don't see why Adsense wouldn't pass that on.
Is is "powered by wordpress." There are no adsense ads on the site.
"Powered by Wordpress" is meaningless and is often misunderstood. It is simply a footer tagline that is included in templates designed for Wordpress blogs. Most knowledgeable Webmasters remove this and insert their own information.
Hi Donna
if you want to post the url or else email it to me I will look at this to get some info for you if possible drax.ireland at gmail.com
Ciao
Drax
Is the copied content indexed? If so, then you need to file a complaint to Google first. No need to worry about getting the content removed immediately. De-indexing should always be the first activity as you want to remove any element of competition.
The registrant is somewhat irrelevant as DMCA notices are sent to the host. What you need to find out is whether or not the site is hosted in a country that falls under DMCA jurisdication.
As Drax said, post the url and we will all try and help as best we can.
How do I know if it is indexed? I found it doing a google search. I suppose that means it is indexed?
Yes, if the url is showing up on a Google search then it is indexed. I checked and you are correct about this.
Your first step should be to concentrate on removing the competition by getting it de-indexed. To do this, you need to file a DMCA complaint to Google via:
http://support.google.com/bin/static.py … page=ts.cs
Allow 2 weeks and wait for it to be de-indexed. After that, you can see about getting the content removed, assuming the host is based in a DMCA friendly country. Will try and find out some info for you on that. First, concentrate on Google.
Only AFTER it has been de-indexed you can file a DMCA complaint to:
Dody Lira, Designated Agent for DMCA Notices
SoftLayer Technologies
4849 Alpha Road
Dallas, TX 75244
214.442.0600 Phone
214.442.0601 Fax
copyright@softlayer.com
The nameservers are showing as:
NS1.SOFTLAYER.COM
NS2.SOFTLAYER.COM
If you don't do this in the right order then the content may be removed before Google has an opportunity to check for infringement. This means that the entry may remain for several more months and/or be re-directed to another page. Either way, you will be losing visitors so always get it de-indexed first. Best of luck!
How did you go about finding the information for the server and who to contact with a DMCA complaint? I have found yet another offender. I loathe people who plagarize! This one stole my Hub of the Day article. Here is the offending site: http://www (dot) cararticle (dot ) net/how-to-sell-your-car-using-craigslist-i-sold-mine-in-one-day/
Just search "whois" and you will be able to enter the domain name. Quite often the owner will use a privacy service, such as 'Domains by Proxy' to conceal their identity. This does not matter as the DMCA is issued to the host. That page should tell you the domain name servers.
Simply enter the domain name servers into Google and search again or alternatively, enter the company name followed by DMCA or DMCA complaint. I think for the earlier one I just typed in 'Softlayer DMCA' and the info popped up.
By the way, it's fine to email your DMCA complaint to the host, but please wait until Google de-index the offending entry.
Best of luck and let me know if you have any problems with the second one.
Thank you. I found a third one on yet another site. People are unbelievable.
It happened to me 3 times. The thing that really surprised me was that my work was stolen over two years ago, only about a month after I wrote it. It was probably taken right after it was indexed. In all of the cases, I was able to write to the offender on their blog, and ask them to take down the stolen material of mine. I think that embarrasses them enough so they do it. I never had to search too much, though. On our account page, HP usually already gives you a warning your material has been plagerized and on all mine they have given me the address of the offender. Good luck, I hope you get them!
I have never had the warning I the acct. page. That would have been helpful, but maybe the offenders are fling under the radar. I am going to keep filing DMCA complaints and hope that it makes a dent in the problem.
I've never received a duplicate warning either, even though several of my hubs were copied in their entirety. So, I wouldn't rely soley on HP for this.
Wow, HP can't like me too much, I have never had them give me the address of any such offender, nor do they even tell me my hubs have been copied (I usually find out accidentally or via far more vigilant hubbers than I am).
How did you discover your content has been published on other sites? I do freelance writing and have hundreds of articles published online... Is there a useful tool or site that facilitates identifying potential duplicate work and plagiarism?
Obviously, Google search would work if the site has been indexed and if I have the patience to enter strands of text from my articles...
I have been painstakingly doing the searching myself. I am unsure of another method.
Another method is to set up Google alerts. However, you will need to be prescriptive about what you're looking for as you may be overwhelmed by the results. This won't find content that has been published already, but is useful to set up when you publish a new hub.
Great idea @Marketing Merit! I'm going to set up Google Alerts when I publish new Hubs. Thank you!
-Chad
chadwiki,
Go to one of your articles, likely one of your best, that's why it would have been stolen in the first place. Find a phrase or group of words that is very uniquely you, just the way you might say something, but another person wouldn't. Put that phase or group of words in the search bar, in quotes. It will bring you to the same words if they were copied by someone.
There's info on it in the Hubpages rules and facts. Wilderness also has a hub which explains the whole process if you have to file the DMCA. Try the quote thing first, that's how I found out. Plus on your account page, HP usually has a little red © by your hub if it's been found copied. Good luck.
I believe 'Copyscape' is a good free system to use. All you need to do is put in your URL for the article you are checking and it tells you if it finds all or part of your content elsewhere.
http://www.copyscape.com/
by arizonataylor 13 years ago
Hi,I have four hubs that have been copied in their entirety. All four were copied on the same day and are posted in BigEzine. I filed four DMCA complaints with Google. They all came back as:"We have received your DMCA complaint dated 4/3/12. While reviewing yourletter, we...
by Audrey Selig 13 years ago
There is so much of this going on that it may not be worthwhile to mention. Since I know that this site is not cooperative, I sent my DMCA complaint to Google. My hub is copied word for word with all the lovely photographs and even a link to another similar hub. It probably is my best hub with lots...
by Dale Hyde 12 years ago
I wanted to share an email that I received four days after filing a DMCA complaint against copied material I found upon searching. This is not the first positive result I have had from various DMCA complaints filed with Google. It is not hard, does not take a lot of time and you get...
by Ced Yong 5 years ago
I have bits and parts of a hub, and my bio, copied. So far, I have emailed the web host thrice without any success. There's not even an acknowledgement mail.Is there anything else I can do? (I have also emailed Google and Bing.)
by Teri Silver 3 years ago
Usually I find a couple pieces of stolen article copy on different sites. Today, it's more than enough to make me comment here. HP notifies us, adds the complaint link, and the complaint file cut-paste copy but little else to build a brick wall against content thieves. For every click...
by Mary Hyatt 10 years ago
It took almost two weeks, but my copied poem is now gone from a Blogger's post! This poem was copied verbatim when it was published here. I had tried to file a complaint using the form we are furnished, but I must have missed a step along the way. After waiting a couple of...
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