Need help with filing a DMCA complaint.

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   donnah75posted 11 years ago

   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!

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      donnah75posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      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.

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      nafretitiposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      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.

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         donnah75posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         It is several people, unfortuneately.  I am going to work on one at a time and be more vigilant in the future.

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            Jean Bakulaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            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.

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               mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               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.

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                  Jean Bakulaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  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.

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                     mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     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.

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   Marisa Wrightposted 11 years ago

   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.

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      psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      This is my approach.  It is quicker and avoids handing over my contact info and home address to some unknown blogger.

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         wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         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.

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            psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            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.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            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.

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      donnah75posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Is is "powered by wordpress."  There are no adsense ads on the site.

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         Marketing Meritposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         "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.

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   Draxposted 11 years ago

   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

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   Marketing Meritposted 11 years ago

   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.

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      donnah75posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      How do I know if it is indexed?  I found it doing a google search.  I suppose that means it is indexed?

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         Marketing Meritposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         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.

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            Marketing Meritposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            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!

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               donnah75posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Thank you so much!!!!!

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               donnah75posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               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/

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                  Marketing Meritposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  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.

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   donnah75posted 11 years ago

   Thank you. I found a third one on yet another site. People are unbelievable.

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      Jean Bakulaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      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!

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         donnah75posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         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.

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         Marketing Meritposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         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.

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         mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to 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).

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      chadwikiposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      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...

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         donnah75posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I have been painstakingly doing the searching myself. I am unsure of another method.

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         Marketing Meritposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         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.

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            chadwikiposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Great idea @Marketing Merit! I'm going to set up Google Alerts when I publish new Hubs. Thank you!
            -Chad

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               Jean Bakulaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               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.

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                  chadwikiposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Thank you!

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         mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         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/

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            prettydarkhorseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Cindy, you are very helpful

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               mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks Pretty

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