There is a website called Tropicon stealing content from LevelSkip.

1. 92

   poppyrposted 6 years ago

   I'm so angry. Today I got the little red circled C warning me my content was stolen. A quick scan in the plaguirism checker showed that someone had copied one of my game guides word for word onto their site. Do they not realise that just adding "Source: (link to the LevelSkip article) doesn't mean it's okay? It's so annoying!
   
   Not to mention I had to sign up to their dumb site to comment and ask them to take it down. If you write for LevelSkip, beware of Tropicon.

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      wildernessposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Don't bother asking for it to be taken down; thieves already know they're thieves and don't care what you ask.
      
      Instead file a DMCA with the hosting company; if reputable at all it will be promptly removed.

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         poppyrposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Good idea. The website is a mess, though; most of the links don't work and it's just stuffed with stolen content and not much else.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            All the more reason to complain direct to the host.   If the site is obviously a thief, don't even attempt to contact the website owner - it's a total waste of time.   Find out who the host is, Google their name and abuse (e.g. "HostGator abuse")  to find the right form to fill in, and do it. 
            
            If a few Hubbers complain about theft, the host is likely to shut down the website altogether, and ban him as a customer.  Of course, the thief can then just go and sign up for another host, but it's an inconvenience and extra work - and there's a good chance he'll get caught again, and get banned from there. 
            
            Also check if they have Adsense - if they do, report them to Adsense.  If he gets banned from Adsense, he'll be more likely to give up.
            
            Yes, I'm vengeful

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   2. 61

      TessSchlesingerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I generally do three things simultaneously.
      1. Tell the thief that they are in violation of my copyright, that they need to remove it promptly, that I am reporting it simultaneously to Google, and that Google blacklists people, and then nothing that they post will be found on the web.
      2. Write to the website owner, tell them the same thing.
      3. Fill in the DMCA forms with google.
      
      I do this every six months or so for a list of articles, because no matter how hard I try, people insist on stealing my articles.

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         wildernessposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         You will do better to file with the host than with Google.  They can take it off their server; Google cannot (unless it is the host itself).  Fine and good to get it off the one largest search engine, but better to get it off the web.

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            theraggededgeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            This is absolutely correct. I don't faff around with Google (unless they are the host) and rarely bother to contact the website owner unless it's obvious they are active and responsive (some people just don't understand that they can't reproduce other people's work).
            
            Straight to the webhost works a treat.

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         2. 96

            Gregory DeVictorposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks for your comment. I have had material copied verbatim from at least five hubs and need to take action as soon as possible. I will take your advice and work with the hosting company first.
            
            In addition, I am grateful that I am not the only one who has gone through this kind of nonsense. It is very annoying.

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               JynBrantonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Let us know the outcome

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         3. 61

            TessSchlesingerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            And how do you find the host?
            
            Besides that, why would the host (I presume you mean the ISP) remove it? It's not their job.
            
            I have had no problems doing it the way I do it.
            
            For the most part, the website does remove it, but in the one rare case that the thief didn't, Google removed access to it. That's good enough for me.

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               Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               If you are having success in getting the website to remove it, that's fine.  However if you are just reporting it to Google, it's not enough.
               
               When you report it to Google, Google will stop including that page in their website results.  That's ALL it does.  It cannot remove the page from the internet. So people can still find it using other search engines, or if they click on a link somewhere (e.g. on Facebook or Google+), or they will see it on the navigation menus when they're browing the rest of the thief's website.
               
               The thief can still continue to run his website and steal more articles from other people. 
               
               All reputable hosting companies have policies which say their clients must not break copryight laws.   If they receive a report that one of their clients IS breaking copyright law, they will take action.  At the very least, they will force the client to take down the offending page.  If they receive repeated complaints, they will delete the whole website from their servers, and ban the client from using their services ever again.
               
               You find the host by using this site:  https://www.whoishostingthis.com
               
               Each host has their own approach to dealing with this issue.  Visit the host's site - if you can't find instructions or a form to complete to file a DMCA, then try Googling the host's name and "abuse" (e.g. "GoDaddy abuse").  Follow the instructions.

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                  TessSchlesingerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  Okay, thanks.
                  
                  The only guy I ever had an issue with was about my Greyhound article. Everything else has always been removed.
                  
                  But thank you.
                  
                  Now I know.

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            2. 96

               Gregory DeVictorposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Try this link to find the hosting company:
               
               https://www.whoishostingthis.com/

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            3. 85

               TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Go to "WhoIs.com" or "WhoIsHostingThis.com" and follow the prompts.  It it's a US site, you'll find the host there.  The host needs to know about this because some hosts oversee many sites and can keep the plagiarists from posting on other ones as well.

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2. 90

   satomkoposted 6 years ago

   Thanks for letting us all know about this site.

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3. 96

   Gregory DeVictorposted 6 years ago

   I know how you feel because I had material from at least five hubs copied recently.
   I sent a request to HubPages for help on the matter and this is what Matt told me ro do:
   
   “It's understandable to feel frustrated when someone copies your articles without your permission. However, since HubPages does not own the copyright to your content—you do—you must assert your copyright under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). We suggest following these best practices.
   
   See if there is a way to contact the site and file a DMCA (a formal copyright infringement complaint) claim by email or form. Be sure to follow the DMCA format we share in the Learning Center entry to the letter. (Any mistake in the format of your DMCA complaint will mean it will be ignored.)
   If you can't find a way to contact the site, then use WHOIS to find an email address for the site.
   
   If you do not receive a reply within a few days that the offending content has been taken down, then you can file a DMCA complaint with Google(select Web Search) and Bing (email dmcaagnt@microsoft.com). This will not get the copied content taken down, but it will prevent it from appearing in Google and Bing search results.
   
   As the copyright owner, you may also consider bringing legal action against the infringing party.”
   
   I would really like to take this person to court.

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4. 86

   Terrielynn1posted 6 years ago

   I did that for 4 of m ine that were copied, not only did they all get taken down the webhost shut down thier site. It's worth it just takes some time to do.

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5. 94

   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 6 years ago

   That is so awful, Poppyr! I have had quite a few of my articles stolen as well.

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6. 94

   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 6 years ago

   Ah, thanks TIMETRAVELER, I'm going to check that site out later this afternoon.

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7. 94

   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 6 years ago

   What irritates me is that one of mu hubs includes a photo of my newborn daughter in the hospital and a site stole it along with the article it's in. That's really violating.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      The fact is that if you post photos anywhere public online, you should expect them to be copied, because you can guarantee they will be - and that includes Facebook, if you've set your posts to public.  That's why many people don't post photos of their children online.

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         tritrainposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         That's smart.

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8. 94

   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 6 years ago

   Thanks, Marisa. I do understand that.

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9. 76

   fer-nieposted 6 years ago

   Ouch.

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      Gregory DeVictorposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Chutzpah!!!

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10. 94

    Kierstin Gunsbergposted 6 years ago

    If you're referring to Marisa's comment then sure, "chutzpah" is one word for it.

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    1. 96

       Gregory DeVictorposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, that is what I was doing.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       My comment was factual advice, plain and simple.  The fact that you said you "felt violated" implies you were shocked at the theft.  If you knew the risk, then you wouldn't have been shocked when it happened, so I assumed you didn't know.  Therefore I explained.  I don't see what people are ouching about.

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11. 96

    eugbugposted 6 years ago

    It seems to be a never ending story having to constantly keep track of copied articles, especially if there are a lot of hubs involved.
    I wonder is there a software application which could automate the process, so that we could just input a string of text from each and then in future just click on a "scan" button to search for copies? The HubPages violation check doesn't seem to find all copies and the regular checking process doesn't find everything.

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12. 86

    Marisa Wrightposted 6 years ago

    It exists, it's called Copyscape

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    1. 96

       eugbugposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       Is it possible to enter a list of URls so they don't have to be manually entered every time a check is required?
       
       Edit: A premium account seems to allow this.

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          Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

          Yes, the premium account allows you to save a list of URL's.

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13. 94

    melbelposted 6 years ago

    Ugh. Just Googled the first line of my one LevelSkip article:
    
    

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14. 96

    Gregory DeVictorposted 6 years ago

    I've learned the hard way that Copyscape's Premium membership is one of the best ways to detect thieves. I've been working on a hub about Erie, PA and I wonder who would have the audacity to steal that.

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