Somebody has spun my article! Any suggestions on what to do?

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  1. RonElFran profile image98
    RonElFranposted 7 years ago

    I decided to update an article I originally published on Yahoo Contributor Network and republish it here. In doing my research to update it, I found another post that is obviously spun from my article, but with slight changes in wording to mask the plagiarism. The spun post has a slightly altered title, and the exact same outline and sentence structure, but with synonyms for key words.

    Interestingly, this makes me feel even angrier than I would if the thief had straight out copied my work.

    I'm going to go ahead and file a DMCA complaint with Google, hoping they will see through the spinning.

    I'm wondering what experiences others may have had with Google responding to spun content. And does anyone have any other suggestions on how to handle this?

    1. peachpurple profile image82
      peachpurpleposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I had 12 of my hubs copy and paste at Expertscolumn by two of their members, they copied exactly the same hub I had. I made a complaint at Expertscolumn but I was ignored. Then I went to DMCA but they require my real details, name, ID, address, phone numbers which I cannot give. So I gave up.

      1. RonElFran profile image98
        RonElFranposted 7 years agoin reply to this

        Having your work stolen is infuriating, and I'm sure it's even more so when there isn't anything you can do about it.

      2. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image76
        TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

        Then you should have filed a complaint with Google.

    2. theraggededge profile image86
      theraggededgeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I wouldn't bother with Google (unless they own the site, there's no point) just send a DMCA direct to the web host. They are in business to protect their reputation, so any client who violates their ToS - which will almost certainly mention copyright violation - will be dealt with smartly.

      1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image76
        TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

        I have found Google to be very effective in cases where a DMCA doesn't bring a removal because they can remove the Adsense income, which means there would be no point in someone keeping the article online.

        1. theraggededge profile image86
          theraggededgeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

          However, one DMCA to the webhost gets the article removed, Google indexing deleted, Adsense (and other advertising) gone, and the page de-indexed from **every other search engine**, all in one fell swoop. And usually fast smile

          Use whois.com to find the host. Just type in the URL and it'll be listed. Copy the DMCA from HP, or fill in the host's webform.

          1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image76
            TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

            I do the same.

        2. tritrain profile image72
          tritrainposted 7 years agoin reply to this

          Unless they use other ad networks.  Some people, including those in say Russia, don't care much about Google.

    3. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image76
      TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Did you delete the article from Yahoo before posting it here?  If you did and then waited awhile to post it here, it was fair game for a plagiarist.  If you didn't and you can prove by using your posting date here that yours was placed first, a DMCA is your best bet.  If you get no satisfaction from that, you can then contact Google with a complaint.  Good luck,  I know how frustrating this can be.

    4. chef-de-jour profile image100
      chef-de-jourposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Annoying and frustrating. I've suffered from similar issues in the past and have tried all kinds to get the offending article removed. I've been successful with a DMCA two or three times over the years, so perhaps you should try and nail it with that.
      And I've also had an immediate response from an offender via an email - I sent a no-nonsense message to the person direct - and got an answer - which came with an apology too - a very rare event! Email them if you can, who knows what the outcome will be?
      As others have said, if you have the original date of publication of your article then this is evidence that you own the creation which has since been spun. Try the DMCA, try the email, try everything humanly possible. The bottom line is these people have stolen your work and need to be 'brought to justice.'
      I wish you well in your efforts.

      1. wilderness profile image89
        wildernessposted 7 years agoin reply to this

        I have now gotten a reply three times to a DMCA to the site.  Once it was a group of high school students, and a nice apology.  The other two was a business that hired a web site to be made the the architect simply scraped anything that looked useful.  Both apologized profusely and the second even reduced my hub to a couple of sentences plus a backlink - something I found very nice of them.

  2. Rupert Taylor profile image96
    Rupert Taylorposted 7 years ago

    I don't want to be discouraging but I've found dealing with the thieves is often more trouble than it's worth. A lot of these crooks are hosted in places that don't give a hoot. I've tried filing complaints and almost never get results. I did recently get a grovelling apology from someone in Singapore who came up with a specious excuse that a third party had stolen an article of mine and placed it on his website. But, that is a rare success.

  3. theraggededge profile image86
    theraggededgeposted 7 years ago

    I've had a really good success rate in getting articles taken down. It's the Chinese ones and translated ones that I can't do much about. They are probably not too much of a threat anyway, as they always look pretty sub-standard.

  4. janshares profile image94
    jansharesposted 7 years ago

    Is there a comment section on the article? Would it be unprofessional to leave a comment stating, "this article is spun, not original work, the author is a thief, I'm the original author." Maybe shame won't work on a criminal or matter to readers but I wonder if we need to try radical means to stop thieves from stealing our work. I've never gone this ape before but I did use a reply/comment section on one of my spun articles to threaten to file a compliant. Of course, it didn't work, even after leaving to messages. But it was eventually taken down after complaints was filed (I think DMCA and Google). It took forever.

    1. RonElFran profile image98
      RonElFranposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I've done exactly that (put my complaint in the comments section) a number of times, and it has worked probably more than half the time. In this case, there was no comment section. But I did use their contact email form. We'll see if it does any good.

  5. RonElFran profile image98
    RonElFranposted 7 years ago

    Success!

    I sent a DMCA complaint to the website as well as to the hosting site, and the stolen content has been removed. BTW, I used the HubPages DMCA complaint template that appears when you click the "file a DMCA complaint" button on a hub that's been marked as copied.

    The website owner sent the following email to me announcing that he would comply. Poor guy - the website he bought, with all its stolen content, turned out to be a bad bargain. Almost makes you feel sorry for him (NOT!).

    "As I am not concerned of your American Copy right law I will remove the page regardless. The website was purchased and I am not sure where the content raised from. However in good faith for what you said I will remove it. The page will be coming down within the year as it is not producing money. So rest assured you where the only one reading your article. I could care less about this useless threat. thank you"

    1. theraggededge profile image86
      theraggededgeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Oh bless his heart big_smile

      Anyway, congrats. Job well done.

  6. chef-de-jour profile image100
    chef-de-jourposted 7 years ago

    Well done! Another one bites the dust. Enjoy the success.

 
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