Plagiaristic email received by way of HP's Contact Author

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   bravewarriorposted 2 years ago

   I know this has come up before, but I can't find the forum. I received the following email from someone in China:
   
   Hey,Shauna , how are you? i am Rudy. I've read your articles on hubpages, your articles are really helpful and amazing, you are talking a lot about warren buffett's investment, i have learnt a lot from you, which has inspired me a lot. I would like to introduce myself a bit, i am from China, i created an English platform with my friends, we are aiming to help chinese people to learn English. In china ,due to censorship, people do not have access to Hubpages, it is why we started our platform. Currently we are inviting excellent writers like you into our platform, i was wondering if you are interested in us? Your arcticles will help chinese people a lot, and you will gain a lot of chinese fans. You do not need any extra time for this, we just need your existing articles and we will help manage your account on platform. I will open an account for you, you can log into our platform and take a look at how popular your articles are. If your articles are popular in the future, you will have a lot of benefits from it. If you would agree to join us, it would be an honour for us; I am looking forward to hearing back from you.
   
   our platform:https://www.bocaienglish.com/h5/; My email:suxiansheng7@gmail.com
   
   First off, I've written NOTHING about Warren Buffett. Secondly, it seems this person wants to copy my articles over to their format. How do I stop them from doing that? Are there no copyright laws in China?
   
   Please advise as to what, if anything, I should do about this email.
   
   Thanx.

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      Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I got an almost identical email from “Rudy” although he did refer to something I had written about. He also sent me a message on my Facebook using the link from HubPages. I never replied, but yes, how do you stop them just stealing your content anyway?

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         bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         John, I'm hoping Matt will step in with advice/suggestions.

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   2. 89

      ChitrangadaSharanposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Shauna!
      I had received a similar email sometime back. I don’t remember the name, but the mail was via HubPages. It’s strange to know that so many other writers have received such mails.
      Hoping to hear from the Admins.
      Thank you for sharing this in the forum.

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         bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         I hope admin chimes in, too, Chitrangada. I'm not comfortable with either optio: ignoring or responding with an ABSOLUTELY NOT!

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      Miebakagh57posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      BW, I was not really surprised about this model AI email.                                      Same email format has already been posted for discussion in the forum, way back say 2 or 3 months ago.                                             Matt wade in and advise not to click any link in the email, but delete the mail. Like as you said you had not write about Warren B. This confirmed the AI authority. Shame to those copycats, who can't use their head to write a simple sentence.

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      OldRosesposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I received a similar message from HP contact form and my FB account.  I answered both messages asking them to not post any of my articles to their site because my articles as meant for HP only.  I want it on record that I did not give my permission for them to use my articles because I know that they will go ahead and post them anyways.  It will be easier to fight with a paper trail backing me up.

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      1. 86

         bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         That was my thought as well, so it would be on record that I made the effort to explicitly deny permission. However, if I do that, they have my email address. That could just lead to headaches and possible hacking of my computer.

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   5. STAFF

      Matt Wellsposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      It's a spammer. Ignore it and don't reply.

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         bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         I didn't reply, Matt. That said, Misbah found plagiarized articles on the site address listed in the email that was sent to me.

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         1. STAFF

            Matt Wellsposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Options are to file a DMCA complaint against the site, and if they don't respond, you can try filing a DMCA complaint with Google to get the content removed from search results. See the FAQ.

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      Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I get these emails. I ignore them.

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         bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         So far, I have too, Kenna. But I haven't deleted it until I investigate further. But I will not respond to the email. Don't want to expose myself to possible threats to my computer and its activity.

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2. 81

   ravirajan01posted 2 years ago

   Shauna I have also received the same mail with nearly the same content.I think it is better to ignore it.

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      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Ravi, that's what I'm doing (at least for now). I wonder if there's something HP can do about this.

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3. 72

   SmartAndFunposted 2 years ago

   I got this email, too. Am wondering the same, if I should ignore or if I should answer back saying expressly NO. I hesitate to answer back because I don't want to expose my email address to this person and also because I don't want them to get angry at my response and make things worse in retaliation. On the other hand, I don't want them to assume lack of response means I don't mind or I'm not bothering to keep track of what's going on with my content.
   
   I suppose its possible this person simply doesn't understand the reasons why it hurts our earnings, articles and Hubpages in general when our material is not unique to Hubpages. But perhaps I am being too generous.

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   1. 86

      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      That's the conundrum. Do I ignore or tell him absolutely not! I don't want my email address revealed, which will happen if I respond, but I also struggle with letting him know that he does not have permission to copy my work. Will my silence be interpreted as carte blanche on his part?

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4. 83

   Rupert Taylorposted 2 years ago

   I think we've all received this and the only thing to do is ignore it.
   
   As John points out, they'll steal your stuff anyway and China takes no notice of DMCA filings.

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      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Rupert, I'm assuming (yeah, I know what that does to you and me!) China doesn't have copyright laws?

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         TheShadowSpecterposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         China is like the wild west.

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      TheShadowSpecterposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Communists are parasites.  The People's Republic of China is no exception to the rule.

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5. 75

   Misbah786posted 2 years ago

   Unfortunately, the biggest disadvantage of having an online presence is that anyone can come and annoy you at any time, even if all you want is peace of mind.
   
   She introduced herself as Rudy... I suppose we should avoid rude people... your thoughts?
   
   I hope you are doing well, my friend. 
   Much Love and Blessings!

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      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      It took me a minute to get your joke, Misbah. Rudy....rude. Very clever and almost over my head!

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         Misbah786posted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Lol!!

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6. 81

   Carb Divaposted 2 years ago

   I received a similar letter from "Rudy" on November 25.
   
   "Hey,Linda, how are you? i am Rudy. I've read your articles on hubpages, your articles are really helpful and amazing, you are talking a lot about cooking. I love cooking, i have learnt a lot from you, which has inspired me a lot. I would like to introduce myself a bit, i am from China, i created an English platform with my friends, we are aiming to help chinese people to learn English, currently we are inviting excellent writers like you into our platform, i was wondering if you are interested in us? Your arcticles will help chinese people understand cooking a lot, if you would agree to join us, it would be a honour for us; I am looking forward to hearing back from you."
   
   Obviously he/she took the time to customize the message to the type of articles I post on HP. I ignored it.

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      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Linda, aside from the reference to cooking, the emails are identical. Did s/he tell you that you'd have to do nothing? That they would simply copy your articles over to their site?
      
      BTW, Merry Christmas, Sis. I apologize for not getting a card out to you. I pretty much only sent them to my genealogical family this year.

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   Jan Saintsposted 2 years ago

   I received the same... and I was like... Hey Rudy, I don't write about nature!

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      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      It's obviously spam/scam, but scary at the same time. I don't want my articles copied over to a China site. No one has answered my question regarding copyright/plagiarism laws in China. If I had that information, I'd have a better idea of what to do about this matter.

      replyreport
8. 75

   Misbah786posted 2 years ago

   Have you checked their platform? https:// www. bocai english.com/h5/ (Remove the spaces to make it work)
   I just checked and found a story on the top of their list that was copied from Medium. I thought I was mistaken, so I double-checked, and yes, I was right. See the results below.
   
   
   

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      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      That's disturbing, Misbah.
      
      I've Googled whether or not China has copyright laws and they do! So, copying our material is definitely plagiarism. Read this: https://www.chinajusticeobserver.com/a/ … ht-law-say
      
      I'll delve deeper to see if DMCAs originating from countries outside of China are effective. But first, I have a pie to bake. It is Christmas Eve, after all!

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         Misbah786posted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
         Much Love and Blessings!

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9. 82

   Stephen Tomkinsonposted 2 years ago

   China is a signatory to international conventions on copyright. Technically, a writer has full protection of her rights there. However, it might be difficult to enforce...

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      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Yes. I will look into the effectiveness of Americans filing DMCA complaints against Chinese sites.

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         bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Bummer. DMCAs are part of America's copyright laws and only apply to websites in the U.S.:https://www.chinajusticeobserver.com/a/what-does-chinas-copyright-law-say

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            bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            I also found this: https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/ … to%20jail.

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    Rupert Taylorposted 2 years ago

    China is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Just ask the Uighur people how that's working for them.
    
    China is a major international scofflaw. They care diddly squat about rules if breaking them gives them an advantage.
    
    I do everything I can to avoid "Made in China" products and I urge everybody to do the same.

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       bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

       I do too, Rupert.

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    Stephen Tomkinsonposted 2 years ago

    This might be interesting:
    https://www.lexology.com/library/detail … 1ffee78673

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    1. 86

       bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, Stephen. I'll definitely check it out. However, from what I've learned today, DMCA takedown notices only apply to U.S. based websites.
       
       To be honest, I haven't checked the link to see if any of my work has been copied over to the site mentioned in the email. Not yet, anyway. Too busy with Christmas prep.

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    2. 86

       bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

       You have to log in or register in order to read the article. Not happening!

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12. 82

    Stephen Tomkinsonposted 2 years ago

    I seem to remember that years ago a friend of mine had problems with someone copying large chunks of his work that appeared on a Chinese site. He contacted the cultural attache at the Chinese Embassy (the UK in his case) and they dealt with it. No idea if it'd work nowadays.

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13. 82

    Stephen Tomkinsonposted 2 years ago

    If you mean the link that I posted, it's open access from my computer

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    1. 86

       bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

       That's not what I'm getting. It also won't allow me to print the page or take a screen shot. That said, I can't read the content without signing in or registering.
       
       This is the best I can do to show you what comes up when I click on the link you provided:
       
       Copyright infringement and remedies in China
       Lifang & Partners
       Lifang & Partners logo
       An overview of legal and practical considerations surrounding copyright infringement in China, including statutory definitions of infringement, secondary liability, available remedies and criminal enforcement.
       
       Log in or register
       Please login or register to continue reading.
       
       RegisterLifang & Partners - Li Chun, Xie Guanbin and Zhang Bin
       
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       China Copyrights Lifang & Partners
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14. 82

    Stephen Tomkinsonposted 2 years ago

    Can others open the link?

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    1. 75

       Misbah786posted 2 years agoin reply to this

       I can
       
       
       
       
       It requires a sign up

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