Articles being taken...

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   megs78posted 13 years ago

   Hey there, is it normal that I find my articles on other websites?  They are posted with my name as author, but I never submitted them to those sites.  How does this happen?

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      Super Chefposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      People will do this to try and generate more popularity for their sites. The way I see it is that its free advertising for your hubs. I found the same last week when one of my articles appeared from ezine articles on digg it. I dont mind as long as they put your name to it. if you feel they are infringing your copyright sens an email to the site owner to have it kindly removed. Hope this helps.

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         Super Chefposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         oops meant to say send them an email not sens.

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         relacheposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I totally disagree with Super Chef's take on this.  My point of view is that those people are stealing my work and violating my copyrights.  I file notices of infringement and get the work taken down.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      If an article appears on another site, even if they mention your name, that's theft.  Unfortunately there are plenty of dishonest people out there who will do that.
      
      However, before you fire off a nasty email, check to see whether they've provided a link back to your original article.  If they have, then in a sense they've given you some free publicity, so it becomes a good thing.
      
      If that's the case, I will write and thank them for featuring my article but ask them to cut down the amount of text quoted.

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   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   Unlike Super Chef, I do mind terribly when other people take my work. Just had 4 taken down this week, as a matter of fact. Google hasn't quite figured out how to figure out who the original owner is, and there's always a real chance that the stolen work can beat out yours in the SERPs.
   
   I normally don't file a DMCA right away. I usually send a short, personal note first. If that doesn't work, then go for it with the DMCA. Good luck!

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   Jillian Barclayposted 13 years ago

   Saw my name on a website this week with the first sentence of one of my hubs. Copied and pasted the website, went in and my hub and my name were nowhere to be found. It was someone else's blog. Thought that was really weird!

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   Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

   Wow. Stealing your work and posting it with YOUR name. That's an interesting tactic.
   Haven't seen that -- but have had my work plagiarized.
   It PISSES ME OFF.
   I usually start with a nasty gram to the offending "non-author" to take it down within 24 hours or I will take further action.
   Then I email the site administrator.
   
   Question to those who have filed DMCAs. What do you do when the site is not registered or whatever? That has happened to me twice recently, with work stolen and posted on Viewpoint and Xomba.
   Arrggghhh!

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      Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      What do you mean, "registered"? 
      
      Your first step should always be to contact the webmaster. Look for a "contact" page on the site.  I usually send a fairly formal (but not abusive) note, asking them to take it down.  If I can see they have Adsense on the site, I will mention that my next step will be to report them to Adsense, and I'm sure they'd prefer to avoid that.  Then I give them a reasonable time to respond before reporting them to Google (by clicking on the Google logo on the Adsense ads). 
      
      Of course, if they are posting on a site like Xomba or Infobarrel, then I report them to the host site.

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      relacheposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      All websites are registered.  You can own or host a website without it being registered with someone somewhere.

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   megs78posted 13 years ago

   Thanks everyone for the replies!  I didn't check for any backlinks.  I think I will start looking to see if I can find more and than I will def do what you all suggest.  Thanks again!

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      jpwriterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I mainly write at InfoBarrel.  I just had my most popular article stolen by 3 different people.  I contacted them, InfoBarrel admin contacted them, and they ignored everything.  As w/MightMom, it makes me very mad.
      
      I have lost a lot of traffic and money from this theft since it was a topic that blew up somewhat unexpectedly.  If this is one of your money makers don't hesitate to act.  Sometimes they use our links/popular keywords to mask other sites.  One of the sites that took my article was a front for a China website.  Illegal.
      
      I wrote an article through the process, but it's on InfoBarrel since that's where I mainly write.  It has the links you'll need.   I'm jpwriter there, too.
      It's How to Check and Respond to Plagiarism.
      
      I don't know all the rules here yet.  Don't want trouble by posting a link!
      
      Just don't let your article sit long w/o doing something.  You should check your articles regularly because it does happen a lot.  People think if they include your name they are "citing" you.  Ha!

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         jpwriterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         @MightMom - What do you mean not registered?  Like with WHOIS?  There are plenty of blogs, etc., that do not require people's real info.  And, even w/owning a website you can have a privacy thing on it like not being listed in the phonebook.  In that case you can write the web host and tell them the name of the infringing site.
         
         If it's on a site like InfoBarrel, Xomba, eHow, etc., then write that site requesting it to be removed.

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   couturepopcafeposted 13 years ago

   It's not infringment if they cite you as the author.  It's done all the time.  If they are making money off of your work, you may have a dispute.

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      jpwriterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      The issue is not citation, it is permission.  Just because it's done all the time means nothing.  College plagiarism is done all the time as well, but it's worthy of expulsion. 
      
      If they are making money, such as with Adsense you absolutely have a dispute.  If someone has a blog set up and they scape your articles, but your name is there so what?  Even if they put a link.  YOU are losing money, views, and other potential revenue depending on what's on your articles (Amazon, etc.).
      
      Our work is copyrighted.  These people are stealing.  Someone putting your name on there doesn't do a dang thing.  It may even lower your name if the site sucks.  Now, I do admit that when I started writing online I did know that any of this was so wrong.  I also thought citing meant that I was giving them credit so, I was doing a good thing. I was wrong. I never copied things as passed them off as my own or anything like that though.
      
      "Copyright © 2010 Hubpages Inc. and respective owners. All rights reserved."
      
      That copyright is at the bottom of this page.  Ever noticed how those who steal articles have the same copyrighted insignia?  Kinda ironic, isn't it.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Yes it is.  It's not infringement if they use a quotation from your article and cite you as the author.  It is an infringement if they use the whole, or most of, the article.

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