My article has been copied on Scribd

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   Susan Ngposted 14 years ago

   Hi. My article has been copied verbatim from beginning to end on Scribd and I was wondering if I should ask them to take it down since they've credited me as the writer and linked back to my HubPages profile. How will it affect me if I leave the duplicate copy on Scribd?
   
   Oh, they've included a download option and I don't want people downloading my article, so I'm bent towards asking them to remove my article from their site. Would that be a good idea?
   
   Advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks.

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      ankigarg87posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      you cannot delete that article on scribd but you can send a email to scribd webmasters about that. According to me leave that topic. As on scribd your article will help a lot of peoples

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         WryLiltposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Oh yes, it can help people - but not the REAL AUTHOR!
         
         If it stays on Scribd it has a good chance of outranking the original article, meaning that someone else who didn't even write it will make money off it!

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      couturepopcafeposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Scribd is all copied content whether the original author puts it there or not.  It's probably listed under 'things to read' or something like that.  You're getting free publicity.  This is what happens when you're a writer, people want to read your stuff.  Or at least you hope they do!

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   WryLiltposted 14 years ago

   I'd ask to have it removed quick smart.
   
   Scribd has a higher PR than hubpages I think, so there's a good chance your article could rank higher on that site than the original here.
   
   Google doesn't always logically show the first published copy first in the rankings.
   
   If you still want the free link, see if they'd be happy to maybe quote one paragraph or something similar and then link back to your hub.
   
   And as for downloading - it's your work so THEY can't give permission for anyone else to download it. Contact the person who placed it there first, and if that doesn't work, contact the owners of the site.

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      Susan Ngposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Makes sense... Thanks. I'll take your advice.

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   IzzyMposted 14 years ago

   I would ask them to take it down. It's one thing for someone to take a small part of your article and link it - that way you still get the traffic but this way you lose everything.

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      Susan Ngposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the reply. I'll try having them quote just one paragraph and then linking back to the original article like Wrylilt suggested. It that doesn't work I'll ask them to take it down.

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   mdlawyerposted 14 years ago

   They should show just the caption and a few sentences with a link to the Hubpages as a bookmark.  Else it is copyright infringement.

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   Susan Ngposted 14 years ago

   Thank you for the quick reply, guys. I decided to send a DMCA takedown request to Scribd after all. Thanks again.

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   relacheposted 14 years ago

   I sent a Notice of Infringement to Scribd two days ago, and today got an email thanking me and letting me know the article that had been stolen from me is now down.
   
   They respond quickly, and the form letter that HubPages provides includes all the pertinent info.  It's completely worth filing the takedown request.

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      Susan Ngposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I used the takedown request template at Scribd and emailed it to them last night. I hope they respond as quickly as they did in your case.

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   Susan Ngposted 14 years ago

   Thanks for the input, everyone. I appreciate it.

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   Peggy Wposted 14 years ago

   I had one article stolen completely including the photos.  I finally had it taken down.  I found one of my original photos on another site but at least if people clicked on the link it lead back to my full article on hubpages so I did nothing about that.  It is amazing to me that people use other people's work without asking permission...or outright steal the entire article and/or photos.  The person who stole my entire article had it removed...but the site did not eliminate HER from the site which is what I personally think should happen.  Oh well!

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9. 64

   Susan Ngposted 14 years ago

   I can relate, Peggy W. The people who copy my articles always seem to copy all the photos with it as well. And it's really disheartening when somebody "steals" our work because we work hard on maintaining the quality of our hubs.
   
   I am happy to say that Scribd has responded. My article has been removed from their site. It took two days, just like relache said.

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      WryLiltposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Good to hear!

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    CMHypnoposted 14 years ago

    Seems to be the season for stealing content - I seem to wake up to one more Hub sporting that little red copyright icon every morning at the moment and it is a real drag having to try and get them take the article down

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