A school board took most of my hub

1. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 12 years ago

   I have a hub on how to write a check. Most of it has been copied by a Canadian school board site.
   
   I'm not going to worry about it though because at least it's not for profit and a lot of articles about writing a check are similar. But you'd think schools would have better ethics than to copy mine word for word. Then again, maybe I should be honoured that a school site thought it good enough to take.

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      prairieprincessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That is not acceptable! Are you going to ask them to take it down, or even better, pay for it? School boards have lots of money!

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         Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         And what country do you live in that the school board has lots of money?

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            melbelposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Our school board is filthy rich. Every student who graduates from the public school in my town gets a $5000 scholarship/yr for college. But things are strange around here. Just 30 miles away, the state is taking over a school district because their district is bankrupt. It's unfortunate.
            
            As for UV, if you are losing traffic to the hub, I'd do something about it. You could either donate the content to them and change the content in the original or have them shut it down. In any event, they should set an example for their constituents (children, parents, etc) by not stealing.

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            prairieprincessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Cagsil, they have enough  money to pay for their stuff. They have budgets for school materials, etc. I mean they don't need to steal. I was exaggerating on the lots part.

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               Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I am constantly hearing about how the schools in my area have no money for supplies.

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      Stacie Lposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      did they at least credit you for writing it?
      some staff member is getting the credit and a pay raise..
      Maybe offer to give a talk about it to a class.

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      1. 85

         livelongerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         That's my thought, too. Considering the obvious ethical lapse of appropriating someone's work without asking permission, maybe they can atone by giving you a valuable .edu backlink to your Hub.

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   3. 79

      Rising Carenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hmm, I wonder about something.
      
      Since the school board is Canadian, and you live in Canada, but HP (which hosts the hub) is situated in the US, would it fall under Canadian law or US law?
      
      After all, in the US, such an action would be protected by the educational Fair Use (as long as a credit is provided), but I believe Canada doesn't make an exception for educational facilities and this wouldn't fit the "research, news, criticism, and private study" allowed usage of Canadia fair use...

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         prairieprincessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         That's a good point, but I have not heard this policy applied to websites. As far as I know, that policy is just for classroom use, not for a public website.

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      mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I know how you feel UV. I recently came across a website for a medical practice that deal with 'stool/poo' problems. On the site's opening page several large paragraphs of text from my 'Stools/Poo' hub had been quoted word for word, even down to my final statement on the hub in question. I would have complained, but there was no 'contact us' link for emails, and I really didn't want to get in to the whole phoning them up thing, as it is the other side of the world to me. They weren't using Adsense, so had little to gain other than it looking good for their business, but it would have been nice to be credited at least. In the end I let it go, (at least it wasn't the entire article).

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   psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

   A school board should know about plagiarism.  I would send then an invoice for $1, just to make a point

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      Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'd make it higher, just to draw more attention.

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3. 84

   rockinjoeposted 12 years ago

   I sympathize with you folks. I've had several hubs copied over the years. DMCA's have worked a few times, threatening letters to their webhost had more of an effect. I It's hard work to police your web work. I don't have the time, nor the energy to keep up with the crooks.

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4. 74

   Anna Marie Bowmanposted 12 years ago

   I have had similar problems. Some sites that copy my work have no contact information. I have had to leave angry comments on their page. Not having any contact information makes it rather difficult. Unfortunately, most of the sites that copy my work do use AdSense and the fact that I cannot contact them or file a complaint makes it rather frustrating.

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      mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I couldn't even leave comments as it was not that kind of site. I just had to leave it feeling a bit irritated. I bet the bits they didn't copy from me were copied from somewhere else too.

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5. 77

   Mighty Momposted 12 years ago

   It's not funny, but anyway, UW.
   School boards do no operate to the same (or any perceptible) ethical standards as the schools they oversee.
   Sad to say.

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6. 74

   Kangaroo_Jaseposted 12 years ago

   UW.
   
   My long answer is no.
   
   It is your work. You wrote it. They stole it.
   It doesn't matter who it is, they used YOUR work without permission. I would keep an eye on this site as they will come and use another hub from you without permission a second time.
   
   The webmaster running the school siter may be directed by the school administrators but i hazard a guess the person is not employed by the school.
   
   These bastards think its alright to pinch stuff little by little, and that's too much.

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7. 79

   skyfireposted 12 years ago

   I have my python posts linked in one of the European universities reference index pdf and on syllabus page. I don't mind if they use some or all portions but as expected university faculties are too lazy to steal stuff and this pattern is common with almost every university on this planet.

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8. 88

   RedElfposted 12 years ago

   Even if the school or board has no money to pay for usage, they should credit you as the source. What a wonderful message they are sending to their students - it's OK to steal someone else's words because you are a school.
   I would recommend an open letter to the school board - if you can post it on their website, so much the better - but they will probably just slap the webmaster on the wrist. Give it a shot anyway. They should not be promoting plagiarism - all works must be duly cited.

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