Someone stole my article and post it as theirs.. What can I do?

13 replies
Hey guys, I've recently increased my articles marketing and caught this website copying my articles (posted at buzzle.com) without crediting it back to me. In other circumstances, I would have closed an eye. But ezinearticles.com is now suspending my account thinking i'm using someone else's articles.

I've talked to this person and he even ask me for proof. He said he has bought the article. I couldn't prove it because the date of posting is the same.

The only thing I could prove is the final lines of the article which is the same ending paragraphs as many of my articles.

But under these circumstances, what can I do? I'm more worried about my suspension in ezinearticles.com.
#articles #copying #post #rights
  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Issue a DMCA to their host and explain to ezinearticles that someone has copied your articles. 50% of the time when I ask the person to remove it with the threat of DMCA, they remove it. The other 50% of the time, the DMCA removes it.

    You can find out more about DMCAs with a sample one you can use at

    http://domainingdiva.com/legal-issue...ipoff-artists/
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Hooper-Kelly
    Hi George,

    You didn't say if you are the original author of the articles or if they are PLR.

    On the assumption you are the original author, did you post them on your web site before submitting to EA?

    If that is the case, the first place you need to publish any future articles is an article bank, which will record the time and date submitted. Then you can point to this independent verification as proof the articles are yours, because any piracy will be timed and dated after your submission.

    It's a shame EA have banned you, as they would have been ideal.

    So, you'll either have to convince them your articles have been stolen or use another article site.

    What is very strange is that Buzzle are pretty particular whom they accept as authors.

    Sorry I can't be more helpful, but if you could give more detail, we might be able to help more.

    Warmest regards,

    Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author George Tee
      Originally Posted by Paul Hooper-Kelly View Post

      Hi George,

      You didn't say if you are the original author of the articles or if they are PLR.

      On the assumption you are the original author, did you post them on your web site before submitting to EA?

      If that is the case, the first place you need to publish any future articles is an article bank, which will record the time and date submitted. Then you can point to this independent verification as proof the articles are yours, because any piracy will be timed and dated after your submission.

      It's a shame EA have banned you, as they would have been ideal.

      So, you'll either have to convince them your articles have been stolen or use another article site.

      What is very strange is that Buzzle are pretty particular whom they accept as authors.

      Sorry I can't be more helpful, but if you could give more detail, we might be able to help more.

      Warmest regards,

      Paul

      It was original content written by my ghostwriter. I got him to write for me original content. And I even checked using copyscape.

      I didn't post it to my website as I'm using it purely as a article generation strategy and I won't have known this idiot stolen my content until ezinearticles.com suspend me. I won't have care about it but issue is ezinearticles.com staff doesn't really check every single article in detail.

      And the worst thing is I think you'll start from the BASIC again.

      Unfortunately buzzle didn't publish the time where they approved the article otherwise I could have proved that i'm the original author.

      Does anyone know how's the process of going to DMCA? Do you need to pay any fees for it? And how much proof do I need to provide to show I am the original author?
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  • Profile picture of the author arnoldsmithh
    Just send an email to google webmasters.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Barrs
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  • Profile picture of the author Colin Palfrey
    I think this could be cleared up simply by emailing Buzzle. Explain your problem and they should solve it for you.

    Cheers,
    Colin Palfrey
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    • Profile picture of the author g00s3y
      Banned
      [DELETED]
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      • Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

        Issue a DMCA to their host and explain to ezinearticles that someone has copied your articles. 50% of the time when I ask the person to remove it with the threat of DMCA, they remove it. The other 50% of the time, the DMCA removes it.

        You can find out more about DMCAs with a sample one you can use at

        http://domainingdiva.com/legal-issue...ipoff-artists/
        This appears to be a sensible solution. However, I am not sure threatening anyone will have any sort of impact on their actions or even create a positive reaction. People who are dishonest enough to copy someone else's work, KNOWING there are copyright laws, simply DO NOT CARE.

        Originally Posted by g00s3y View Post

        I don't understand plagiarism, especially now. Is it so bad now that regular people trying to make money have to copy off of people putting their hard earned work into making that money. This type of thing sickens me. I hope you get it all resolved out in your favor.
        It sickens you and everyone of us who works hard to provide GREAT content to our clients and for ourselves. Unfortunately plagiarism has always existed and always will. We can fight it, but I guarantee it will never be eradicated. It is just like criminals, you take one off the streets, three more are graduating from the school of crime.

        Originally Posted by George Tee View Post

        It was original content written by my ghostwriter. I got him to write for me original content. And I even checked using copyscape.

        I didn't post it to my website as I'm using it purely as a article generation strategy and I won't have known this idiot stolen my content until ezinearticles.com suspend me. I won't have care about it but issue is ezinearticles.com staff doesn't really check every single article in detail.

        And the worst thing is I think you'll start from the BASIC again.

        Unfortunately buzzle didn't publish the time where they approved the article otherwise I could have proved that i'm the original author.

        Does anyone know how's the process of going to DMCA? Do you need to pay any fees for it? And how much proof do I need to provide to show I am the original author?
        ARE YOU 100% sure your ghostwriter did not resell any portion of your articles? I hate to say this but you may want to check there too...

        As for ezines, if you have no way of proving that you published the content first, it may be a lot harder to get them to consider you and not cancel your account. Do not give up and try to gather as much proof as possible, but it will not be easy.

        Next time I suggest you post everything to your blog first before you submit it. The blog will record the date and time you made your post, you can then use that to refute any accusations of taking someone's content that is actually yours.

        I hope I have helped you a bit. I understand it can be frustrating, just don't give up.
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  • Profile picture of the author jennypitts
    WOW... George that really stinks. I just noticed how by mere coincidence the articles were both posted on the same day. What I am confused about is, how or where did this person take your article from? I can clearly see that both were posted the same day. Could he have taken it from Buzzle and immediately copy pasted it elsewhere?

    If not, then what ContentArticleWriter said may have some validity. You may want to double check with your ghostwriter. It just seems odd to me that it happened on the same day. This means the article did not even have a chance to be crawled, indexed and ranked in SERPS in order for it to be stolen.

    I think you can continue your efforts on threatening this guy, particularly because there are Copyright laws that protect original content. The only problem is that these copyright laws are applicable in the US and I am not sure how or if they can be reinforced elsewhere. WHAT IS clear to me is that this copycat, aside from not having morale or consciousness, simply does NOT care. Especially after he said to you to prove to him the content IS yours, knowing he took it.

    The only thing I can recommend is that you try to clear your status with ezine and use this as a learning experience. Unfortunately often times we simply have to swallow hard, take the hit and try to improve our method of working in order to minimize these things... Good luck to you.
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    • Profile picture of the author Teravel
      You said "It was original content written by my ghostwriter. I got him to write for me original content."

      Sounds to me as though you should contact your Ghostwriter, and ask if they sold the article to someone else without informing you.
      My second suggestion would be to have your Ghostwriter open the original article, find the timestamp of when it was created (Should be before you and that other person posted it online), and use that to help prove that it was content written for you instead of the other guy.

      If by chance your Ghostwriter doesn't have the original copy, I would suggest moving to a new ghostwriter that uses an offline word processor and stores their original content.

      Whatever happens, I wish you the best of luck!

      Oh, one more thought. Perhaps contacting both websites that contain the duplicated article, and asking for a timestamp that shows the hour and minute it was posted. The one that was posted first would most likely be the original. Because the other guys copy has (very haphazardly) bold print, it would have taken a few seconds if not minutes to change those values. Which would show that he stole your content.
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      • Profile picture of the author eQuus
        Question to those who suggested posting to personal blog and eZine: post to which first?
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      • Profile picture of the author George Tee
        Originally Posted by Teravel View Post

        You said "It was original content written by my ghostwriter. I got him to write for me original content."

        Sounds to me as though you should contact your Ghostwriter, and ask if they sold the article to someone else without informing you.
        My second suggestion would be to have your Ghostwriter open the original article, find the timestamp of when it was created (Should be before you and that other person posted it online), and use that to help prove that it was content written for you instead of the other guy.

        If by chance your Ghostwriter doesn't have the original copy, I would suggest moving to a new ghostwriter that uses an offline word processor and stores their original content.

        Whatever happens, I wish you the best of luck!

        Oh, one more thought. Perhaps contacting both websites that contain the duplicated article, and asking for a timestamp that shows the hour and minute it was posted. The one that was posted first would most likely be the original. Because the other guys copy has (very haphazardly) bold print, it would have taken a few seconds if not minutes to change those values. Which would show that he stole your content.
        I have double checked with my ghostwriter. He couldn't have 2 timed as if you have submitted to buzzle.com before, they took 2-3 days to process it. It's very little possibility that my writer could have wait for the article to be posted and sell it away.

        If he were to sell, he won't have my last paragraph of my bio line in the article.

        But thanks for your suggestion of the time stamp. I think ours should have the time stamp on it.
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  • Profile picture of the author eQuus
    If the same article was posted on two sites the same day, then the ghost writer is two timing you. Don't use him again.
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