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Do people take your content?

by JRemington
18 replies
Hey,

I read here that people are often getting content published by others without permission being asked.

I've found 2 or 3 sites that find my articles on EZA and then proceed to publish almost every single one on their own sites. They publish other people's articles too I'm sure.

Some of them credit EZA as the original source, some credit no one.

Does everyone agree that the best action to take is to ask for them to credit the real source and if they don't respond, to get it taken down?

OR

Whether they link to me or not, could this actually help my rankings, as it's an identical copy of my content, yet mine was the first version on the web (good for SEO). So maybe I should let them leave it up there?

Any help appreciated
#content #duplicate content article #people
  • Profile picture of the author Rsberg
    As a semi-autoblogger who uses content from EZA occasionally I can tell you that whoever is using your articles should be leaving them "as is" per EZA TOS. You can ask them to take your articles off thier site (and if you do they should) but just in case you didnt know, EZA does allow for this in their TOS but they are supposed to be left "as is"...with all original links in place.
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    • Profile picture of the author kimkitch
      This is your work so why should you not get credit.
      I would definitely not let them get away with it.

      Kim
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    • Profile picture of the author JRemington
      Originally Posted by Rsberg View Post

      As a semi-autoblogger who uses content from EZA occasionally I can tell you that whoever is using your articles should be leaving them "as is" per EZA TOS. You can ask them to take your articles off thier site (and if you do they should) but just in case you didnt know, EZA does allow for this in their TOS but they are supposed to be left "as is"...with all original links in place.
      I'm surprised people do this so openly and so fast. Some of my content only went live a couple of weeks ago.

      Anyway, I guess I'll just contact all of these sites with a prepared email.
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      • Profile picture of the author Warrior Child
        Suggest you to take your articles off their site even if they use it "as is where is" basis with all the original links in place and also secure your web content/article with content security features to defend your site of plagiarism.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by JRemington View Post

    Do people take your content?
    Yes, occasionally.

    I do watch out for it, and very easily take largely automated steps to correct it when I discover it, and that's been a profitable thing for me to do and overall a productive (though small) use of my time.

    When I find articles of mine which have been syndicated without my backlinks, knowledge or consent, I send a mostly pre-written "fill-in-the-blanks" email to the culprit, and my primary objective (at that stage) isn't the removal of the content: it's the addition of my links ("resource-box"). If that fails, then I just serve a pre-written "fill-in-the-blanks" DMCA notice on them, with copies to their registrar, their host and Google. That does the trick about 99% of the time. Either way, I don't lose any sleep (or much time) over this.

    Originally Posted by JRemington View Post

    Does everyone agree that the best action to take is to ask for them to credit the real source and if they don't respond, to get it taken down?
    Very much so.

    There are people (though very few of them, I think) who adduce in discussion the fact that this can happen as a "reason for not syndicating their own articles"!

    My answers to them tend to be along the lines of ...

    (i) This is a very minor, non-time-consuming and easily correctable thing to happen, and ...

    (ii) Do you also never buy a car to get about, just in case someone ever steals it?
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  • Profile picture of the author inhwanie
    Usually I don't bother with it because I do better than them regardless of whether they take my content or not. But occasionally it'll become a problem and I take similar steps as Alexa has mentioned. Mostly, its a problem when someone steals your product than a couple articles though.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    If they are using your content with permission or credit, issue a DMCA. Instructions and sample DMCA here

    http://domainingdiva.com/legal-issue...ipoff-artists/
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    • Profile picture of the author SwiftBlog
      If they are using your content with your links intact I would leave it be, they are only hurting themselves with dupe content and helping you with link juice. If they stole your content and removed their links, you can request that they take it down, but it won't hurt you in either case. It is controversial whether or not using dupe content will help them at all.
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      • Profile picture of the author Rsberg
        Originally Posted by SwiftBlog View Post

        If they are using your content with your links intact I would leave it be, they are only hurting themselves with dupe content and helping you with link juice. If they stole your content and removed their links, you can request that they take it down, but it won't hurt you in either case. It is controversial whether or not using dupe content will help them at all.
        I think you need to do some research and find out what is and is not actually considered duplicate content before you post about it...

        I won't go into it here as I don't want to completely hijack this thread (and turn it into a copy of the multiple other threads on the subject) but your understanding of duplicate content is mistaken and shouldn't be passed on to others, no point in confusing them as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author ContentMachine
    Sometimes, it is difficult to keep track. If I ever come across anyone with my contact, I contact them ASAP
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  • Profile picture of the author laustinseo
    taking your content and posting it is basicly black hatting, make sure Google recognises that your content is your, and put a few links within your content to your site and other internal pages. That way whilst the black hat site is up, you will recieve extra links which can be good for SEO and then they should be taken down if Google recognises the content is yours first.
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  • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
    People take my articles and even my damn YouTube videos in one niche, then try and proclaim that they are the ones who wrote and edited (vids) the masterpieces.

    Now that I think about it, I guess my ego loves when someone steals my stuff. I've noticed that since the Panda bear hit, people have been taking my article content less and less.

    The Youtube vids? Well that's another story entirely LOL.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    When I feel like taking a mental beating (thankfully, not often) I'll run one or two of my articles through a plagiarism checker. I can find at least one unauthorized piece of my work almost every time I do this. It would take all of my time to try and fight it so I rarely bother anymore except for the most blatant cases.
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  • Profile picture of the author EdgarQ
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author dv8domainsDotCom
      Originally Posted by EdgarQ View Post

      This is rather embarrassing, I am usually the person who extracts content from Article Directories and post them onto my Auto Blog. I ensure that the credits are displayed when appropriate.
      Hey Edgar I can't speak for everybody of course, but I think you are okay here my friend. You are ensuring that the credits are displayed (not just when appropriate, but every time I hope?).

      When people post content to an article directory, it is rarely with the hope that they are getting traffic directly to "that" article on the original site that it is posted on. They are hoping for syndication (distribution to other blogs/etc, hoping that the "big whale" might pick up on their article with due credit); along with this syndication comes increased exposure for backlinks (primarily) and hopefully, traffic/sales from secondary/tertiary sources.

      "Taking" content (in this context) might comprise of stealing original works directly from somebody's blog (with or without credit, this is w-r-o-n-g unless with permission ) OR, copying it from one of those article directories where the primary intent IS to get syndicated, but then NOT crediting the source and leaving links intact (typically a EULA/ToS violation).

      In short, I think you're fine. I'm sure I'll be promptly corrected if any of the above is misleading.
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  • Profile picture of the author jaywebdev
    How about if they paraphrasing or changing some of the synonyms words of your own article can you still say it's your own article? But obviously it's yours? What's step should be done?
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  • Profile picture of the author fluffythewondercat
    Sometimes people blatantly steal entire articles from my blog, which has a stated acceptable use policy. I don't publish to article directories, so that's not even an issue.

    I send them what I call a pre-DMCA notice, referencing their WHOIS info and asking them if the addresses are correct because I need accurate information to issue a DMCA violation notice.

    You wouldn't believe how fast the stolen content gets removed.

    fLufF
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    • Profile picture of the author mcass
      This is bad probably but if they steal it, I really don't want to know. Seems like such a hassle when it is likely something that didn't take me long to write.

      However, if I were to write an eBook or something creative, like a poem or short story, and then post it online or sell it... I would be really bothered if someone took it and would take legal action.

      Why not register your online content with the copyright office? It gives you a bit more clout if you had to pursue legal action.
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