Someone is copying my content! - What can I do?

Just issue a DMCA to Ebay and their host
Instructions and sample DMCA letter here.

Of course they cannot legally just rip off your content

First of all, you most definitely have a legal right to your own content. It's called intellectual property. Even if you did not expressly give a copyright notice, in the United States, you have an assumed copyright on everything that you personally create.

I would send them a message through eBay, telling them that you are the owner of the content that they are using. Tell them that you worked hard on it and would like them to take it down. You might have to threaten that you will contact eBay about this.

I am not sure exactly what eBay would do though. When people copy my content without permission and post it on a website, I always contact their hosting company. Hosts don't like their servers to hold illegal content, so they will usually deal with it. I'm assuming that eBay will do something similar.

But, don't think for one second that you don't have a right to your own creations. This idiot either knew what he was doing or was totally clueless which does not excuse his behavior. Good people do not steal things - even information off of the internet.

Purse this for sure. Hope that helps.

-Noah Whitmore

I would email them first and see if they take it down. I'm not a lawyer so I don't know where you stand legally.

My suggestion is try and get it handled between you two first. Chances are though if he's weak enough to steal your content, he won't act on your first contact. It might take some persistence.

I hope it works out for you.

Here is a link to a sample DMCA take down notice. You should send a version to eBay, the seller, and any payment processors that you see him using.

http://ebrianrose.com/get-those-bast...hted-material/

I've sent them an email & asked for it to be removed. I'll see what their reply is before contacting ebay.

I'm seriously pissed! I spend alot of time creating & tweaking that content for my website. Looking at their ebay listing they've made alot of sales through using my content.

I think the fact that they're using my content for financial gain makes it worse for them.

I've also added a section in my privacy policy page telling people they don't have permision to use my content.

DMCA notice is your best bet, but be aware the person who receives the DMCA notice will have that notice in hand and have ALL your details.

Before issuing a DMCA politely ask them to remove the copyrighted content.

raise some complain with the hosting company for their site it is helpful I had similiar problem and that is how we settled it

Well done ebay!

Contacted ebay about the person who was using content from my website on their ebay listing. Whithin hours ebay had the listing taken down.

If they don't have a link back to my website, I email them first and if no response ... email their host next.

Congratulation BarryOnline, for getting your article free from illegal use.

It was a good decision to go to eBay first. Only you are the only owner of your own creation.

but guys, one question, is there a way to protect our website content to be copied by anyone ? well at least make it hard to copy and paste into their own. I observed few online magazines apply that trick, anyone know how to do that ?? thanks

email them and try being nice at first if they refuse contact ebay if that don't work it will be hard to get them to take it down. You may have to threaten legal action but remember the copy cat may not even live in the same country.

How do you know when someone has stolen your content?
You have to search through the web for it??
I mean, I would need to continueously copy&paste my articles (or paragraphs of them), search for them individually, and cross my fingers that some knucklehead hasn't splitered them?
Sounds like a hassle....

Thank you for your post. I'm building a site with totaly original content and the thought of someone else copy and pasting it was a worry. I'm glad there is a way to check and resolve the issue.

I would like to thank all participants in this thread, esp Barry who has experienced such difficulty, thus bringing attention to the problem, I have never considered copyscape previously, and believed that all 'copy' was public unless there was a correctly worded, legal script to accompany a site. As I develop my skills in the future, this will prove to be invaluable learning. Thank you.

Copyright law is the same for all countries that have signed the Berne convention. You can find the full list of countries here.

You own the copyright of Everything you create. That's the main concept. The problem is that you need third party proof in order to prove your copyright.

If you have such proof, you can take some screen shoots of the stolen material and go legally.
In any case, make sure you register your copyright to a service like Copyrightsworld , so you have solid and multiple proof of ownership for future reference.