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QUESTION: Using Others' Content with reference

by TrueStory
14 replies
I am working on "directory" review and feedback portal site. I want to gather various reviews and articles on selected products and present them in one location. Basically if i am looking for "XYZ Product Review" in google, instead of having to go through twenty different forums, I can go to one place where ALL reviews from various sources are listed (of course with my affiliate links)

This is a two part question:

1) If I copy-paste someone else's article and provide reference at the bottom (for example:
Written By: XYZ
Originally posted on http://www.xxxxxx.com/link-to-article ) is this good practice? I cannot imagine original content owners minding if i provide them follow link-backs to their site?

2) How would such content (from variety of sources) affect my SEO and page rank?

I am also planning on writing original content too, but 90% of my site will consist of other people's writing with rightful credit to the original site.
#content #question #reference
  • Profile picture of the author KingOfContentMarketing
    TS- I don't see what this has to do with sales copywriting. In addition, I think you are in for a world of legal hurt if you start copying and pasting articles unless the author allows it.
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    • Profile picture of the author TrueStory
      Originally Posted by Joe Ditzel View Post

      TS- I don't see what this has to do with sales copywriting. In addition, I think you are in for a world of legal hurt if you start copying and pasting articles unless the author allows it.
      Joe,

      I thought about that too, but primarily my reviews will come from the forum and I will provide backlink and credit to the original author. The worst that can happen is author asks to remove the post/article from my website.

      I wasn't sure which section to place this into, I figured it's copy-writing related.
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      • Profile picture of the author angiecolee
        Originally Posted by TrueStory View Post

        Joe,

        I thought about that too, but primarily my reviews will come from the forum and I will provide backlink and credit to the original author. The worst that can happen is author asks to remove the post/article from my website.

        I wasn't sure which section to place this into, I figured it's copy-writing related.
        1. Joe's right. Copywriting and article writing are two different things.

        2. The worst that can happen is the original author has that material copyrighted (as in filed the paperwork instead of just relying on DMCA) and sues you for damages. You are infringing if you're reproducing an entire article without the author's permission for your own personal gain.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by TrueStory View Post

    1) If I copy-paste someone else's article and provide reference at the bottom (for example:
    Written By: XYZ
    Originally posted on http://www.xxxxxx.com/link-to-article ) is this good practice? I cannot imagine original content owners minding if i provide them follow link-backs to their site?
    Here's the rub...

    How would you feel if someone took your original content, stripped out your affiliate links, added theirs and posted your content on their site with one silly little back-link? Does it still feel like a fair trade?

    Unlike you, I can imagine original content owners minding such a deal quite a bit.

    You might get away with a simple take-down request. You might find your site gone completely due to a DMCA filed with your web host. You might find someone at your door serving papers for a lawsuit for damages. (Just ask anyone who has tried this with images owned by Getty Images...)
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    • Profile picture of the author TrueStory
      Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

      Here's the rub...

      How would you feel if someone took your original content, stripped out your affiliate links, added theirs and posted your content on their site with one silly little back-link? Does it still feel like a fair trade?

      Unlike you, I can imagine original content owners minding such a deal quite a bit.

      You might get away with a simple take-down request. You might find your site gone completely due to a DMCA filed with your web host. You might find someone at your door serving papers for a lawsuit for damages. (Just ask anyone who has tried this with images owned by Getty Images...)
      Good point.

      What about forums that discuss the product?

      Forum posts almost never have affiliate reviews. Those can't be targeted under DMCA license, because all posts belong to forum owner.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by TrueStory View Post

        Good point.

        What about forums that discuss the product?

        Forum posts almost never have affiliate reviews. Those can't be targeted under DMCA license, because all posts belong to forum owner.
        Not necessarily. You have to read the terms for each forum.

        For example, on this forum, posters own their content but they give the owner of the forum a very broad license to use that content. Note that this license does NOT extend automatically to forum members.

        In other words, if you were to copy this post and put it on your site as you outlined, I would still have every right to issue a DMCA notice. Your response to that notice would be to show that you do indeed have permission to use the content. Saying "I found it on the Warrior Forum" would not be good enough.

        And if I found my posts copied and used without my permission, I would issue those notices with copies to both the person's web host and domain registrar.

        Even if what you say were true, a post belonging to the forum owner does not make it fair game for anyone else to use as they please.
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        • Profile picture of the author fin
          Here's an idea: why don't you actually do some work?
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Always ask an author if you can reprint their material onto your website. If you want permission free articles (that are already approved by the author)... use content from EzineArticles.
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  • Profile picture of the author Resale Rights Ninja
    you can quote a sentence and acknowledge the author for that but not whole articles.
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  • Profile picture of the author TrueStory
    There is a reason behind this idea (had nothing to do with 'doing some work')

    The problem with many review sites is that all reviews come from the same place, usually by same author. Which raises many red flags by reader. I wanted to create a site-portal that collects reviews from all over the internet. Bad and good reviews. Thus providing genuinely impartial content to the user.

    I never intended to pass anyone else's work as my own. I wanted to create a "Review Directory" where visitor can see who wrote the review ( author ) and where it's coming from.

    None the less, before everyone one attacked my hypothetical question and implied that I was lazy, nobody ever considered that there are number of content sites which use sections and/or complete articles from other sources providing proper citing.

    Many medical blogs quote and re-publish articles from med-publications with proper reference to original author. (who is typically a doctor or a university professor).

    However, many of you brought up a point, I think it's a good idea to ask an author to use his content prior to putting it up on the site. But this become extremely difficult when it comes to forums where original posters might never log into that forum (for something they posted in 2009).
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    • Profile picture of the author fin
      Originally Posted by TrueStory View Post

      There is a reason behind this idea (had nothing to do with 'doing some work')

      The problem with many review sites is that all reviews come from the same place, usually by same author. Which raises many red flags by reader. I wanted to create a site-portal that collects reviews from all over the internet. Bad and good reviews. Thus providing genuinely impartial content to the user.

      I never intended to pass anyone else's work as my own. I wanted to create a "Review Directory" where visitor can see who wrote the review ( author ) and where it's coming from.

      None the less, before everyone one attacked my hypothetical question and implied that I was lazy, nobody ever considered that there are number of content sites which use sections and/or complete articles from other sources providing proper citing.

      Many medical blogs quote and re-publish articles from med-publications with proper reference to original author. (who is typically a doctor or a university professor).

      However, many of you brought up a point, I think it's a good idea to ask an author to use his content prior to putting it up on the site. But this become extremely difficult when it comes to forums where original posters might never log into that forum (for something they posted in 2009).
      NOBODY is going to let you use their sales copy/reviews and use your own affiliate links. If you can't see that I'd suggest looking closely at your business model.

      I can see why you want to do it. I think you just need to rethink it. Sometimes being a good salesman is stepping back and looking at something from a different perspective.
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      • Profile picture of the author Bokva
        I'm so careful with rights since I got DMCA for a picture from a RSS feed (!?) on one of my autopilot blogs.

        I used affiliate RSS feed from well known affiliate network and one day I got DMCA notice from Hostgator. Author didn't contact me to discuss, but my hosting to turn my site down! Luckily, Hostgator didn't suspend my site till I prove that picture is not hosted at my site. There are hosting companies out there, especially small ones - scared to death, they'll shut down entire site for DMCA.
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by TrueStory View Post

      nobody ever considered that there are number of content sites which use sections and/or complete articles from other sources providing proper citing.
      No - I think YOU have missed the point several people have tried to tell you.

      YOU CANNOT JUST COPY AND PASTE PEOPLE'S CONTENT.

      Just because you've seen other websites print content they don't own doesn't mean it's ok.

      Several people have told you - unless you get permission or the material is published with information for people wanting to reprint it (i.e "please leave links intact, please only reprint entire article etc. etc.) then you're stealing.

      Some might say that the exception to this is when people publish their content but don't offer any reprint rights and then syndicate it with RSS, but we won't go there.

      The simple answer is - you can't use people's content unless they say you can.

      If they don't state what you can and can't do - then you can't use it.

      By default it is protected.

      Sure, I know a lot of people ignore it in the same way they steal images by searching Google images and just taking anything they find - that doesn't mean it's legal or that you should run your business by doing it.

      If you think it'll be too hard to get content unless you take it without permission then your business model is the problem.

      Anyway - the answer to your question is simple - no matter how many references you include to the original author, you can't just use their material without their permission.
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      nothing to see here.

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  • Profile picture of the author Nicola Lane
    A good rule to follow is: If you want to use anything for your website you will need to have permission.

    If you buy the content then you have bought that permission. There are some sites that give automatic permission providing you follow their terms (like article directories), but for everything else you will need to ask (it is more than just “a good idea”).

    There are a few very limited exceptions to this – but if you have to ask about them then you probably don’t know enough to be using them – so ask for permission!

    Other sites that re-publish content have permission.

    The grant of permission will often require the use of a citation – that is why you see the see the reference and link.

    If you can’t get hold of the original author – then you need to consider yourself out of luck – and move on to an author you can get hold of.

    Hope this helps.
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