So. I’m extremely pissed at the moment.
Last week, Jenny did a post about confronting a stupid plagiarist. I was appalled. Not only because the woman dared to call Jenny’s content her own, but because she was such a complete and utter bitch to Jenny when she was called on her misdeed. Although, I was mad on behalf of Jenny, I was sure no one had ever copied my content. I mean, I’m just a small blogger in a large bloggy sea, so no one would possibly be stealing my stuff and calling it their own. Right?
Today I went to Copyscape out of curiosity and found a blog that has two of my posts. This woman went to the trouble of copying and pasting them, but replaced my child’s name with her own – like these exact situations had happened to her! I searched through her blog (which I will not, not, not link to as this loser does not need any traffic!) and found many other posts from other writers. Like Dooce and Rockstar Mommy to name a couple – my oh my, the company I’m keeping!
Sadly, this non-writer does not have any contact information on her site, so I left some comments demanding that she remove my stuff from her blog (and I may have left her a few nasty comments, too). Now, I’ve had my content posted on splogs before – which is annoying as hell, but at least they link to you and you know they are just there trying to generate stupid ad revenue. What is so puzzling about this particular plagiarist is that I have no idea what her motivation is. She has no ads, so she’s not trying to earn a sleazy buck. She has no comments, so she’s obviously not trying to gain some sort of popularity in blogging circles. So, why the fuck is she stealing other people’s content? What is the point of having a “personal blog” when you’re committing the personal equivalent of identity theft? I am so confused. Looks like a certain no-talent hack needs to seriously get her head checked.
Why, dear readers, can everyone not be as sweet as you? Thank you for reminding me daily that the amazing people I have met as a result of this blog, far outweigh the small irritants that some with the territory.
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Speaking of sweetness, I have been abysmal in keeping up with awards and memes lately. I have now posted all of my awards and buttons here as the sidebar was getting all cluttered. Many, many thanks to Annie and VDog who gave me an award a trillion years ago and which I appreciated, but like a jerk, failed to acknowledge. And more recently, big huggy thanks go out to Amy and Plucky Mama who said such sweet things about me, I may have blushed- I hope to post their awards on my page some time in the next century.
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Now I’m off to figure out how to post all sorts of copyright nonsense on the wee blog to protect my words from crazy ass hats. As you may or may not know, I’m a vegetarian, but now I’m in the mood for hunting – Plagiarist Hunting. Would you like to join my hunting party?
I’m in! Plagiarist meat sounds yummy!
To be honest…anything you create is copyrighted whether is is registered or not (including all photos you take and content you write). I do know there are a few places that allow you to put a button on your site…but trust me…it is STILL copyrighted.
( Check out http://www.copyright.gov/ ) As long as you have the phrase “copyright [year] [your name]) or in place of copyright the little c with the circle, you are copyrighted. ( I looked all this up when I started piddling around on the internet with webpages).
However, unless you intend to actually take a person to court, there isn’t a whole lot you can do but ask them to take it down.
Being on the web there are some who feel that everything is freeware and don’t even bother to link back to the original source. All I ask is that at least just ASK me to use my stuff…most of the time I don’t care, but at least ask me and cite me as the source of your content (pictures, text, whatever).
That is the one thing I don’t like about WordPress (and other sites) is they don’t allow you to make it where you can’t copy and right click (yes, there IS code for that). That is why I don’t put a lot of pictures up on my own blog…I don’t want someone stealing them and using them for something else.
NOOOO
I am raging mad on your behalf. AND I have a couple of thoughts.
1) did you look her up on http://whois.domaintools.com? Sometimes, unless they’ve blocked it, you can get their name and contact info that way.
2) you can definitely get the host from the above URL. Contact them and demand they shut the site down if the owner doesn’t remove copyrighted content.
3) as Sandy said, your content IS copyrighted, regardless of whether you’re using the symbol or not.
4) if there are advertisements on the site, contact the advertisers and let them know that their ads are showing on a site that features plagierized content.
5) File a notice of copyright infringement with google using this URL: http://www.google.com/dmca.html. They’ll sometimes ban the site from google.
GOOD LUCK!!! Sorry this happened to you.
So annoying. You’re right though, so many great people out there it outweighs the toe jam lickers.
Sandy – Yes, Jenny from Absolutely Bananas also mentioned in her post that your blog content is automatically copyrighted (thanks for the info, anyhow:)) I’m not sure if someone who wants to steal content is aware of that, so I’ve chosen to give them a heads-up with a copyright notice – not that the would-be-thieves will care, I’m sure…
As I said, what really intrigues me is this thief’s motivation. If not to make some ad revenue or increase your traffic for a little ego-stroking, what is the point of stealing content?
That’s dreadful. And yes, peculiar if there’s no pecuniary interest. I hope you get some results.
Andi,
Thanks for letting me know that this person was also stealing my stuff as well. I don’t get why she goes through the trouble of copying things almost word for word but changes like one sentence.
This woman is indeed an asshat.
Sincerely,
MKD
Asshat! I love that word!
That’s nuts!
So splogs? – Is this what why posts of mine have been linked to, and appear on other seemingly random blogs? I wondered what the heck all that was about.
Thanks for the info and sorry they stole your content
No.Way.
Why the hell…who the hell? I don’t get it…what is the point in putting anything out there that isn’t your own?
I am on your side of outrage…’a hunting’ we shall go!
Oh, jeez. I’m on my way over to copyscape right now. Thanks for the heads up.
-Lilacspecs (who is toying with WordPress and logged in as Sketchartist)
Is it wrong that I’m a little offended that no one copied my stuff?
Sigh, I guess I’m just not good enough…
Seriously though- this sucks! At least it provides a little diversion from the weather.
I don’t know why they do it. Maybe it is some form of kleptomania or maybe they want a blog, but don’t feel like they can actually write anything and figure if they steal someone’s stuff, they will drive traffic to their site…and maybe they never really paid attention in school to realize that “in your own words” does not mean change one word or a couple of sentences to make it your own.
I have had stuff stolen off of my website before, but like the one you mentioned it didn’t go to another site where they made money so I didn’t stress it too much. If they made money…that is different as if my shit is making money I want a piece of that pie!!!
That is so bizarre. Who are these people? Why the heck would they want to have a fake blog full of things that happened to other people? I just don’t get it.
What a douchebag! Who the heck steals from someone else’s life?
I’m all for the hunting party….
Eeewww!! What a loser! I’m so sorry this happened to you, Andi!
And no problemo about the award — I’m super guilty of it myself!
xoxox,
V
I can’t believe people! It would honestly never occur to me to do that. Even if no one else called you on it, you would always know. Cheater, cheater, Eater of pumpkins!
This has happened to me. I forgot how I found it but I scolded the lady and she actually said sorry and fixed it…weird.
I say “A plague on the plagiarist!”
Wow – I’m so naive…I never even thought of that sort of thing happening. Sounds like you got some great links to fight back with. Happy hunting!
I check that Copyscape thing regularly since I first heard that people’s blogs were getting ripped off. So far so good. But I agree with the other commenters… why on earth would someone even want to do that. Weird.
Whew- that’s alarming. I never even considered this as a possibility….good thing I got a low-traffic, sketchy blog.
ugh! plagiarists make me sick to my stomach. I think they should be hung up by their toes!
Yuck! I can’t believe someone would steal someone else’s blog/life and pass it on as their own. I’m sorry you are going through this–how nasty.
Unbelievable.
And you’re right — it’s baffling. What is the point?
Keep us updated. I’m angry on your behalf.
Have you gotten any response????!!! I’m dying to know!
Found your site from Shamelessly Sassy’s – just wanted to say hi!
Now I’m pissed too – that is just so wrong. Why would you have a blog if you can’t bother to think of your own stuff to write about. LOSERS. Ew. I’m so annoyed.
[...] Date: 1716 transitive verb : to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own : use (another’s production) without crediting the source intransitive verb : to commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source — pla·gia·riz·er noun (From Merriam Webster Online) Just in case it is unclear what that means. You know who you are. [...]
Hello again. Apparently it is a big deal to rip off others blogs. Apparently you CAN report them to their domain host…and they can and will take action (even if they take the posts down, usually the domain keeps backups in case their servers fail).
There are a few FA blogs that have been ripped off, and here are the links talking about the Plagiarist if you are interested:
http://babble.sneakykitty.com/index.php/2008/02/05/look-familiar/
http://www.bigfatblog.com/mass-theft-fatosphere-content
http://kateharding.net/2008/02/05/big-plagiarist-mark/
In other words…if any of you have been plagiarized, feel free to locate their domain host and let them know of what is going on.
[...] Things were looking fairly bleak regarding the renegade blog for a few days. It felt like the comments being left by me and the other bloggers were being [...]
Since you wrote this I’ve been checking copyscape often. I just found THIS!!
http://www.mylo.info/glow-bolwing/#comment-10
Someone TOOOTALLY stole my blog. I’m gunna kick some ASS!!!