Friday, May 23, 2008

Caught! What To Do About Content Stealers by S McIntyre

First and foremost anything you write, draw, paint and photograph is protected by copyright laws and it is known as intellectual property.

I think one time or another each of us have had something stolen from us. I, for one know I have had ad copies, blog post, contest ideas and even a portion of my home page's content stolen from me. Certainly it's not a good feeling and it's not a considered a compliment or flattery in any way, shape or form! It's pathetic and downright wrong on so many levels.

Do they think they can get away with it? Do they think it's okay? Just because it's on the Internet it doesn't mean it's a free-for-all. To understand copyright laws, visit www.copyright.gov

What can you do when you find your content taken without your permission?

When they steal an ad copy, ask them to remove it. Report it to the website administrator where you found your stolen work. Most administrators will not tolerate this kind of behaviour.

When they steal an article, let them know you are the original author and ask them to credit the work with your resource box or have them remove the plagiarized work immediately.

When they steal your website's content, notify them via email with a cease and desist order. You can Google for a sample of a cease and desist order letter. If they fail to respond or fail to remove the copied content within the timeframe you presented, contact their web hosting company and let them know of the situation. You can also contact their advertisers and let them know their ads are shown on a site containing copied/stolen content. If all fails, it's time to report the offending site to Google and other search engines.

To prove you are the owner of the stolen work start searching through Google and screen capture the results from a cached file. You can use screen capturing software or use the "Print Screen" key on your keyboard and then copy it to Paint.

Let it be known, people who resort to these tactics really don't belong online. Their lack of credibility and integrity will not get them far and they will fail.

S McIntyre owns Work At Home Space http://www.workathomespace.com, a free work at home resource focusing on telecommuting companies, daily telecommute job leads, articles, business resources and other work at home related topics. You can also visit her blog Healthy Perspectives http://healthyperspectives.blogspot.com, featuring an array of health topics, nutrition, reicpes and fitness for maintaining an overall healthy and well-balanced lifestyle.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Cindy,

You're covering a very important topic here. So many people out there are prone to theft of content, especially in the form of plagiarism. A general knowledge of copyright laws is a good means of avoiding such a problem. Glad to see you know the importance of this, and have the heart to tell WAHMs out there all about it.

I'm an official Microsoft ambassador and right now we're really trying to scale up our connections with influential bloggers like yourself. I'd love to share with you some of the stuff we've been doing in the last couple months to help women entrepreneurs; we're really committed to providing all the necessary resources to help women start, grow and expand their business.

We just wrapped up a women's entrepreneurial tour across the US; the response and turn-out was great!

I'd really love your take on these offerings we have right now; I would have contacted you via email but I didn't know which was the best way to reach you.

Thank you so much, I hope I didn't overstep my bounds by directly contacting you. Definitely get back to me if I’ve piqued your interest-- I’d love to share more info with you.

Best,
Kimberly
Official Microsoft Ambassador
k-rosenberg@live.com