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Copying and Pasting from other Blogs?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I thought this may end up better here, as it could be more of a debating topic...

So, I've noticed people have been copying and pasting stuff from my blog onto theirs. I wouldn't really mind, but it's own and personal experiences that's pissing me off. Fair enough they could 'quote' it, but using it as their experience when personally, it was mine and I've wrote it how I've experienced it.

Is there a way I can stop this from happening? And have any of yous' wrote a blog post and experienced anyone copying and pasting it to their blog?

Taaaa.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I found that someone was literally copying my whole blog and it looked exactly the same, except it was at another address. A few strongly worded emails sorted it out. You should try leaving a comment on their blog and getting in touch with them, asking if they would kindly stop copying. If that fails then get in touch with the website hosting the blog and point out dates/times mentioning you have tried getting in touch, and asking if they will remove the offending posts.


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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Will try that. It's just pathetic. The whole point I started writing it was thinking it would help someone. By all means I don't mind if they're writing about the same topic, but the copying and pasting has just threw me into shock tbh!

    Will leave them a comment and hopefully they back-off!

    Thank you for replying! :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Will try that. It's just pathetic. The whole point I started writing it was thinking it would help someone. By all means I don't mind if they're writing about the same topic, but the copying and pasting has just threw me into shock tbh!

    Will leave them a comment and hopefully they back-off!

    Thank you for replying! :)

    From a technical aspect, there is no way of stopping someone from copying and pasting what you've put on your blog. The general rule with the internet is that everything will be copy and pasted (copypasta).
    Getting upset by it is kind of pointless.
    If you're really annoyed by it, then you can contact the Web host, of which ever site and threaten legal action against them as they are hosting the content (they should remove all of your copyright infringed work - rather quickly).
    I wouldn't even bother contacting the person who is doing it, because it gives them time to save/backup all their files and move to a different host.

    If you still get problems, learn to use Photoshop or any other imaging software, write your blog content on there, watermark it, and upload the picture. But that still doesn't simply stop people from sitting there reading it and copying it word for word.

    Last but not least, if they're copying you that must mean you're posting some good content.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thanks Shikari!

    It's not that I'm upset by it, it's just like shocked me that they'd do that. I mean, they can write about their own experiences, I'm not stopping them from doing that. I guess it was more of it was a personal experience and they've just gone and took it.

    Hopefully it won't happen any more, but if it does, I guess reality I can't do much!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Shikari, you can come across as a bit of a heartless person at time. Perhaps the person writing it doesn't realise that they're upsetting someone. As the OP have said, she doesn't mind them using the content if they quote it, but what they are doing is plagiarism pure and simple. If it bothers the OP enough I would strongly suggest doing something about it which they are entitled to. Much as Shikari seems rather cynical about the Internet, "it just happens and there's not much you can do" isn't enough.


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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'd just post "wow, you too, I wrote about almost the exact same thing on my blog a week ago! http://myblog.blogity.blog"

    Alternatively, simply feel proud that you wrote about the issues in such a way that you expressed what others wished they could.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Haha, thanks Carriage!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    G-Raffe wrote: »
    Shikari, you can come across as a bit of a heartless person at time. Perhaps the person writing it doesn't realise that they're upsetting someone.

    I just tend to be straight to the point, specially with IT related things as they're my specialty. Although to be fair, piracy, copyright, and plagiarism are all the things that make the internet brilliant, as there are no rules, no limits.

    But to be far, the person copying the blog, can just reopen new ones and copy everything again and again.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    There are rules though, just because people choose to ignore them doesnt mean they don't exist.

    As for getting to the point as you put it, sometimes you jump straight in and miss the point completely.


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  • *Seany**Seany* Deactivated Posts: 51 Boards Initiate
    Great topic Sophie!

    What do we think more broadly about online content ownership though?

    I guess one of the things that makes the web so attractive to content creators and publishers is that it has almost limitless reach, so could it not be argued that there's always going to be a trade off between getting your content to the largest possible audience, and the possibility that some people might decide to nick it?

    People like the BBC get around this by attaching DRM controls to their content which, when you download it from iPlayer, lets it sit on your computer for 30 days before deleting itself (though I'm told there are ways around that...). But smaller and less experienced content creators (bloggers, youtubers etc) might not necessarily have the expertise or money to defend their content like large orgs.

    What do you guys think?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I suppose it can be compared in a way to locking your doors on a night time at home. If you dont lock your doors then it makes life for the criminals pretty easy, and insurance folk might turn round and say that cant do anything about it, but still doesnt mean that the actions of the robbers were justified in anyway.

    If you create something like a blog, then they are your words and if anyone else is passing the things off as their own then its out and out plagiarism. Unfortunately with the world wide web its not that easy to rectify these things. However there is always the chance that the person stealing the posts doesnt realise the harm they are causing, or in fact that its wrong. If you dont ask you dont know, and they might well in fact stop doing it if you ask. They might not, but you never know till you ask.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If its copyrighted its copyrighted, you can't steal it.

    It does depend on the media though as there are contextual issues. Create good content and then lock it down and make it difficult/impossible to view? People will circumvent your systems and use their own, in the same way the Chinese made knock off iphones because apple wouldn't sell them there.

    For personal blogs that are open for anyone, the main reason to steal content is to make money off it. However google are making it harder to do this, with their panda update last year.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    For the OP, I'm just assuming that you are using blogger, but they have a page where you can put in links or the offending content.

    http://support.google.com/bin/request.py?&product=blogger&contact_type=lr_dmca
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    G-Raffe wrote: »
    For the OP, I'm just assuming that you are using blogger, but they have a page where you can put in links or the offending content.

    http://support.google.com/bin/request.py?&product=blogger&contact_type=lr_dmca

    I use Wordpress, Blogger is confusing!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    G-Raffe wrote: »
    There are rules though, just because people choose to ignore them doesnt mean they don't exist.

    As for getting to the point as you put it, sometimes you jump straight in and miss the point completely.
    I like that, you're right i do jump the gun sometimes.

    No there are no rules on the internet, none what so ever. There are laws dictated in certain countries to stop you from doing different things, such as ThePirateBay Virgin Media ban in this country - easily circumvented. But again that's not a rule on the internet, that's a rule in a country.
    Specially if you get into things like deepweb (Research Tor). There are different levels of the internet.
    Like i said this is what makes the internet brilliant, is that you can't control it or stop it. But this is a longer debate i'm sure.

    But like i said earlier, there is a solution.
    Go to a solicitor or go online, get a cease and desist letter. Fill out all the various things, also find out how long they've been using your content, let's say it's a month. Say the licence to use your content is £250 a week (You can make this up). Send them an invoice for £1000 to use your content along with the Cease and Desist letter. Also send this to the web host, which would be wordpress.com (They should have a Copyright support page anyway).
    And if they don't stop then you'll have to take them/the host to court. (If you firmly believe their copying is this damaging).

    Copy us a link to your blog and i'll look further into it.
    I know Facebook has a brilliant copyright policy, it removes any offending material within 24 hours.


    Although, i do want you to all look at your iPods and MP3 players etc before you accuse others of stealing.
    EDIT: Also copy the link to the offending blog here as well please, i may be able to work some magic.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You're rambling a bit there Shikari. Your pragmatic advice is basically, lawyer up? Not exactly cost effective for a blogger to do by themselves.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I will say once again, just because it is easy to circumvent the law, doesnt mean that you are not breaking it. Also, I believe the situation has been resolved now. Call it intuition.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    G-Raffe wrote: »
    I will say once again, just because it is easy to circumvent the law, doesnt mean that you are not breaking it. Also, I believe the situation has been resolved now. Call it intuition.
    Okay then.

    And SkyBoy what else can you do but lawyer up? If they ignore your letters and requests to remove their stuff and the host does too. You can either sit there and let them steal it, or lawyer up. Just hope they're from the UK if you do.
    I suppose you could hack their website, use social engineering to find their passwords, or find a flaw in their blog and remove the content yourself.

    Also just slightly concerned to why people are taking digs, just offering my help D;
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ShyBoy wrote: »
    If its copyrighted its copyrighted, you can't steal it.
    If the the copyright is not explicitly waived it's copyrighted*, one can't steal it.

    *copyrighted being a colloquial term for "protected by copyright"
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You steal the copyright by making unauthorised reproductions. Copyright is literally, the right to copy, and is granted to the creator of works under law (mainly because in ye olden days, you would write a great novel, then a random book publishing company would just print it and sell it and you'd see squat). It's not theft under the law, but 'stealing' isn't a legal term but more the action of depriving someone of something that is theirs. You have deprived them of their right to copy / say who/how/where it can be copied.
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