Confused messages haunt the modern cyberworld. On the one hand, there are the ideals of the Hackers' Ethic, which states that all information should be free. Forum posters around the world blithely copy the content of articles and news stories, opening up the discussion there. Some even include the original link, as a measure of accountability. This is the way of the internet and unlikely to be changed any time soon.
But what of more insidious interpretations of that all-prevailing code? What of people who take the original author's hard work, then copy it wholesale in order to make money for themselves? It is the theft of one person's labor, without compensation in the form of wages or other revenue. There used to be a name for that. These days, we call it plagiarism.
When Plagiarists Help Themselves to Your Work
It takes time to write an article. Sources must be found; major players must be contacted for comment or soundbites; an angle must be contemplated which makes this interesting or relevant to the subject matter at hand; then the words themselves are crafted. There is always far more research than is included in the final copy. This is what takes the time.
For freelance writers, there are extra elements too. The tedious process of SEO has to be undertaken, in order to achieve maximum exposure. This is, after all, the bread and butter that is feeding your family.
As a freelance writer myself, I know the time involved in the process, from idea to a shiny, new article out there for all the world to read. Take my interview with author Phil Rickman for example. Not including the time taken to read the book that I was talking to him about, it took several hours over the course of three days to produce that piece for Suite101. By "take my interview," I obviously don't mean literally, which is unfortunate, because Swebit.info already did. Word for word. Alfredy Simamora, the site's owner, also faithfully reproduced the copyright notice requiring him to ask my permission. He didn't do that.
This has happened to me several times before. One that actually made me cry was when my article about the Manic Street Preachers was stolen. Shinpakualliance copied it verbatim and covered it in advertisements. The first I knew was when my own page views dipped notably and I did a search. The plagiarized version ranked higher than my own. It had been tweeted 104 times. Only six people thought the original worthy of a tweet. I did the work, but Shinpakualliance gets any revenue due to it. Hayato Kurokawa, who owns the site, refuses to remove my article.
Update: Please note that since writing this article, both plagiarists have been forced to remove my work. I have unlinked the examples on their sites accordingly.
What to do When Your Work is Copied on Another Site Without Permission
Communicating with the site owner is the natural first step. Many websites include contact details, in the form of an e-mail address or a web-based form. Some individuals have no idea about the consequences of their actions and they are only too happy to remove the offending article. Others know well enough, but will only take down the stolen copy when they are caught out. Save all screenshots and correspondence, in case they are needed later.
If there are not any contact details apparent on the site, then a Whois lookup is necessary. This provides a wealth of information, including the site owner's real name, home and e-mail addresses and telephone number. It will also note the name of the host company providing the server. These may be used to communicate with the thief via a formal letter or alternative e-mail.
Remember, when sending this correspondence, include links to the original and plagiarized material. It is also sensible to screenshot both versions for your records. If this eventually becomes a legal matter, then you will need the evidence.
What to do if the Site Owner Refuses to Remove Plagiarized Online Content
There are four avenues to take to force the removal of your work. These will not only protect your own intellectual property, but that of others too. After all, if your articles are being stolen, then other writers are probably similarly being affected.
The Whois lookup will have provided the name of the host company. All websites have to be lodged somewhere and these companies are the ones to provide the space. Contact that company with all of your evidence. They will then have the option of removing the website from their servers. If it doesn't exist, then it's not plagiarizing anything anymore.
A variation of this is to afford it cyber invisibility. If sites aren't turning up on search engines, then few people will find them. This returns your original work to its natural ranking. The best way of doing this is to report the site, along with your links and evidence, to the major search engines. Google and the like take a dim view of plagiarism. If proven, these companies will refuse to list those sites.
Plagiarists like this are stealing content in order to make money. It is against the rules of most advertising curators or affiliates for their adverts to be placed beside questionable content. Check who is providing the revenue and report the plagiarism to them. Consider this a step first though, because this is effectively putting someone out of business. There are no second chances. Once companies like Google Adsense have pulled the plug, then the account is gone forever. The site owner cannot learn from their mistakes and set up again in the future with the same source of income.
Finally there is the publicity approach. If someone is stealing your articles, then they are reading them. If your articles are flooding into their site automatically, via a RSS feed, then their readers get to read every word you write too. An article all about the issue might be just the thing to highlight it right at the source of the problem.
Jo Harrington - Jo has a BA (Hons) in History and Philosophy and a MA in History. She has a book published on the history of Wicca.
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