8.12.2008

Hello Tuesday. I wonder what else you have in store for me today.

Monday had a stomp on the toes, when I realized an article I'd written had been stolen and used on another blog. Not just my article, but the images I'd used with permission from other bloggers. The whole package. Which. is. not. cool.


As a matter of fact, I would like to loudly utter some serious cuss words at the people who think stealing is okay. It's not. Especially when you integrate penis enhancement pharmaceuticals and lingerie ads into my content. That's a boot to the head, after you've kicked me when I'm down. I've talked about stealing before. I am vehemently against stealing (hello!? Is there anyone out there that truly believes stealing is okay??)

Despite emailing Wordpress, the server host, their actual company, and SEO-Blog, which seems to be owned by the same people, the content was still up this morning. Since beginning this post, though, the blog and user were suspended.

If you have a similar problem, don't hesitate to send a Cease and Desist letter and copies of that letter to their host and other connected organizations. As artists, writers, creative people, it's important to stand up for your copyright protection. Feel it out, some people don't realize they've infringed because trends and ideas can spread rapidly on the internet, and simple communication may help resolve the issue. Unfortunately, some people are out for a quick buck and have no regard for originality.

I'm not a lawyer, but here are some good resources:

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: This is a good place to start, to know your rights and navigate copyright.
Chilling Effects: Observing the legal climate of the internet. They track Cease and Desist letters.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

good lord, renee, that is HORRIBLE!! why do people think this is ok? people are just jealous of your brilliant brain it seems. :) i hope you can get it all taken care of-- what a serious bummer.

Unknown said...

oh my goodness! that is awful!
*

Anonymous said...

That's really terrible Renee. I'm really sorry that happened to you...these thieving scraper sites really deserved to have greater reprimands taken against them.

modish said...

yeah, you got 'em! I forget to tell you they responded to my "you've stolen content off my blog and I think you're a big piece of shi-ite" email too saying the blog had been suspended. I guess it pays to report and stand up for your rights, eh? Good job! I hope the low down dogs are gone for good, I feel weird having anyone troll around my blog like that...

Jessie said...

Good for you, Renee!

Anonymous said...

I've seen this sort of thing and I wonder how they have the resources to do it. Must be some kind of bot? I can't imagine someone wasting all that time to seed content... it's just... crazy.

If it happens again you can do something fun Mike Davidson did when it happened to him.

1) Change all of your image names, and update your post with the new locations.

2) Post pictures of something that would completely embarrass the offender, ala:

http://mike.newsvine.com/_news/2007/03/27/633799-hacking-john-mccain

^_^