Protect Your Writing on the Web
I’m a little sad I need to offer this tip, but it is a reality: on the web, writing that you have created, shaped, and edited into good form to share with your readers gets swiped. It is unethical, but it happens.
You may publish a blog, or post a white paper, sales copy, product details, a newsletter or best practice tips on your company site. CopyScape is a free site that quickly runs a search for duplicate content from your site, offering an easy protection check for your content.
Enter your site URL on CopyScape, and you will see a list of sites that have similar text to your site. Of course, if a site has used your content, it should be linked and credit stated.
What steps should you take if you discover your writing has been used without credit to you or without permission?
1. Contact the site.
Most sites list contact information, so a politely worded email is a good start: “I wish you well in your endeavor, but you need to find your own words to promote it.” In nearly all situations, you will receive an embarrassed apology in response, and your material will be removed from the offending site immediately. If you received no response, proceed to step #2.
2. Run a Who Is domain search, where you can find detailed contact information. Save this in case you need to escalate the issue. Email another much more firmly worded demand for the content to be removed, or call. I recently had a newsletter swiped and called the company and explained I was the author. That call resolved the issue right away, but if the offender stonewalls or refuses, move on to step #3.
3. Notify the Site Host , alerting the web hosting company that the site contains plagiarized content, especially if the offending site is profiting from your work.
4. Notify Site Advertisers, which cuts off the offending site’s revenue.
5. Name (shame) them on your blog!
I don’t recommend this, unless your audience is a very narrow community, because flame wars generally help no one. State the site, link to it, and expose the offender. This is only effective when your audience knows with full certainty that the material was certainly yours originally.
6. Legal Action
If all else fails. You can always start here, but I’d rather try to resolve it myself before incurring legal fees. And, I confess I’m territorial about my writing, so I want the opportunity to talk directly to the plagiarizer. Usually, it’s a learning lesson and ends well.
Steps 2 – 6 will very likely be unnecessary, because most content thieves apologize and remove the content when caught, but do protect your writing by occasionally checking your site on CopyScape.
Enjoy your writing, knowing credit stays with you.
Mary
Instructional Solutions
