Shocking Discovery While Deleting Posts
By M.-L.
@MALUSE (69413)
Germany
October 26, 2015 1:01pm CST
It has taken me some time to understand why people delete their bubblews posts. There are various reasons. The one which has convinced me most is that if the post has been deleted on bubblews and then also on Google Search Console, it's free to be used again.
Bubblews allows its members to reuse old posts which have been posted on other sites if 400 additional characters are added. Nearly all of my 'formerly used' posts were first posted on two British sites. I've asked the admin of one site to delete my account. The other is still online. As I wasn't sure in all cases where I had posted which text, I googled some of them.
Now comes the shock! During the last days I've deleted nearly 30 posts. It's a tedious job and I can only do a small number every day in order to avoid mental logjam. From this relatively small number four posts appeared on sites I've never heard of! Stolen! Plagiarised! Two have my name, one shows no name at all, the fourth site can't be opened. Who knows how many more I'll find when I delete the rest of my 235 posts.
What can I do? Sue? But who and where? I live in Germany. The sites which have stolen my posts are English speaking. I have no idea where the HQ are. They may be in the USA or in India. Should I engage an internationally active lawyer to fight for my rights? They'd cost more money than I can ever earn online. Hmm. I'm afraid I must forget the matter and react in a different way. Hooray! Someone found my posts worth plagiarising!
But there is another aspect. It can happen that I overlook a plagiarised post. I may think that after deleting it from bubblews it doesn't exist any more. Imagine I post it on myLot and someone finds the same post on another site without an author's name. Google Search Console deletes a post only after it has been deleted on the site it was originally posted on. That means I could never prove that I'm the author and that I wrote it before it appeared on the respective site. I may be accused of plagiarising and be thrown off the site. Goodness gracious, what a frightening idea!
Would myLot HQ accept a statutory declaration?
25 people like this
23 responses
@GoAskAlice (5807)
•
26 Oct 15
Sticky issue, to say the least. I have said that if a piece no longer existed anywhere else, I would probably not object to it appearing here. But you have introduced a "but" scenario that hadn't even occurred to me. Can anyone really ever be sure that a piece of work has genuinely erased from the internet? One of the reasons I have generally discouraged the use of recycled content is that it makes it difficult to keep plagiarism out. I think your unfortunate scenario reinforces that. How am I ever to know for certain who wrote what? Please understand, I am not putting your own personal integrity to question. You have demonstrated nothing but the highest of it in your time here. But you can see how applying it to official policy site wide would create a tangled nightmare for me to try and moderate. If you are reasonably certain it isn't going to turn up elsewhere, I will still continue to see it as original content. But understand that if an issue comes up, I have to err on the side of caution and fairness. In a scenario such as your have presented, it would not be anything in the way of disciplinary action, it would just be a judgement call I would have to make to remove it and I would of course let you know.
My final thoughts are that myLot has a creative and intelligent membership roster and is capable of generating content with out having to re use a past piece.
10 people like this
@crazyhorseladycx (39515)
• United States
27 Oct 15
i agree, though i've seen quite a bit 'f the same schtuff bein' written by folks (albeit with extra words 't one place to meet the min requirement...) both here 'n 't the bubbs. most disturbin'. it jest aint write 'n folks need to jest knock such shenanigans off. i'm currently off posse duty, but those who continue to do such, i'm gonna start sendin' ya the links to both 'n let'cha chew it fer a bit 'n decide what to do.
2 people like this
@allknowing (130064)
• India
27 Oct 15
myLot has a creative and intelligent membership roster and is capable of generating content with out having to re use a past piece.
I like this
3 people like this
@WorDazza (15833)
• Manchester, England
26 Oct 15
Blimey, that's food for thought. I was considering deleting a load of old stuff from Bubblews and posting on here. I suspect it may be wise to check the posts I delete haven't been plagiarised elsewhere. Although who would want to lay claim to my dubious ramblings I really don't know.
5 people like this
@yukimori (10144)
• United States
26 Oct 15
myLot's admin are generally fair, and all posts that are reported are reviewed manually before action is taken.
That aside, I don't think you have anything to worry about. If a post is removed mistakenly, contact GoAskAlice and explain the situation. You could also add a comment that it was originally posted on another site.
As far as the plagiarism goes, contact the website that's copied your content and tell them that they need to remove it within 72 hours or you'll be pursuing alternate action. After that time goes by, I'd just send the offending sites' host(s) a copyright infringement complaint. They'll force the site to take it down or deactivate the site until the customer actually removes it.
4 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38659)
• Midland, Michigan
30 Oct 15
@MALUSE I'm not sure, but that might be a complaint available to be delivered via the internet from anywhere to anywhere, I don't think it would be considered an empty threat anymore than if it came from the States or the country the site owners are on.
@Tampa_girl7 (49016)
• United States
26 Oct 15
What a mess . I haven't deleted any of mine. Not sure if I will.
2 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
26 Oct 15
You can find out who owns the website and addresses for them using whois or hypestat. You could always email them with the appropriate info and ask that the content be removed. The one with your name already has proof of your authorship right on it. Take screen shots of them. And from now on, check for plagiarism first, before deletion. Take screenshots at bubbers, too. That will show the date you posted it.
1 person likes this
@much2say (53958)
• Los Angeles, California
26 Oct 15
That is shocking! I have never bothered to delete articles when sites go kablooey (actually I deleted some from "here" a couple years ago). But I never thought anything of it - did anyone have dared to plagiarize anything of mine? I suppose I should go check!! 
1 person likes this
@Cristi_Ichim (3663)
• Bucharest, Romania
27 Oct 15
I don't know what to say. How did you find your posts? I don't understand. Please respond
@Cristi_Ichim (3663)
• Bucharest, Romania
27 Oct 15
@MALUSE but why does that not work on my posts too? If I search the contents of my posts I will not find them anywhere.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
27 Oct 15
@Cristi_Ichim Doesn't even bubblews come up?
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (458239)
• Switzerland
28 Oct 15
I have found some of my Bubblews posts copied on other sites, I have contacted the administrator and he has removed the offending content. This, if the administrator of the site is innocent and serious. When I wrote for Squidoo a British site copied a full article I wrote about carports, as the admin of the site stole my content, there was nothing I could do in that specific case.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39515)
• United States
27 Oct 15
i aint a fan 'f that 'rinse, recycle, reuse' thingy that many folks're doin'. if'n ya wrote it, slapped it some place 'n got paid fer it, 'tis history. 's fer folks that've stolen yer work 'n placed it elsewhere, i'd contact the folks who run such sites. i keep copies 'f all schtuff i've dribbled, 'long with the original url where such is/was located 'n they've all the dates 'n pertinent info... jest in case such 'twas to come up.
honest sites'll see the proof 'n remove such stolen goods.
1 person likes this
@Inlemay (17714)
• South Africa
29 Oct 15
that is a scary discovery - I think i might be deleting some as well - I have already done 500 from October
till now - so maybe another 500 in due course - I cannot believe what you discovered. Fools steeling our writings! that is horrid.
till now - so maybe another 500 in due course - I cannot believe what you discovered. Fools steeling our writings! that is horrid.1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38659)
• Midland, Michigan
28 Oct 15
One option you have not mentioned above is to take a deleted post and rework it to something different but similar. Then if another is found elsewhere it won't be the same text as what you've done here.
If you can access sites where you work is displayed, then you may be able to use the contact us form at the bottom and get to the bottom of it that way, or at least request they remove it from their site. If you've already deleted it from the place it was originally written, then you may not be able to prove it's yours. Good luck on what you end up doing there.
@GardenGerty (157563)
• United States
27 Oct 15
Other than my poems that I occasionally post, nothing I have written under my own name seems worth plagiarizing. I could be wrong, I guess.
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
28 Oct 15
So we really have to delete our posts at Bubblews . I don't re-post my Bubblews posts here . I think it's not good because it was formerly there , commented by our former Bubblews friend , so i think it won't be of interest to some anymore.
@valmnz (17099)
• New Zealand
27 Oct 15
That all sounds far too tricky for me. My posts there were of such little consequence I can't imagine anyone wanting to copy them. Let's face it, no one else could live a life quite like mine. I started deleting my posts, from the most recent back to three months ago, then gave up.
@Fleura (29126)
• United Kingdom
29 Oct 15
What a nasty thing to find and as you say, how do you prove your own writing is actually yours? I write all my posts in word and save the original URL, and add the copyright notice to each, but I still don't know hoe much protection that provides without unlimited lawyers' fees.
@TheHorse (205831)
• Walnut Creek, California
27 Oct 15
I've had the same thing happen. A site explicitly dedicated to selling stolen papers to college students for use as plagiarized papers has one of my old Epinions. I notified the FBI, but last time I checked, it was still there. Nothing had been done.
@petertheo (148)
• South Africa
27 Oct 15
This is a worrying fact because I also contacted AskAlice and was advised not to repost because of plagiarists
