I Find My Posts Plagiarised All Over The Net
By M.-L.
@MALUSE (69388)
Germany
December 21, 2015 11:46am CST
I've been active on online sites for fifteen years. I don't know how many posts I've written during this time. Some sites allow to reuse old posts. That means that some of my posts can be found on different sites. But I know on which sites I've posted them!
Over the years it has happened several times that I've found my posts by chance on obscure sites I've never heard of. Some have only stolen the text proper, others show my name unashamedly.
When I mention this to online friends, I nearly always get this advice: Make a screenshot of your original text and tell the owners of the site to delete the plagiarised post. Tell them that if they don't do it, you'll sue them.
Not thoroughly thought through.
I'm German and I live in Germany. The sites in question are English sites located in - for me - foreign countries. If the owners of the sites don't react, what can I do from abroad? Engage a lawyer? From which country? From mine or theirs? If I found one, how much would that cost? And all that for one post?
More importantly: Even if I decided to go through the whole procedure just for the pleasure of defending my rights, I couldn't do it. Maybe I'm daft or have tomatoes on my eyes as the Germans say, but I don't find addresses where I could send my complaints to. Did you know that there are writing sites on the net which are completely anonymous?
An example:
On 19th August, 2004 I wrote this post for a British site
/ Boots_Soft_Disposable_Ear_Plugs__Review_5437662
Someone calling themselves 'northcarolina' posted the self same text on 3rd October, 2011.
/ northcarolina/stop-divorce/ear-plugs-their-history-and-use/
What gives this act of plagiarism extra spice is that the site is run by attorneys! Divorce attorneys! Attorneys are clever, aren't they? Shame on them!
Another example:
My post:
/ Teddy_Bears__Review_5489425
from 9th March, 2005
The plagiarised one:
/ how-the-teddy-bear-got-its-name /
from 11th June, 2011
I've only recently found the plagiarised posts I've mentioned here. The crime happened years ago. The cases are certainly time-barred now.
So what's the final thought?
I look at the bright side and feel my belly tickled that someone found my posts so good that they stole them. What else can I do?
---
P.S. I've tried several times to add the correct and complete links of the posts I've mentioned. Yet, they change the moment I post them. I don't know what's going on. Never mind. You get the picture.
45 people like this
40 responses
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
21 Dec 15
Here read this You can find out how to handle this one no matter where you live. It is against the law to steal your content.
If you have a blog, write articles for content websites, or manage an online magazine, chances are you’ve had, or will have, your content stolen at least once.
11 people like this
@LadyDuck (461843)
• Switzerland
21 Dec 15
There is nothing we can really do. I found the articles I wrote for Squidoo plagiarized over the net, one was even used by a commercial site. I complained with the Moderators for some sites and my copied articles were removed. Now that both Bubblews and Squidoo have closed doors, how can I prove that I wrote the articles first?
7 people like this
@MALUSE (69388)
• Germany
21 Dec 15
That's one of the problems! It's word against word.
Once I found a very long post I'd written on Sardinia for a British site on an unknown travel site. I had written it from a first person perspective. It was a strange feeling seeing my words in a stranger's mouth so-to-speak. I didn't react, either, because it was an American site.
7 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
21 Dec 15
I still send then an email and tell them that the post is plagiarized and that they have violated my copyright and to please take it down or pay me $25 for limited use. Most of the time they take it down. It is worth asking nicely.
4 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
22 Dec 15
@TheHorse It works more than 50% of the time however you need to get it up somewhere else really quick or it will just be stolen again.
1 person likes this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
21 Dec 15
Sounds like it's just one of those things that happens and is probably not worth the time and effort involved to try to put right.
Nobody seems to want to plagiarise my writing but I think if they did, unless they were making huge sums of money out of it, I would probably just feel my belly tickled too (I love that expression!!) and ignore it.
5 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
21 Dec 15
This sort of thing must happen all the time because it's almost impossible to police or remedy. Maybe a big name writer could do something about their own work being stolen, but folks like you and me are just batting our heads against a wall. I've only found one of my pieces copied on another site, but there may be others. I can't be bothered looking.
3 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
21 Dec 15
It is always left to the discretion of individual sites to decide whether to accept or condone plagiarised material. The legality is academic because due to the global nature of the Internet it is impossible for one authority or organisation to polce it.
1 person likes this
@TypicalRussian (747)
• Budennovsk, Russian Federation
21 Dec 15
be merciful and forgive those profane people
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21748)
• Canada
21 Dec 15
I've never found one of my posts elsewhere. Maybe I should be disappointed.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
1 Jan 16
Wow, that's pretty messed up, but that's definitely a way to look at it as flattery. I don't know that anyone has copied my plagiarized any of my posts, but I suppose I wouldn't know. I highly doubt it though, but anything is possible though. It definitely puts you in a situation, I don't see how you could do much about it unless you had a lot of money, and are willing to go after something like this. I don't think I would either. Not for one or two posts, it doesn't seem worth the time or money to me.
@salonga (27775)
• Philippines
22 Dec 15
That is one sad part in writing. You get plagiarized and you don't get justice at all. I hate it when my original work is stolen. It also happened to me several times but the thing I hate most is I can't do anything at all.
@hereandthere (45651)
• Philippines
22 Dec 15
have you tried emailing the sites and telling them it's yours?
@jillybean1222 (6408)
•
27 Dec 15
sometimes i worry about that, especially with bubblews closing. if they plagiarized me, then i reuse it on a new site, it will look like i plagiarized them. why do people have to be dishonest?
@BACONSTRIPSXXX (14351)
• West Haven, Connecticut
26 Dec 15
Thats crazy, I remember being plagerized on bubblews before, I was pretty upset about it lol
@saurabhrmp (2283)
• Hyderabad, India
28 Dec 15
It is really bad that somebody is using someone else posts on some other site. Definitely, there should be some way to stop this. If you find it, please share with us.
@saurabhrmp (2283)
• Hyderabad, India
28 Dec 15
@MALUSE ; what you think, there should be some law on all these sites which will check and block those users.
