Blog Post Pirates At Large
You could quote the old saying that imitation is the best form of flattery, but I feel neither flattered nor otherwise pleased when, as happened again a few days ago, I come across more of my blog posts reproduced in their entirety, without attribution, in another blog.
Gordon Finlayson at the Download Squad reports today on recent experience with this blog post piracy and observes that
…while linking and references may be the lifeblood of blogging, there’s a submerged undercurrent of blogs and Web sites looking to get something for nothing, sailing the high seas of the Blogosphere with a view to plundering hard working Blogs for what they can in order to build up page views and Google page rankings.
Yes, blog piracy is still with us.
“Still”, because Om Malik wrote about it a year and a half ago, although not as “piracy” but as plagiarism. In Wholesale Blog Plagiarism…Alert! he gave specific examples, with links, observing that “these sites ONLY exist because they can make money from Google AdSense”.
The latest example in terms of one of my blogs came up when I noticed in the control panel for this blog a series of trackbacks, all from the one site, awaiting my approval.
When I clicked through to the site I found several posts from here reproduced in their entirety, down to the links to my feed being preserved!
Then I noticed other posts that looked familiar and realised that the site in question had posts, similarly reproduced entirely, from other b5media sites, including one with a very high profile in the blogosphere.
Of course, one of the many advantages of being part of a network like b5media is that I just have to notify the network and someone else follows through to neutralize any problems with this sort of activity.
But what does a business without access to a network administration or a legal department or adviser do in this sort of situation?
Because dealing with blog plagiarism, or as I like to refer to it, piracy, can be a rather tricky process.
For one thing, the plagiarists/pirates do not usually advertise their names or whereabouts. And if you try to find that out from their domain name details via whois, more than likely you will find that those details are private there too.
In Following Up on a Cease and Desist Jonathan Bailey, who is not a lawyer but has been writing online about these issues since 2005, provides a link to a stock cease and desist letter (evidently provided by him) on another site. He observes that in more recent times the effectiveness of the old “C&D” letter seems to have diminished and offers some advice on a more strategic approach to solving the problem.
He provides some background on the legal context, especially the significance of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DCMA) and links to another post of his on How to Write an Effective DMCA Notice
He suggests some other options besides the DMCA notice and warns that “the temptation to take things public should be avoided, no matter how strong it is.”
Maki at DoshDosh offers what looks to me like a more dramatic and potentially time-consuming strategy for dealing with plagiarism. Chris Carey to whom I am indebted for the link to the DoshDosh post says he has used the DoshDosh strategy effectively.
The DoshDosh post also offers some practical advice for bloggers who want traffic and may not yet understand the legal and ethical implications of “borrowing” other people’s work:
When in doubt, always do the courteous thing and credit a website or blog you are taking the content from. And if you are really in need of quality content, either A) write it yourself, B) Hire a blogger or C) get it off free article directories.
Hear, hear!
(image - Bill Davenport, via stock.exchng)
Tags: blog-pirates, blog-post-piracy, cease-and-desist, Digital-Millenium-Copyright-Act-1998, DMCA, DoshDosh, Jonathan-Bailey, plagiarismRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Blogging, General, Policy, Risk Management
2 opinions for Blog Post Pirates At Large
Mary Emma Allen
Aug 1, 2007 at 6:45 am
Great post with lots of good info. You’ve probably had trouble with the same type of plagarism I discovered. I noticed, too, that someone was using my posts, in their entirety, without giving me credit, not simply mentioning the post and linking to my blog.
Jonathan Bailey
Aug 1, 2007 at 1:26 pm
I just wanted to say thank you for the links and let anyone interested know that I am available to help if my skills and exdperience can be of any use.
Please do not hesitate to write me.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: