Contents
They stole my eBook!
This is my article!
Another site copied my content!
Does any of these sound familiar? If you ask me, I will tell you that there are millions of websites available on the internet today and on quite a lot of these websites, fake contents, copy and paste posts can’t be differentiated from original content in any way. In my experience, I have seen plagiarized content ranking higher on Google search while original contents are nowhere to be found on the first page, not even 3rd or 4th page. If you can accept this, I personally just can’t sit back and watch someone else taking credit for what I spent days, sometimes weeks of sleepless nights and sweating, to compose and have it copied without linking back to me. That’s just like coming to my own garage and stealing my wheels which is a cruel act and it has got to the point where something must be done to stop such acts on the internet.
It’s so sad not all bloggers and writers know how to stop people from copying their contents and the majority don’t know what steps to take when their content is copied. Here I have shortlisted necessary steps to take if your content is copied or stolen.
Contact the Owner
The first and easiest step is to contact the owner of the website where your content is copied, he might make use of your content and forget to link back, (maybe) or he may have his reasons and maybe he can explain. Send an email to the owner with the url of the copied page. I’m not saying you should threaten the person yet, just ask for a link back politely or total removal of your content. Sometimes, it’s better if you can get the owner on phone instead of sending an email. You wouldn’t want your mail to be in spam folder or ignored.
After the first contact and your content is still on the website, try to contact the owner again, this time you can make it look like a real threat. Tell the person that if your content is not removed, you’ll report to Google or other high authority. Wait for the reply before you take the next step, which is?
Report to Google (Removal of Content)
If the site owner refuses to reply or adamant to obey your order, you can now report the issue to Google for removal of your content, image, or eBook from Google search. While filling this form make sure you provide all necessary information for Google to investigate your specific inquiry and resolve it as quickly as possible. Make your case and evidence strong by giving at least 3 to 6 copied links if available with full details. I will give you THREE ways you can report copyright infringement to Google.
Report alleged copyright infringement: Blogger
This is the one I personally recommend, filling this form with appropriate details will get the reported copied link removed from the internet in 5 hours or so, though it might take a little longer due to the time it takes to investigate your case or amount of reports received. Ever noticed cases where blogs hosted on Blogger get deleted? It might be a copyright violation report that got the site in trouble.
Removing content from Google
This link will guide you through the process of reporting content that you believe warrants removal from Google services… I think for public report.
Report alleged copyright infringement: Web Search
This link will guide you through the process of reporting content or material that you claimed to be the subject of infringing activity.
Possible outcomes of these reports is that Google may remove the link of the copied contents from search engine, Google may ban the websites from search engine, and lastly Google may discard your complaints if you don’t have enough information and proof for copyright violation. Let move to the next step, Shall we?
Report to Advertiser
Don’t allow anyone to use your contents to monetize their site, no advertiser will keep running ads on a site with copyright content. If you’re lucky enough that the copycat is running ads on their websites, don’t hesitate to report to the advertiser serving ads to the site. I know Google Adsense is widely used so here is the link to report copyrighted content to Google Adsense team, and good news is that Google takes this very seriously. If your report is genuine enough, they will stop serving ads on the website immediately with warning to remove any copyright content on the website or risk getting banned! No one will want that to happen! That’s forcing a thief to return stolen goods. 🙂
File a DMCA Report
You want your stolen content removed today? Begin a DMCA take down process by filling out a form at DMCA take down service. Your name and email address will be required as well as the link of stolen content and the original link, be sure to provide detailed description of your content to make your report solid and original. You can report content like, texts, pictures, videos, music, games, logos or anything else. You can choose professional take down which cost $199 if you want a DMCA staff to handle your case from start to end or choose “do it yourself take down” which cost $10/mo if you have limited budget (the direct Google report listed above are all free).
I believe if you do the steps above properly, you must get a positive report and rejoice after you’ve got your copycat boxed, though there is no guarantee but I gave you up to four different choices and one’s definitely gotta work. Love to hear what you guys have to say, don’t worry I will meet you in the comment box below but remember to copyright your content and tell your readers that the content they’re reading is copyrighted and you are the copyright owner. Wait, you don’t need to google and browse more than 50 websites to know how you can copyright your content, it’s just simple as this: (© kulhead – 2013). Adding this just below your site is enough.