15 replies to this topic

[mollyow]

I have a problem with "innocent" plagiarism of my content. People often copy and paste large sections of my work to their own blogs or websites without proper attribution. These are real people, not scrapers, and they don't have malicious intent, but they're still using my work and I'm not getting anything out of it--except maybe a duplicate content penalty from Google!

I had the idea to imbed links to the current page in some of the most frequently ripped-off content, so that when someone copies and pastes the content to their own website, at least I get a link or two back to my original work out of the deal. I'd style the links to blend in with the regular text, so they wouldn't confuse the casual reader.

Are there any problems with this idea? Does it look odd to Google to have a page linking back to itself multiple times?

[chrishirst]

There are no duplicate content penalties!!!

I'd style the links to blend in with the regular text, so they wouldn't confuse the casual reader.

Not a good idea, as it is one that might just earn a real penalty

[Mikl]

It might be worth your while chasing these sites, and trying to get them to remove the content in question.

If, as you say, the plagiarism is "innocent", then a polite request should be all that's needed. Otherwise, there are several other things you can do, including a DMCA notice (if the offending site in the US) and a request to Google to remove the page from its index.

I stress the word "might" because in many cases it won't be worth the effort. That's for you to decide.

You might also find this article of interest:
Dealing with copyright infringements of your web page or blog

[Michael Martinez]

Embedding self-referential links in your content is okay as long as everyone knows they are there, but there is no guarantee that anyone using your content would retain the links. And don't forget that under some circumstances "fair use" allows even copying an entire article (yes, this has been upheld by a US court but the conditions were fairly restrictive).

[Jill]

Filing DMCA reports is probably your best bet. It's fairly quick and easy as well as effective.

[mollyow]

Well, I don't necessarily want to chase after anyone. My site is focused on personal exploration and the people who copy content are doing so to help them express themselves on their blogs and such. Asking them to remove it seems petty, and I'm concerned it would put people off my brand. Not to mention the time it would take to hunt everyone down.

But, it would be great to find a creative way to make the situation work in my favor. Based on what you guys are saying it doesn't sound like there's a downside to embedding links back to the original, so I may as well give it a try!

Thanks for your thoughts.

[mollyow]

Filing DMCA reports is probably your best bet. It's fairly quick and easy as well as effective.

That is good to know, as there are definitely some less innocent folks that have copied my content as well. I'll look into the DMCA notice for those. Thanks!

[Jill]

Molly, check out this article on filing a dmca complaint. It's got a link to the complaint form.

[mollyow]

Molly, check out this article on filing a dmca complaint. It's got a link to the complaint form.

Will do, thanks Jill!

[mollyow]

There are no duplicate content penalties!!!

Kind of off-topic, but it seems to me that since the Panda update there most certainly are duplicate content penalties--in that, if you have too much of it, Google assumes you're a content farm and zaps you.

[Webnauts]

Kind of off-topic, but it seems to me that since the Panda update there most certainly are duplicate content penalties--in that, if you have too much of it, Google assumes you're a content farm and zaps you.

As others mentioned above, there are no duplicated content penalties. Did you probably mean duplicated content filters? If yes, then you should know that penalties and filters are two different pairs of shoes.

[Jill]

Kind of off-topic, but it seems to me that since the Panda update there most certainly are duplicate content penalties--in that, if you have too much of it, Google assumes you're a content farm and zaps you.

Since Panda Google has certainly been more aggressive with duplicate content issues. But they don't typically kill an entire site due to some pages having duplicate content. If the entire site was duplicated, than that's another story.

[Mikl]

Molly, check out this article on filing a dmca complaint. It's got a link to the complaint form.

But keep in mind that a DMCA notice only has legal force if the offending site is in the USA.

Mike

[Michael Martinez]

Well, I don't necessarily want to chase after anyone. My site is focused on personal exploration and the people who copy content are doing so to help them express themselves on their blogs and such. Asking them to remove it seems petty, and I'm concerned it would put people off my brand. Not to mention the time it would take to hunt everyone down.

But, it would be great to find a creative way to make the situation work in my favor. Based on what you guys are saying it doesn't sound like there's a downside to embedding links back to the original, so I may as well give it a try!

Thanks for your thoughts.

10 years ago I wrote an article that every Orlando Bloom fangirl (and fangrandma) seemed to put up on her Website. Most of them did not give me credit for writing the article.

Rather than coming off as the mean old IPR owner demanding his copy back, I contacted as many of those bloggers as possible and asked them for proper attribution. It helped build my authority within the fan community and sent a lot of traffic my way.

[mollyow]

10 years ago I wrote an article that every Orlando Bloom fangirl (and fangrandma) seemed to put up on her Website. Most of them did not give me credit for writing the article.

Rather than coming off as the mean old IPR owner demanding his copy back, I contacted as many of those bloggers as possible and asked them for proper attribution. It helped build my authority within the fan community and sent a lot of traffic my way.

That makes a lot of sense. When you put it like that, I can certainly see a way to write a nice note asking for attribution from people who have used my content. Sounds like a win-win!