I have noticed something in blogland lately and I find it disturbing. I have seen it mentioned on Twitter as well as on individual blogs. It is the theft of our hard work and great minds.
People are copying, plagiarizing, our blog posts. Some are taking the entire posts pictures and all and posting them as their own. I don't mean the use of an online photos without permission (I do try very hard to get permission for photos I use and link back to sites where I find them) which isn't a good thing. I mean the theft of our work and creative ideas without permission is theft just like if we had a store or restaurant.
How about you? Have you had any of your blog posts stolen? How would you know? What would you do about it?
How would you know? There are so many blogs out there! And what can you do about it? When I started blogging I knew it would be easy for someone to copy things so I decided before hand not to worry about it. That's why I don't show my kids faces etc. If I were trying to make a livig off of writing or photography it would be different. If that's the case you have to be very proactive, marking all your photos etc. I wouldn't even know where to begin.
ReplyDeleteDawn
I just found out about the blogging with integrity button, and it is now on my sidebar. It may only be a small start, but we need to start somewhere, right?
ReplyDeleteRead Debbie Ward Kennedy's post from yesterday. She has had quite the experience, but she is not going to take it lying down.
http://decodivadebi.blopgspot.com
She is the one who put me onto the blogging with integrity post.
Best of luck, and I hope that it never happens to you.
Jen
I agree that there is nothing you can do about people copying your pictures, but to copy an entire posting?.... do these people not have a life of their own to write about??? I'm really cross now despite not knowing if my 'work' has been used!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that people do this sort of stuff in blog land...but then again I've always been sort of trusting and thinking the best of people. You've got me thinking. How would we know? Mumzie :(
ReplyDeleteLori, I just wrote a simple post about Blogging with Integrity. I am encouraging my readers to take the pledge. It may only be small steps, but they count. And it is better than doing nothing.
ReplyDeleteJen
Lori I was keeping a blog elsewhere about my weight loss and I would get comments that actually showed the linkback from these spam sites. Totally p'ed me off!!! So I used to start my posts by saying this should only be read on such and such a site.
ReplyDeleteI noticed after that that the stealing stopped.
I think its just rude - hey you want to copy me ask my permission - link back but nothing else!!!
I never write anything worth nicking! But nevertheless I'd be pee'd off if I found someone else claiming my life. It happens a lot on the net - sxome other bloggers are talking about a well known published eejit that is nicking their stuff and publishing it as his own. Creep!
ReplyDeleteBecause I can not control it, I try hard to view it as a compliment. OTherwise, bring them to me so I can throttle them and teach them a lesson!!! :) You can add a "no copy" link to your blog but TRUST ME there are ways around EVERYTHING. But it will at least slow them down for a nano second. Some give up and leave.
ReplyDeleteWatermark all your photo's ~ again, not full proof but it will slow them down.
Put pictures that are to you as widgets rather than in your post.
Put a copyright by all your post.
Always protect yourself first then think globally.
Hugs
Tammy
I really doubt if anyone would want to steal anything I ever wrote. I wasn't (I'm not) all that careful about who I am. So when I write about different real people that have crossed my path in the past I do try to leave it "open" but then some things are truly unusual and in the "old days" I would be able to take my blog and have names dates and places to everything in about an hour. I even locked down my past posts one time...then decided to heck with it.
ReplyDeleteI got an e-mail from someones "Official Biographer" after a certain post of mine....with like an "explanation?" of something I had mentioned. I e-mailed back and asked him if he would like me to add his comment to my post. Didn't hear from him again...true is true, don't matter how wacky.
There is a lot of creepy crap I could write about that would make me disappear in the night...I'm giving it some thought...three hots and a cot ya know.
Hey, I tryed going to http://decodivadebi.blopgspot.com
ReplyDeleteand all I got were ads??
Gosh, I don't know what I'd do. I used to watermark all of my photos but I've gotten very lazy lately. I don't think I say anything that is worthy of stealing but I certainly wouldn't want to be misquoted anywhere. I've got to keep up better. Thanks for the food for thought!
ReplyDelete