Article Stolen from My Catalog

[Words4Bread]

Hi folks.

I had a previously accepted but unsold article in my catalog which I wanted to tweak for a public request. So I deleted it, tweaked it, and resubmitted it. It was then returned to me with a warning that it was not original content as a full sentence had been found on another website.

But I run all my articles through a plagiarism checker prior to submission. So I Googled the offending sentence only to find the entire original article had been stolen and published on another website. No surprise that the identity of the site owner and any contact details have been impossible to find.

I've returned the article to the editor explaining the situation, but thought in the meantime I'd turn to you guys for help. Is there any course of action I can take to redress the situation, or do I just have to accept that a portion of my work, if I put it here, will be stolen? The thing which worries me most is if a stolen article still in the catalog then sells and the buyer complains to CC that it is plagiarized with the consequence that CC strikes me off. Could that happen? How would I prove that I and not the thief, am the original author?

I'd appreciate any help or insight. Thanks.

[ScriptMaster]

CC runs it's plagiarism checks before accepting an article. Should the scenario you suggest arise, they will know that you did not plagiarise, so there should be no chance of getting struck off. However, I would guess that a customer who'd buy an article and then discover that it had been previously published would demand a refund, and that your account would be debited by the amount you got paid for the article.

[HiredGun]

Report it to Support (nicole@constant-content.com) and ask her to file a DMCA on your behalf. Theft has happened before:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=77570&start=15&hilit=steemit

A helpful habit to start: create a Google Alert for each of your articles the moment you submit each article to CC.

Do you show 33% of your articles or 100%? Are there other stolen CC articles on the site where you found your article?

[Words4Bread]

Hi Folks,

Thanks for your responses.

Firstly, I have now written to Nicole and await a reply in due course. I flagged the email up as urgent.

ScriptMaster - thanks, that's reassuring. And I have kept all my "Article Accepted" emails, so they may serve as proofs if required.

HiredGun - I have had everything at 100% preview as I thought it encouraged sales (my current sales figure is at 40% of stock) but I will now change it to the standard 33% as a precaution. Unfortunately, as I understand it, the new preview length will not apply retrospectively, only to new submissions. The Google Alerts suggestion is an excellent one. I now have to go laboriously through all my other articles to check if any more have been stolen. It seems likely. I didn't check the rest of the offending site for other articles, but here is the link (opens at the article I wrote and they stole, but the links to other articles are clear): articlegen *dot* com/worried-wrinkles-5-facts-fixes-wrinkly-skin/ I've written *dot* to avoid giving the rogues a backlink.

Has anyone else experienced this situation? What did you do?

Again, thanks folks. There has to be some secure way of stopping this happening, but I fear I've lost that article forever. My main concern now is to avoid any smear on my reputation as a writer as I always stick assiduously to the rules of best practice.

[Words4Bread]

Ah yes, only just clocked the link HiredGun included to the other thread. I'll check that out now.

[HiredGun]

Find your thief's registration info here: https://www.whois.net

If you make setting up a Google Alert part of your CC submission process, it becomes second nature. I just keep the Google Alerts window open at all times. https://www.google.ca/alerts

If your thief is using Adsense ads to monetize: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/9892?hl=en

If they're using affiliate ads like Clickbank, Commission Junction, etc., contact their affiliate ad provider.


Have to do ༼ ಠل͟ಠ༽╭∩╮ to the thieves!

[Words4Bread]

Hi,

Thanks. I'm pursuing the situation, but it just got a bit more complicated as I've been through all my content and discovered other thieves have stolen other articles (or the same thief with multiple sites).

Here are the links to my stolen articles: glennjsacks *dot* com/im-losing-weight-i-dont-want-i/
and itsfortheanimals *dot* com/3-fun-ways-get-full-body-cardiovascular-workout-without-going-gym/

It could've been worse. But that's work and money wasted. Still, if I can get Nicole to retrospectively set all my articles to 33% preview, set up alerts as you suggest, and get the offending articles removed, I hope to avoid this in the future. In a way, I'm glad it happened so early on in my CC experience when I only have 70+ articles up and not 2k to trawl through. It's an annoying time suck, though.

Thanks for all your help. I'll let you know what Nicole says if I get a response.

[evaku]

I'm sorry that this has happened to you and yes, please let us know how it goes! I have been in a similar situation before but it sorted itself out, thankfully.

I had a client who I did some private work for and who also purchased a few articles from my catalog. However, he discovered that two of the articles he purchased had already been posted, in full, on another website!! I visited the website and found some other articles that were still in the CC catalog from other writers as well. I contacted someone at CC as well as the owner of the website, who told me that she had purchased the articles from another site!! (She provided screenshots of the receipts as well). So that means somebody came along, stole my content, and put it up for sale somewhere else! Thankfully she was willing to take them off her site even though technically she had paid for them. This was all before CC was able to get back to me so I don't know how it would have been dealt with if she hadn't been willing to remove the content. So far I haven't found anything else of mine stolen and posted elsewhere, but I am almost too afraid to look. Thankfully, no one else who has bought anything from my catalog has come back to be after finding it somewhere else online.

[HiredGun]

I'm sorry that this has happened to you and yes, please let us know how it goes! I have been in a similar situation before but it sorted itself out, thankfully.

I had a client who I did some private work for and who also purchased a few articles from my catalog. However, he discovered that two of the articles he purchased had already been posted, in full, on another website!! I visited the website and found some other articles that were still in the CC catalog from other writers as well. I contacted someone at CC as well as the owner of the website, who told me that she had purchased the articles from another site!! (She provided screenshots of the receipts as well). So that means somebody came along, stole my content, and put it up for sale somewhere else! Thankfully she was willing to take them off her site even though technically she had paid for them. This was all before CC was able to get back to me so I don't know how it would have been dealt with if she hadn't been willing to remove the content. So far I haven't found anything else of mine stolen and posted elsewhere, but I am almost too afraid to look. Thankfully, no one else who has bought anything from my catalog has come back to be after finding it somewhere else online.

Care to say which site she purchased the content from? Also, do you show 33/50/100% of your articles on Constant Content?

[evaku]

Just went digging back through my email and was surprised I still had the correspondence as this happened back in 2015. My articles were purchased from iWriter.

I show 100% of my content as I feel it probably helps my sales!

[Words4Bread]

Hi folks,

I had a reply yesterday from a guy called Chris Cuming who told me "We are going to be looking into this."

So I'm waiting to hear.

[HiredGun]

Technology is getting smarter. Tools like these are why you might not want to display 100% of your articles on CC:
itunes.apple.com/us/app/marley/id1240959304

[Words4Bread]

@HiredGun

Blimey. So it can read text on images. CC is going to have to up its game. It's a shame, because I'm sure displaying 100% improves sales. But I've set my preview to 33% now.

[Lysis]

I'm sorry that this has happened to you and yes, please let us know how it goes! I have been in a similar situation before but it sorted itself out, thankfully.

I had a client who I did some private work for and who also purchased a few articles from my catalog. However, he discovered that two of the articles he purchased had already been posted, in full, on another website!! I visited the website and found some other articles that were still in the CC catalog from other writers as well. I contacted someone at CC as well as the owner of the website, who told me that she had purchased the articles from another site!! (She provided screenshots of the receipts as well). So that means somebody came along, stole my content, and put it up for sale somewhere else! Thankfully she was willing to take them off her site even though technically she had paid for them. This was all before CC was able to get back to me so I don't know how it would have been dealt with if she hadn't been willing to remove the content. So far I haven't found anything else of mine stolen and posted elsewhere, but I am almost too afraid to look. Thankfully, no one else who has bought anything from my catalog has come back to be after finding it somewhere else online.

Probably Digital Point. Bunch of scumbag frauds on that site.

ETA: They used to (still do I guess?) have a huge problem with Digital Point people stealing content and selling it as original on Digital Point marketing place. Then the people who buy it get pissed because they get notices. It seemed to have calmed down but maybe CC writers aren't looking at it as much. They used to also steal and throw the content on Associated Content, which of course is no longer around anymore.

[Words4Bread]

Hi folks.

So I heard back from Chris Cuming. He told me he couldn't file DMCAs on my behalf because it would cost $199 each. However, he has paid me for all the articles stolen from my catalog and they have now been removed. That seemed to me a very fair response.

But I don't think there's anything else to say. Setting previews at 100% may increase sales, but it also increases theft. With that knowledge, I guess you decide if you think it's worth it.