Constant Content

I'm not sure how to address this, but I discovered today that the very article that I questioned in audrabianca's topic just a few days ago (my article "Zinc: A Natural Cure-All?" was "bought" and returned by someone named Snoopy) was posted at this link: .... on the same day the fraudulent incident occurred and my name is nowhere on it nor have I been paid ...

First I want to say that those who said their articles were bought and returned need to check their titles and make sure theirs were not fraudulently used ...

Second, I don't know where to go from here. I have yet to make my first sale on here, but I'll be darned if someone is just going to steal my work and I not be paid my first few dollars for it ... That gives me a very uneasy feeling as a newbie. What steps should I take from here???

Contact support so they can pursue this for you!

This happened to me with the same website. Constant support gave me a google website where you can write a letter and have them do a "take down".

It really feels like a violation, I agree. It is a pain to write the letter, but I think we have to make the effort. I just finished writing mine.

One of mine was ripped off too. Constant sent me an e-mail with instructions on how to go about having something done about that. I already mailed the letter, so I hope that things get moving quickly.

Man, do I ever hate thievery. I don't care if I AM "just" an Internet writer. It's mine, dangit, until somebody pays me for it.

[quote]I don't care if I AM "just" an Internet writer. It's mine, dangit, until somebody pays me for it.[/quote]

Oh no no no. . . you are a writer, period. What you wrote has value or else someone wouldn't go to the trouble to steal it.

I hope your complaint works!.
Mary B.

[quote="cbhrbooth"][quote]I don't care if I AM "just" an Internet writer. It's mine, dangit, until somebody pays me for it.[/quote]

Oh no no no. . . you are a writer, period. What you wrote has value or else someone wouldn't go to the trouble to steal it.

I hope your complaint works!.
Mary B.[/quote]

In MY mind, yes, I'm a writer - period. But a lot of people who rip off work have this idea that, because it's published online, it's not "really theft."

Except when it says "buy this article" and a price is clearly spelled out and they go through the process with a stolen credit card number . . . it seems pretty obvious that they knew they were getting something for nothing and ripping people off. Not just CC writers but whoever's credit card they used as well. Not cool any way you look at it. Hopefully they'll be handled appropriately.

I'm just tired of the whole mess at this point.

The article ripoffs have happened to me several times in the last couple of months or so. Mostly, it was the stolen credit card "testing" thing. So I see article sales...then they disappear...and at this point, I don't even get confused about why because I know good and well that some jerk has stolen somebody's credit card and is testing it to see if he or she can charge other stuff to it.

And then somebody rips off my article...and publishes it on the Internet.

So at the moment, I can't say that I have any motivation to produce any Web content. Not right now, anyway. I love writing and all - don't get me wrong there - but right now I'm just in "Why bother?" mode.

Sarah,

I really dont know what to say to you except -- I hear you & understand your frustration.

Catnipp333

I'm not sure what to say other then its really out of our control. We have gone to great lengths to punish this person. I have contacted every ad network this person had on his websites, contacted Google, contacted the host, put new standards in place to help protect us against this in the future, and more.

I had the three ad networks reply and say they have suspended the account of this person. Google should be removing his site from its results if the DMCA paper work was filed by the writers. The host did not respond because they seem to be based in India and out of legal jurisdiction. This person should realize by now that stealing content wasn't a very good move.

Content theft is nothing new to the internet and if you let this isolated issue effect you then writing online is not for you. One way or another a writer online will get his/her content stolen... It happens all the time. The good news is CC knows how to punish the person if it happens here. We don't bother emailing the thief, we go for how they make money (advertisers, affiliates, hosts, etc)

It sounds like you guys are really taking steps to correct this and help protect the writers on the site. Thanks Constant!

It's not like I've never experienced the joys of intellectual property theft. Usually it's offline, though, when it happens to me. So I do know that this sort of thing happens. This isn't the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last for me, either. If I can't deal with that, then I'll hang up the keyboard and get a better-paying job doing something that people don't want to rip off. Theft is an occupational hazard. It sucks, but it happens.

It's just that the last couple of months have SUCKED as far as writing goes. Seriously. Several times in a couple of months? It's not the fact that it happened so much as it's the sheer number of times it's happened in that brief time frame. It's like...okay, getting punched in the face is rough. But it's not the end of the world. But go a couple of rounds with George Foreman...oh, yeah, that sucks a lot harder because it's a barrage of hits in rapid succession.

And I know that CC staff are doing everything that they can to fix the problem. I'm NOT blaming them at all. They can't police the universe. And they're hitting the thieves where it will actually hurt them - Google, advertisers, et cetera. That's awesome. It probably sucks to be the idiots who thought that stealing from other people was okay.

Also: I KNOW that the changes CC staff have made will work. I'm confident that they know what they're doing, and that the problem will taper off or, better yet, go away soon enough. Believe me...if I didn't think that things would get better, I would have already crawled out of the ring *smiles*