Posted Articles are now protected from theft

[Lor]

I'm confident CC will work it out.
Lorraine

[DSWaltenburg]

It occurs to me that there is NEVER going to be a 100% Guarantee of originality on the internet, with regards to content, therefore, instead of issuing refunds because of stolen and previously published articles, offer proof at time of sale (through CopyScape) that the article is original and unpublished, and also add a disclaimer stating that CC is not responsible after that point, and will not issue refunds with regards to stolen material (after the said article has been proven original, and is sold)

How does CC know that those who are returning for refunds, are not just, in fact, buying the article, and stealing it themselves, by then coming back and SAYING that it's already been published elsewhere. Are these customers required to offer proof of these claims before receiving their refunds?

Why else bother with the expense of Copyscape if not to use it as a tool for maintaining CC integrity, and reducing the occurrence of refunds?

Just another thought.


Rock on.

[Ed]

A person posing as a customer wouldn't have to ask for a refund if he or she could take it directly from the long summary. This is a legitimate concern. Google and other search engines penalize for duplicate articles. Customers do not want to pay full price for articles that are not, in fact, original. They are purchasing original content *because* it is original. Otherwise, they'd simply download usage rights and be done with it. Constant Content cannot overlook this problem or pass on the responsibility. Copyscape can only protect up until the point of review. Articles are checked initially, but we can't check all articles continuously. If I was a customer, I'd be steamed, too. We can't offer original content - one of our main selling points - if it isn't original.

Ed

[DSWaltenburg]

I think you may have misunderstood me....

I'm referring to those who have ALREADY purchased articles, and come back with their order number, and wish to return an article. Not just anyone off the street posing as a customer.


CC just really, really, really needs to consider tthose customers who want to see full articles before purchase. Again, as Celeste suggested, add some feature where they can either be taken to a private, nonpublic page to view the full piece, or something along that line.

i don't know....I'm just rambling because I'm anxious about losing work....:(

Not trying to be argumentative or anything, so ya know....just kind of tossing ideas out.

:)

[Ed]

I know you aren't trying to be argumentative, DSW; sorry for misunderstanding. Actually, everyone has been quite patient so far. :) I'm trying to clarify for others reading, too. The thing is, we can't guarantee it's original at time of purchase. Some articles have been sitting on the site for months (or years).

There are three facets to this problem:
Authors who need to make sales and know that placing more content in the long summary garners better results.
Customers who want original purchases.
CC who doesn't want disgruntled customers (but also doesn't want to see a decrease in sales).

I can see the issue from all three sides. Don't worry, though - I'm making all author concerns and ideas known . . . writing them down right now.

[dsletten]

I just wanted to add my two cents. I have had several articles stolen with only a portion of the article in the Long Summary. They just cut and paste the incomplete article and even leave my name on it when they post it. And even if they are told to take it off the site it stays in the search engines for a long time. So I don't think it will matter whether or not we post a portion of the article or the full article. Until there is a way to protect the long summary from copying there will still be theft even if only a portion is posted. Just food for thought. :)

[Ed]

Yep, this is a problem, too. Noted.

[DSWaltenburg]

It's all good, Ed. I know you've got more than ANYBODY's fair share of crap to deal with on a daily basis. I'll be hushing now......working on my patience skills :)

Clearly, I'm one of those people who freaks out and then thinks later! :)


DS

[Ed]

[quote="DSWaltenburg"]It's all good, Ed. I know you've got more than ANYBODY's fair share of crap to deal with on a daily basis. [/quote]

Plahahaha . . . I think Support would disagree. They've got it coming from all sides.

I was, however, thinking about this as I said goodnight - many writers' forums are full of drama queens. We do not have this problem. Cheers to that.

[DSWaltenburg]

That's true, there's a reason why I know I wouldn't be a good fit for support-type positions. Takes a special kind of beastie to do that work and retain sanity! :)

Me and my one brain cell have enough to do without maintaing a drama-queen mentality!! Granted, I do tend to run off the deep end and babble alot, but no narcissism here!! :D If I ever do go overboard, please kindly tell me to CAN IT!! :D


Obkbbbbbbbbb. Hopefully we'll get more clarification later today? For the mean time, I'll leave you all to your works, and shut the Hades up :D


Cheerios.

DS

[Constant]

To everyone-
I appreciate what the customer's response has been, though this is to protect them. I think for the most part customers prefer to have the work that they buy protected from being posted else where. So the rule will stand for the time being. We will leave articles that already have been submitted alone and with private requests we can allow the full article to be displayed as long as you let the author know of the risks of doing so and ask them what they would prefer. We are working on technology that would prevent the copying of the articles at all and that would be the solution that makes everyone happy.

[DSWaltenburg]

Thank you, Mr. Kool.

So, just to clarify, as long as the article is categorized under Private Request, we will still be allowed to submit with the full article in the Long Summary, correct?

I'll let my customer know what's going on.


DS Waltenburg

[Ed]

Problem solved:

Content thieves will now be foiled. Copying and pasting is no longer possible - try it yourself! You can continue with business as usual before the policy change. This means that if you want to post the whole article in the summary, you can.

While you're at it, check out the cool keyword density feature at the bottom of each article preview page.

Ed

[DSWaltenburg]

If I could use a 48 pt font I would....and I would say....


(use your imagination)




SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!.....



So this means customers can ask to see the full art. before purchase, right?

:D

[Constant]

Everything is ok now! Please return to business as usual. We have figured out a way to prevent the copying of any text off of the site.