Is it just me?

[Amy W]

So I've found a few of my articles posted on articlet.com recently. (And yes, I have e-mailed Support about them all) But instead of posting the long summary as usual, the "beeping" thief posted the entire article. CC is the only place I have posted these articles, so aside from somehow hacking into the site (can you tell I know nothing about computers!), I have no idea how he's getting my entire article.

Has anyone else had the same experience, or is it just me?

[Lysis]

That's interesting. hmmm, you're sure that the articles are fully your typing, even the stuff you haven't copied into the sample textbox?

My other thought is did this article that is yours sell for use? Maybe they are buying for use and posting it elsewhere? Honestly, for some of the prices authors have settled for, I was thinking that I could just offer $8 for an article and resell it here. LOL I imagine this is against the rules, but technically, I could offer $8 like some of these people are letting their articles go for, and repost it elsewhere and make more money off of them. LOL Hell, Brighthub gives you $10+revenue, so it's a deal. I've honestly thought about doing that, but I'm sure there's something somewhere that would get me into trouble.

other than that, it's reeeally weird about them getting your full text, but there must be some explanation for it.

[Amy W]

Sorry, I should have clarified - the articles posted were stolen, never been paid for. Yep, if an article sells for use, the buyer can post it anywhere. I've had one of mine that sold for usage posted on a free article directory. That's their decision - as long as they pay me for the article, I don't care where they post it.

I do care when the article is stolen. A while back a whole slew of articles from here were stolen and posted on articlet.com. It seems like nothing's changed, because it's happening again - I've seen other articles from here posted over there, too. It wouldn't bother me so much if they just stole and posted the long summary. At least that way, a buyer who purchases the article from CC at least gets an original conclusion that has never been posted anywhere else. I don't like the fact that thieves are stealing entire articles. I like even less the fact that I don't know how these thieves are seeing my entire article. And nope, I've never posted the article anywhere else online, never pasted it into a forum, and never e-mailed it to anyone. I'll probably stop submitting here until I can figure out what happened.

[Celeste Stewart]

It is extremely bizarre indeed. I would be concerned about usage articles being posted on free article directories for redistribution because doing so infringes on the rights purchased and is a type of theft in its own right, but that's a different topic for another day.

That these guys appear to have access to your entire unpublished article is mindblowing. If you're only posting a sample in the long summary and they're able to display the entire article, one that's never been seen elsewhere, that is disturbing. Is it possible the article was one of those fraudulent purchases from a while back? Some person used a stolen credit card and was able to buy (and presumably download) articles before the fraud was discovered. Stuff like this happens infrequently, but it does happen. That's my best guess but I really have no clue. Hopefully CC support can help you find the answers.

[Amy W]

I actually had two articles stolen from the Premium Articles fraud a while back, but neither of my recent stolen articles had ever been fradulently purchased, as far as I know. Again, it's disturbing. Two of my entire articles have been up on articlet.com for at least a month, and I don't know who has copied the text and pasted it into their own sites. If a customer were to come along and purchase one of these articles, they might not be getting original content.

And now for a little rant. I worked in public relations for a short time, so any cases of poor customer service really irritate me - I'm one of those people who actually writes complaint letters to companies. So my big complaint with CC is the lack of response from e-mails. I sent an e-mail regarding my first stolen article last week, and I have received no response. I sent a second e-mail regarding my second stolen article early this week, and I have received no response. CC takes 35% of our profits, which is quite a lot - even agents only take 15%. I don't mind paying 35% - I think Ed, the site designers, and the site marketers all do a great job. But when I have a real issue with the site - as in, I don't know how thieves are accessing my entire article - and I receive no response from Support, I start to regret that 35%.

I know others here have had similar experiences - on this forum, several authors have complained about the lack of response from Support. I know the site owners have been busy upgrading the site and dealing with the long list of improvements. But all it would take is a simple response - an automated response, even - stating that you have received an author's e-mail and you are looking into the problem. Without that response, I have no idea if you received any of my e-mails, if you are looking into the theft situation, or if you even care about the theft situation. I'm stuck in limbo - I don't want to submit any more articles here if thieves can somehow access the entire text. And until I receive a response in regards to my situation, I'll stay stuck in limbo. I just think, with CC taking 35% of my profits, I shouldn't have to stay stuck in limbo.

OK, rant over. I would have written all this in an e-mail to Support, but it wouldn't get answered (And not a sarcastic wink, just a joking wink.)

[Amy W]

And I just got an e-mail from Support - thanks again for looking into the theft situation, David. But still no idea how my entire article was stolen. No one here has had a similar experience? It somehow bothers me, being the only one. It's like insanity - you're not crazy if someone else can see the unicorn in the corner. I don't want anyone else to have their articles stolen, but I would like to know that it isn't just me, so I can stop running my obsessive virus and spyware scans on my computer (it's clean every time, by the way).

[Celeste Stewart]

I always post my entire article in the long summary, so I'm of no help. Whenever my articles have been stolen, I assume it's from the long summary.

[Word Gypsy]

Amy,
I generally post my entire article in the long summary as well, but most of my stolen articles actually sat in someone's shopping cart for weeks before being posted on the Internet. I'd like to see the ability to search for our articles in the "waiting" status so that I can keep an eye on that as well. Even if they still take it from the long summary, painstakingly typing it on their own, I know which articles to keep an eye out for. It's frustrating, I know. Sorry that I can't help more. WG

[stephanie]

I always post my entire article in the long summary, so I'm of no help. Whenever my articles have been stolen, I assume it's from the long summary.

Why do you post the entire article, Celeste?

[Celeste Stewart]

Because I believe the customer should know exactly what he is buying. To me, the risk of theft is small in comparison with the rewards of many sales.

[Lysis]

I post the whole article minus the closing paragraph. I didn't used to, but then I felt that it leaves a mystery to the reader.

[Celeste Stewart]

But they're not reading for fun; they're reading to evaluate whether or not to buy the article. They may wonder if the article comes to a logical conclusion when this last part is missing. . .

[Lysis]

^^ Good point. The other reason is that I usually hate my closing paragraph. LOL Maybe I'll add it and see what happens.

[Amy W]

I usually leave my conclusion out of the summary, as well. I figured if the article was ever stolen, at least the customer would have an original conclusion that had never been posted online. But that's a moot point now, so I think I'll post the entire article from now on. Your point makes sense, Celeste. If I were buying a jacket, I would want to see the entire jacket, not just the front.

I've never tried it, but I believe we can't change the long summary once an article has been accepted, right?

[Celeste Stewart]

You can change the long summary by going into My Content > Edit. Then copy and paste.

Signing off for a week of fun with no Internet access. Aaaaaaahhhhh. See you all later. . .