account suspension due to "plagiarism"

dellacqua · Post by **dellacqua** » Mon Sep 03, 2012 1:01 pm

I have been accused of plagiarism after one of my articles with Suite 101 was stolen and posted on another site (without authorship). I have closed my suite 101 account because I didn't think it right to have those articles up while I was working for Constant Content. I am a serious writer and am appalled that I have been accused of plagiarism and banned. I feel I am the aggrieved party! I have sent an email through the contact form and not heard back. What recourse do I have? I feel I have been vicitmized twice. Many thanks for any feedback.

dellacqua · Post by **dellacqua** » Wed Sep 05, 2012 5:52 am

I have yet to receive a response to my query as to why my account was suspended either from the forum or the contact form I filled out. Does this mean that it is being investigated? Is there a time frame within which I will have my question answered? I find it unacceptable that my account has been suspended without justification. I am unable to get into my inbox to check the message sent as my account has been deleted. Please advise moderators. Thanks again.

mnicol22 · Post by **mnicol22** » Wed Sep 05, 2012 7:50 am

Hi,

I suppose no one in the forum can be of any significant help. It's alright to use articles that appear elsewhere as long as you put them up for usage rights only and the pennames in both accounts match. Also, if your article has been stolen and there are timestamps to show the date it was uploaded, you might be able to prove that it's yours. However, now that you closed your other account, I don't know how you can proceed to convince the guys here that the article was actually yours.

It's only been two days since you contacted Support, so maybe you should wait a few days longer. If you still don't hear from them, send them another message to see how you can get things straight.

Good luck!

nichewriter · Post by **nichewriter** » Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:02 am

I'm sorry to hear this and I hope you get a response from CC soon -- just give them time. Technically, though, you're not "working for" CC -- we're independent contractors -- so I'm not sure why you decided to close your Suite 101 account, especially if that could serve as proof of your authorship. I know many of those who write for CC have articles published in other sites and they also sell those articles for usage rights here on CC. The important thing is to make sure if you're selling previously published articles for usage that CC staff has a way to easily verify you are the original author of both articles (e.g., your Suite 101 articles have the same byline as you do here on CC).

dellacqua wrote:I have been accused of plagiarism after one of my articles with Suite 101 was stolen and posted on another site (without authorship). I have closed my suite 101 account because I didn't think it right to have those articles up while I was working for Constant Content. I am a serious writer and am appalled that I have been accused of plagiarism and banned. I feel I am the aggrieved party! I have sent an email through the contact form and not heard back. What recourse do I have? I feel I have been vicitmized twice. Many thanks for any feedback.

dellacqua · Post by **dellacqua** » Wed Sep 05, 2012 12:30 pm

Thanks for your response. No, I know I'm not technically working for CC. The reason I closed my Suite account is because I was earning so little that I wasn't even receiving a payout and I thought they were good articles that deserved a home. Obviously, I should have performed a search to see if they had been ripped off first. I do hope I get some response, some justification from CC however, as I am sad no longer to be writing for the site, I certainly enjoyed it and all my articles (and ideas) were original and from my own life experience....

dellacqua · Post by **dellacqua** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:58 am

Sadly, I have still not yet received a response from CC. I am so disappointed. All I wanted was a chance to understand the justification for the account suspension and my chance to prove myself. But no response at all to three mails to the contact (Author related) and these posts on the forum. What a shame!

dellacqua · Post by **dellacqua** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 5:49 am

Well, four emails to CC and five posts to the forum and not a peep from CC. Shameful! All I request is the dignity of a response justifying the closure of my account and the opportunity to defend myself. Beware authors, this could happen to any of you! I feel victimized twice over.

mnicol22 · Post by **mnicol22** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 2:43 pm

From what I saw in your previous posts, you had a similar issue in the past. Maybe that has something to do with their not answering anymore. I don't know, really. Plagiarism is a real issue for all of us writers, and it's not to be taken lightly. It's unfair to miss opportunities because someone stole your content, but C-C has a valid point here as well.

Anyway, it's always sad to see someone go because of such instances, but I'm afraid there's not much any one of us can do about it. Good luck with anything you pursue!

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