Very evil site

[Mogga]

Tweet

I've just come across a very nasty site.


This site appears to have a text grab of my main page content on their site.
I can tell this as they have left my bottom line in which is definately without a doubt mine.


The layout is such that it doesn't link to my site as all. It indicates the content belongs to another site.


This site belongs I believe to someone on this forum.

The only links available on that page go to an espotting listing of places to buy mobile phones.

So what should I do?

Ask them to remove my site?
(Knowing that if they steal one site they have more than likely stolen other sites)
Report them to espotting? (and does anyone have a contact and number for doing this?)
Or list the URL here?
Should I file a DMCA notice to their host and google?
Should I send them a bill for £1000 a day for using my content?


To say that I am angry is an understatement.


If you have a mobile phone related site they have probably done it to you and are, as far as I am concerned, this is stealing.

**** One fumingly angry Mogga ****

[Aelf]

Hi Mogga,

I can understand how you must feel. To steal someone's livelihood has got to be one of the worst crimes there is.

I don't know the technical side of things but there must be a way to trace the owner of the site.

[Divrie]

Hi,

I would say the best way to trace the owner would be to search to buy the url and see if the owners information is available.

That should help towards finding who it is.

[Mogga]

Oh I have got that info.

[HeresJonny]

Often you can get the name and address number of the domain owner from http://sunny.nic.com/cgi-bin/whois. Then use directory enquiries to get a phone number.

I had to do this a couple of months ago to someone who copied one of our sites. I telephoned him at 9 o'clock one morning out of the blue, and requested the copied content be removed within 48 hours or "further action" would follow ... and it certainly did the trick.

Jon

[Aelf]

Then perhaps you should name and shame. Whoever it is should be ostrasised totally. I don't know what else you can do.

I know if someone did it to me I would go mental, all that work stolen ... and let's face it, that's what it is, theft.

[smn2]

Hi Mogga,

Sorry to hear about your situation. I do think you should
contact the site owner concerned, though, before you
go 'naming and shaming', at least to allow them to
undo the problem.

(And I don't recommend you do anything, whilst still fuming!)

Steve

[pistol101]

If they have any AF links then please let me know, as we've kicked off one affiliate for doing it this week.

[999gi]

Some day when google gets really clued up it will know who the first to publish some copy was and having someone else republish your copy with be seen as a signj of quality like having an inbound link

Until then though give them hell

[grahamT]

http://www.webconfs.com/similar-page-checker.php

this can give you a good insight to how much is really yours.
but I see more people using programs like blackwidow and ripping sites and altering there content slightly.

You really ned to get on top of this as duplicate content will definatly affect your page rank in google

the link above only does pages and you have to know the url. there was a site once (damned if i can find it know) that would spider the internet looking for sites with similar pages etc.

does anyone of this tool, please let me know.

regards

Graham

[Ste]

GrahamT
The site you are probably looking for is http://www.copyscape.com

Its never nice having your copy copied, happened to me a couple times. Always be polite at the start, you can turn nasty when being nice fails.

There should be a seperate forum for situations like this, where they can be outed, so we know who they are. If they have copied your site, then they have done it to others.

[ProCash]

whats the website

[Dynamoo]

I guess we're talking about more than a snippet here?

There's a whole range of options available to you, starting with the most severe:

If you have been displaced from the SERPs because of unlawful use of your intellectual property then you can take legal action to recover damages.

Many affiliate networks will boot them, leaving them with a loss of revenue.

Copyright abuse is always a violation of their host's terms of service. If the host is in the US then you will need to file a DMCA complaint with the host. This is useful as it means that non-compliance will usually lead to suspension of the site.

File a DMCA complaint with Google and/or other search engines. I usually like to give a warning before doing this, and Google especially can take some time to process the complaint. I've filed six DMCA complaints with Google. In the case of an overseas site copier, a DMCA complaint like this might be your best first course of action.

Bill them for use of your intellectual property. £1000 per page is not unreasonable, because a *good* page can earn you that much or more.

Send a cease and desist notice by snail mail. Special Delivery is good as you can tell when it was delivered.

Or simply email them. I tend to give 72 hours notice to take down the material. Mention the "Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988", the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)". Mention that you want to resolve the situation amicably, but mention that it *may* be necessary to take further action which could include the steps listed above. In most cases the material has been copied in error, and I use a phrase along the lines of "you may have assumed that the material was a press release or is in the public domain, however it is not and I do not authorize you to use it".


On DMCA complaints, Google have guidance here. The first time you file a complaint it will usually need to be by fax, but it is possible to serve subsequent complaints by email using a PDF document with your signature.

There's another good (but I think slightly dated) article covering different search engines here.

A word of warning - an excerpt from your site could be considered "fair use". So, something the size of a Google snippet wouldn't count.

However, if the bulk of the unique content of a page is copied, then that is unlawful. And as the owner of the intellectual property, you pretty much have complete rights over its use. You do not have to give a warning before you take any of the more severe actions, although in my experience, a very firm but polite email usually gets results 90% of the time.

I tend to start off with an email once or twice at an absolute maximum and then complain to the host or file a DMCA complaint with Google etc as I feel is appropriate.

[Mogga]

Dynamoo I have sent you a PM as you also appear to be affected.

[Mogga]

Woohoo.

Another one of my sites is listed on his.