How should you handle somebody else out there stealing content from your website? This happens a lot with blogs, because the content is so easily ripped from one source so it can be reproduced somewhere else. Most of the time, it is best to content the copyright thief first before going to the web host of the thief. So here is a better way to stop copyright theft of your website’s content.
The first thing you will want to do is find some contact information for the person who is stealing your content. This can often be done by looking at their about page, the contact page, in the footer of the website, or even in the meta tags or source code. Once you have a name or e-mail address, you can take the next step.
Note: A Whois search on their domain name could be used to, but it is not recommended since it could be privatized or providing false details about the person.
Now, you are ready to contact the thief. Remember, your main goal is to inform them of the theft, open discussions about it, gather information and save everything you do – just in case you need to turn the conversation over to the webhost of the thief. Also, keep the conversation professional and to the point. Do not go out of your way to be mean or rude, because then chance are you will be even less likely to get a response.
Remember, you want to:
- Ask them to remove the plagiarized material as soon as possible (give them a 4 to 5 day window of time to get this done)
- Show them the source of their copyright theft, and your proof it came from you and it is your content
- Maybe let them keep the content up if they link back to you or by some other deal you could negotiate between the two of you
Now if this route does not work, and you do not hear anything back in a week or two it might be time to move into sending a cease and desist and also contacting the web host for the offending website to start discussing the DMCA violations at play in your situation.
For more information, I would suggest checking out this great guide that Lorelle on WordPress has put together.
This should at least help you get started (and take care of about 75% of the content theft you deal with) when it comes to protecting your unique content online.
Want More? – Check out the rest of the DMCA conversation in Podcast 210!
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