From time to time I log onto Copyscape.com to see if anyone has copied text from my website ... they offer both a FREE service (as well as a premium one that's very reasonable for a more in-depth search). You simply enter the url of your websites's various pages and instantly receive a report on places where that text is shown. You'll see that it includes your text on sites where you placed it (like ActiveRain, your own website, Linked In or other profiles, etc.) as well as sites where PLAGIARIZERS have copied YOUR content and are using it as their own.
Once you click on those "unfamiliar" links, Copyscape.com gives you a full report that shows the Source Page (YOUR content) as compared to the COPYCAT'S page. Your text will be highlighted and so is YOUR text on THEIR page, so both you and the person who stole your original content can easily see what's been copied. Copyscape.com also includes a Word Count to make it very clear how much of your content was copied. For something that's this helpful, it's amazing that it's also FREE.
If you'd like their Automatic Search service, that costs a bit more but is the easiest way to make sure your original content is safe from copyright infringement.
AS a professional home stager in Portland, Oregon I've been dismayed to discover that home stagers from around the country have copied my website text. When this happens, I email them a polite but firm letter giving them the link to Copyscape.com's report as well as a demand that they remove my text from their website within 48 hours. If they ignore my request, they receive a more firmly-written letter that references the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, Title 17, section 512, US Code (commonly referred to as "DMCA").
A final resort is a letter from an attorney detailing the financial penalties they'll be liable for if the plagiarized text isn't removed immediately. You can also contact the host of that person's website and request that their site be taken down -- I did that last week and the offender's entire website was shut down in less than 24 hours -- because she'd refused to remove my text from her site. Fines and penalties can be surprisingly stiff since federal law protects original content.
*Oh -- and you COPYCATS? Don't offer that lame excuse that your "webmaster must have done it" -- we've heard that before and as the business owner, you're the responsible party for making sure that any content on your site is YOUR OWN.
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Maureen Bray is a professional home staging expert based in Portland, Oregon, and a member of the Real Estate Staging Association. She serves as a Moderator of the 'Stage It Forward' and 'Real World Home Staging for Newbies' forums on Active Rain and writes posts helpful to homeowners, real estate professionals, and other home stagers. Maureen's staging and design work has been featured in multiple episodes of HGTV's show 'My First Place,' on AM Northwest and KATU News, and her interviews are found in publications including The Oregonian, Portland Monthly, Personal Real Estate Investor, and Angie's List Magazine. Maureen was awarded the Super Service Award by Angie's List in 2010, and was voted by her peers throughout North America as a Finalist for Professional Stager of the Year for 2012 and 2011.
Licensed • Insured • Accredited • Certified
2012 Professional Home Stager of the Year - Western U.S.
(Real Estate Staging Association)
Copyright © Room Solutions Staging LLC 2006-2012
"Staging That Sells Portland Homes"
Content may not be reproduced without permission.
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Very disturbing, Maureen. I'm sure you don't have time to deal with this, nor want to incur the expense of an attorney. You made the right decision and informing others about how Copyscape works should help deter further violations.
I haven't checked in on Copyscape in awhile now, Maureen. Thanks for the reminder!
Maureen.....LOVE the "Copy Cat" graphic!!!! It says it all! You did the work and then someone wants to USE your hardwork....not cool!
p.s....I also "Suggested"!!!!
Hi John ~ Hey what a cool graphic you found LOL!!!
Hi Kim ~ Lots of us have had our content stolen by others ... it's not OK and people need to check their sites on Copyscape and demand the plagiarizers stop it.
Hi Sharon ~ I hope you don't find that someone has taken your content.
Hi Kathy ~ Thanks, it took me a while to put that together but it does get the message across doesn't it! Thanks for the suggest.
Maureen, thanks for the information about copyscape-I will look into it because it sounds important.
Hi Joanna ~ Check it regularly so that you can be sure no one is taking your website content. I hate finding out when someone has, but sending the email helps bring them in line.
Maureen, I've checked and the only person who did copy my content was me (from my website to the AR profile). It was very useful to do because Google does not like a double content. I have to fix that.
Hi Anna ~ Apparently, Google doesn't mind if your post from AR is the same as that on your website ... now and then it's fine. If you wrote 10 posts a day it might raise a red flag.
Hi Maureen, That is so lame that someone felt that they couldn't be creative enough to come up with their own words for their own website. I'll check out copyscape...thanks for that info!
Hi Maureen--good for you! Let's just hope the copy cat doesn't have nine lives. Really, is it that hard to write copy for one's website without stealing it from others? What does that say about that business. Now I am going to have to check on Copycat and see it that is happening here.
Hi Cindy ~ I agree it's lame for anyone to copy someone else's text, but it happens to many AR members. Copyscape.com is a great resource that you should check regularly to make sure it isn't happening to your site.
Hi Janet ~ No nine lives for those Copycats LOL!! thanks for your support :-)
Maureen, I see this is where the stagers hang.
I hadn't heard of this useful service to find sneaky plagiarist thieves. If I ever have content good enough to plagiarize I'll check it out. I bookmarked for future reference and suggested so more folks know about Copycats. (I have plagiarists and looters categorized together with some others under Scumbags.)
Unfortunately, I can so relate to your frustration. It's beyond wrong and I'm so sorry to hear that it's happening to you. It takes a significant amount of time to create the content so to have it lifted, taken, stolen from us is wrong.
As for Anna's concern regarding duplicate content - Google views the first post as the original and gives credit to that post. In other words, the first post becomes the source of authority and any other place it appears is not. Hope that helps.
Kathy
Great little graphics. I didn't know this was availble but will check it out. Sorry to hear it has happened to you and others.
Maureen I have not heard of this site before but am going to check it out. Very interesting, guess I just have never thought of taking someone else's content. Thank you for the heads up.
Hi Lloyd ~ I like your group name for those nefarious types. And your website content is more than good enough, but you're lucky no one's tried yet to copy it!
Hi Kathy ~ Well you received the dubious award for most-copied home staging website photos in 2010 ... and so you understand the frustration for sure. And you're right, it is just plain WRONG.
Hi Wendy ~ People shouldn't have that much difficulty writing their own text .... why bother to steal from someone else?
Hi Mary ~ Copyscape is a great resource for people in any industry. I love that it's a free service and so easy to use!
Hi Maureen,
I've never heard of that site, but will definitely check it out. If people can't create their own content I'd be wary of their creativity in other areas, such as staging my home.
Hi Linda ~ That's an excellent point ... be as creative in your website content as you are in your staging!! Good one.
Thanks for the reminder, Maureen. I need to set myself a calendar reminder to check Copyscape on a regular basis. Why should someone else piggyback on our hard work?
Hi Tessa ~ That's right! We work hard to right our website text and no one has the right to steal it. I think it's important to schedule a regular Copyscape check ... it only takes a few minutes to check all of your site's pages.
Wow, I never even thought about someone possibly lifting my copy, and I never heard of copyscape, so thanks for the heads up, Maureen! I recently heard from another Active Rainer that she was very surprised to see how many AR people had the same blog post -- she googled the topic because she knows of "pay-to-blog" services. I understand people not having time to write their own posts, but it really dilutes the results and the effect when there are multiple copies of the same post floating around here and elsewhere throughout the blogosphere. I believe part of the way to build your business is by creating your own "voice" and hopefully your own content as well.
Hi Amy ~ you're so right! Paying a service for your posts just dilutes their effectiveness and shows you have no writing talent. It's so easy to just dive in and write your own blog posts and your own website text! Thanks for joining into the discussion.
Wow... so glad you posted this. I checked copyscape and found another stager not only lifted my content, but is using my pictures. So I checked properties on all her pictures and low and behold... they were all lifted/stolen from other people too. Not one picture is hers. Will be calling to "Wake Forest, Raleigh, Cary, Rolesville, Knightdale, Zebulon, Wendell & Clayton area stager in the morning!
Hi Lori ~ Wow -- that is outrageous!! I am sorry to hear this happened to you but glad you're going to follow up. No one should be allowed to steal content, but photos?? That is a home stager's proof of their ability to do the work. How can anyone think it's OK to steal someone else's photos? I hope you're successful in shutting her down. Contact me if you need any help ... I've had experience pursuing these plagiarists.
Yeah, pretty unbelievable and she left all the original properties on each pic. So I contacted as many people as I could by email. Then I googled her name because she only has a phone # on her site. Boy the internet is priceless on finding people.... it even gave me her email and her home address. Now that is pretty scary! Will let you know.
Amen Maureen! How many times have we had this conversation and the most shocking thing is people in the Rain copy photos and text! Besides being a thief, who would be so brazen stupid to think no one would notice?! Of course I'm not surprised people have stolen your work - after all I thought of it myself it's so gorgeous - LOL. I hope the people who are doing this READ this! We know who they are!
Hi Lori ~ I found the stager you're referring to ... and saw YOUR photos in HER photo gallery!! What nerve!! I'm sure that you'll have them quickly removed.
Hi Kristine ~ Yes, we've certainly talked about this before. That's why Copyscape.com is such a helpful tool ... you can so easily find out if your text has been stolen.
Always good to check your content every few months - we do this and find that certain sentences or paragraphs which have been blatantly taken in their entirety and I wonder .. do I bug them about that or leave it?
Thanks for posting Maureen - this is always a vital to keep on top of!
Maureen, Appreciation expressed for the information on the website to check if our content is being copied, or was even copied from another website. I've found it very useful, and thankfully my content is still original and safe.
Hi Heather ~ Glad that you check your site with Copyscape.com regularly. If you find more than one entire sentence copied, write them and give them a link to the free Copyscape report. It's YOUR content, and regardless of where they're located, you have the copyright and they are stealing it.
Hi Sebastian ~ Good to hear that no one stole your content ... be sure check every so often.
Maureen- sorry I missed this one. I actually saw this on LInked In. I know you've had an issue with someone copying stealing your work. There is no excuse. Sure buzz words are common in all industries and professions but write your own. Besides no one wants to read "canned" verbiage on a website or blog. Make it your own. (suggested)
Maureen....because of your post I just did a follow up post! Thank you!!
Hi Kathy ~ As you said, it's important to make your web content your own ... we can think of ways to describe what we do and how it benefits our clients with just a little effort.
Hi Shar ~ I just read your post and am glad that Copyscape was able to help you!
Maureen:
Thanks for the referral to copyscape. As Lloyd Binen,#14 said,"If I ever have content good enough to plagiarize I'll check it out." I'm with him. It is sad that people would use your content without even crediting you. Not good. Makes you wonder about the person and their ethics.
Maureen:
I went to copyscape and put in an URL from my recent ActiveRain post. Copyscape showed posts that I had reblogged. Is reblogging considered plagarizm?
BTW, why isn't spell check working now, ActiveRain?
Hi Evelyn ~ reblogging isn't considered plagiarism -- what Copyscape tells us is where duplicate content is found .... it cannot identify plagiarism, just finds and identifies duplicate content.
There are some people who think that reblogging isn't a benefit for the original author since the reblog will show as "duplicate content" in search engine crawls, and thus dilute the value of the original post -- but I think the jury is still out on that.
I hadn't heard of this and will certain check out Copyscape.com. I assume I'll have to check each individual page of my site,which will take a while. I'll check some to see. Thank you for the good info.
Hi Mary ~ check each titled page of your site -- Copyscape.com lets you check about 5 pages at a time, if I recall correctly, unless you subscribe to their reasonably-priced service. In any case, they're very fast at checking your pages and right away you'll see the results.
Thank you for letting us"newbies" know.
Hi Kathleen ~ it's true, we have to be vigilant to protect our original content on our websites and also our blog posts. I'm glad to be of help!
So can you tell me what the correct procedure is to quote someone online these days? Citing references has changed a lot since college, lol. Do you need permission from the original author or is it okay to introduce the quote, put it in quotes, give credit and a link?
Hi Chris ~ it depends on what you want to quote. Most articles and websites are copyrighted and may not be quoted without express permission in advance from the website owner. When in doubt, always ask before you quote any author ... just giving credit with a link is often not allowed by authors, and the penalties for copyright infringement are surprisingly high. So to be on the safe side, ask the person first -- and get their permission in writing to protect yourself.
And yes, today's online world is very different from our school days when we could easily quote a source :-)