How Do You Handle a "Copy Cat"?

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

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[somarco]

For a moment I thought I was busted . . .

I don't know the folks. Can't say if it will hurt or not. I don't know if Google is smart enough to pick up on the same verbiage but only changing a noun or two.

Do you think I need to change my site where it says I am the founder of an association with 47,001 members?

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

No...because you become the roving President in 2011.

 

[Dave020]

I am having a "Roger Sweet" flashback, thanks Chumps.

 

[Sam]

This can be a serious problem, because of the duplicate content penalty. Google is fairly good at seeing who made the content originally but they are not perfect. You should file a dcma etc... How do you stop someone scraping / stealing your blog content? :: Free Tech Support :: Ask Dave Taylor!

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Thanks Sam.

I just checked that Georgia site and it is unbelievable how much content they have copied (and substituted Georgia for Ohio).

I guess I will call them Thursday.

 

[mka]

I don't see any copyright message on your site which may mean that contents of your site are not copy protected so anyone can use it. You might want to add a copy right message at the bottom of every page.

 

[TXINSURANCE]

Chumps I think you need more text on your home page... LOL.

I checked google and you were #1 for goat insurance? Is this what they are trying to copy?

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

I don't see any copyright message on your site which may mean that contents of your site are not copy protected so anyone can use it. You might want to add a copy right message at the bottom of every page.

I'm talking about duplicate content, which I assume Google frowns upon.

 

[Guest]

I don't see any copyright message on your site which may mean that contents of your site are not copy protected so anyone can use it. You might want to add a copy right message at the bottom of every page.

Not true. All intellectual property is copyright protected as soon as it is created. This note that I'm writing here is copyrighted the instant the words appear on the screen. The lack of a copyright notice does NOT put the work in the public domain.

What about filing copyright papers? Registering a copyright with the Library of Congress does nothing but establish a time line in case of a dispute. If two people claim that they created the same work and one registered with the LoC and the other didn't, or one registered BEFORE the other, the person with the earlier registration has standing in court and will usually win the dispute.

There is no need to write a "copyright" statement or use the © symbol anymore, but you still see it all the time as it is part of the "tradition" of intellectual property creation.

And BTW, that putting something in an envelope, sealing it, and mailing it to yourself to establish copyright is just a myth. It is copyrighted as soon as it comes off of the printer or shows up on the screen.

I think what we are dealing with here is not copyright infringement, but plagiarism, which is a whole different aspect of the law... and often hard to prove.

I've owned a book publishing biz for almost 20 years so I know a bit about this. However, as a disclaimer IANAL, so if you have questions on the issue you are best advised to seek out an attorney who specializes in intellectual property.

Al