Article Stealing

More days than not, I see someone has stolen one of my articles. At times, it has been twisted and turned and flipped until it makes no sense....with my name still listed as author. Other times, it has been copied exactly, my name and original link removed, and placed on sites and blogs. I want to post on their pages.... IT'S MINE...LEAVE IT ALONE...DO NOT ALTER...DO NOT CLAIM IT AS YOUR OWN. IT IS MINE. MY OWN. MY PRECIOUS...in true Smeogol/Gollum fashion.

There is a Correct Way to Post the Articles to Your Site/Blog

Unfortunately, being so vocally Gollum-like isn't such a good idea professionally. There is a correct way to link to articles on your site or blog. Simply list an introduction of 50 words or less with the full link to the original article. If it's traffic you are seeking, this method will still bring page views because the article keywords will be linked to your site/blog. And the author is happy because this method gives credit where credit is due....and sends traffic to their articles, too.

What do You do if Someone Has Stolen Your Article(s)?

Every author faced with this predicament handles things differently. Some prefer to send a private email to the person who used their article incorrectly and notified them of a 24 hour cease and desist. This just means they have 24 hours to remove to article or link the article correctly with full credit given to the original author or further action will be taken.

Private email is probably the more professional road to take. But I tend to handle it a little differently....it's that hot temper. I usually place a short and sweet comment/post near my article saying something like "I am glad you enjoyed my article enough to take copy and paste it, make revisions and alterations, then take full credit on this site. However, I must ask that you either post the article in the correct fashion (a 50 word intro with accompanying link to my original piece of work) or you remove the article in it's entirely. You have 24 hours to cooperate or further legal action will be put into motion."

If they fail to respond, take these steps to report the theft...because that is exactly what it is.

1. Validate it has been plagiarized. Plagiarism Checker is a great site to verify your article has been stolen. If your article has been stolen, you can report it as this site as well.
2. Register with Googles webmaster tool and report the violation. You will need to fill out the spam report completely, including all details about any contact you had with them.
3. If the site uses Google Ad Sense, read the help section on Google and fill out the required DMCA form.

That usually does the trick! I strongly suggest all online writers add their titles to Google Alerts . This sends email notifications whenever your article has been listed on a new site and indexed with Google. These emails can fill your box so if I were you, I would set-up my Google account to send digest emails once a day.