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DMCA or Not?

  1. judyb12
    Member

    There have been a lot of questions recently about how to deal with blog scrapers, and i thought it might be useful to put up a step-by-step guide for sending a DMCA notice (or not).

    Next time you see that someone has been stealing your content, try to follow these steps:

    1. Determine if they have taken an entire post or if it's an excerpt that then links back to you

    2. If it is an excerpt with a link, don't worry about it and ignore it, even if the excerpt contains inaccuracies. It would probably be considered "fair use", and you would be wasting your time trying to stop it. Think of it as advertising for your blog.

    3. If it is an entire post, find out the contact information for the site by using http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp
    a. In the section entitled "Find Out Who Owns a Domain Name", enter the domain name
    b. Click "Search WHOIS"
    c. The contact information should appear under "Registrant"
    d. If there is no contact information, scroll further down the page to the IP address, and click on it
    e. A new window will open, and information about the host of the IP address will be listed

    4. Send a DMCA notice to the domain registrant and the host. A sample follows, just replace the bracketed information with the correct corresponding info.

    [DATE]

    [REGISTRANT/HOST]
    [CONTACT INFORMATION]

    DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT NOTICE

    To Whom It May Concern:

    I believe my original work, found here [URL OF YOUR POST] has been infringed upon by this website [URL OF THE SCRAPER’S POST].

    The entirety of my webpage referenced above has been reproduced in violation of the Copyright Berne Convention, [INCLUDE THIS NEXT PART ONLY IF TRUE] and a clear notice of Copyright Protection is included in the sidebar of each of my webpages.

    Please get in touch with me at your earliest convenience at [YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS] to inform me of any actions you have taken on this matter.

    I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above on the infringing web pages is not authorized by my registered copyright and by the law. I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner of an exclusive right that is infringed.

    [YOUR SIGNATURE]
    [YOUR NAME]

    I, of course, recommend Lorelle's blog and the copywrite.org blog for further information.

  2. sulz
    Member

    thanks for this! what's dmca though? =)

  3. judyb12
    Member

    Digital Millennium Copyright Act
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmca

    :-)

  4. secondchancetolive
    Member

    Thank you Judy B. You are a blessing to WordPress folk. Have a great day! Craig

  5. timethief
    Member

    Thanks for summarizing the whole process. The steps to take to determine who owns the domain and who the webhost is are found in this thread too http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic.php?id=17253

  6. thesacredpath
    Staff

    Thanks a lot Judy, I've added the URL of this great explanation to my "copy-and-paste" file I keep on my desktop.

  7. weirdscience
    Member

    I did the dmca thing and it clearly showed copyright infringement. nothing was done after I mailed it in and emailed a copy as well.

  8. raincoaster
    Member

    Great stuff. Thanks.

    weirdscience, some people are just criminals.

  9. membracid
    Member

    The thing I really hate is when they use a bit of my post, and attribute it to another person. Grrrr.

  10. timethief
    Member

    This incorrectly attributed excerpting happens to me every time I publish a new article on my blog here and on my domain too but, I don't consider it to be a big deal.

    I look at the splog sites and I see no comments there. Obviously they get very little traffic and the sploggers are doing this to make a few dollars. Sure it's wrong. But it's also pathetic. Moreover, it's not going to stop.

    The way I look at it is that this incorrectly attributed excerpting does not "hurt" my blog. It does not hurt me as a person so, it's just not worth getting worked up over. I'm not willing to devote my time and energy to nurturing bad feelings and writing DMCA complaints and follow-ups. I'd rather be blogging.

  11. tellyworth
    Staff

    For the record, Automattic's DMCA information is here:

    http://automattic.com/dmca/

  12. thesacredpath
    Staff

    @tellyworth
    Thanks very much for posting this.

  13. timethief
    Member

    @tellyworth
    The information at this link is important http://wordpress.com/complaints/ Thanks. :)

  14. thesacredpath
    Staff

    @timethief
    Thanks for pointing that out. I've added it to my copy-and-paste file along with this thread and the Automattic DMCA link, and TOS link.

  15. timethief
    Member

    You're welcome. I've added them too. :)

  16. mark
    Support

    'I believe my original work, found here [URL OF YOUR POST] has been infringed upon by this website [URL OF THE SCRAPER’S POST].'

    This is VERY important. For each post you must compare the copied post.
    You can't say "and they copied lots more" or "you can see hoe many he has copied"
    You must give precise links. It is not our job to hunt around. You know your blog better than anyone and you must make it so when a tab for each link is opened it can be seen really easily.

  17. timethief
    Member

    If the blog scraper has Google adsense ads on his or her sites diplaying your stolen content and, what other motivation could they have for stealing except to profit from advertising income, then effective action can be taken by reporting them to Google.
    Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Google AdSense
    here's the link http://www.google.com/adsense_dmca.html

  18. timethief
    Member

    Do you know your online rights? Have you received a letter asking you to remove information from a Web site or to stop engaging in an activity? Are you concerned about liability for information that someone else posted to your online forum? If so, this site is for you. http://www.chillingeffects.org/

  19. thesacredpath
    Staff

    Another thank you for the link timethief.

  20. mark
    Support

    "then effective action can be taken by reporting them to Google."

    They want you to: "Send the written communication " - no email for them

    And their reaction times make glaciers seem nippy.

  21. timethief
    Member

    While Google only accepts complaints by way of fax or written communication raincoaster was successful 5 times using this process.

  22. thesacredpath
    Staff

    From raincoaster in: http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic.php?id=18029&page&replies=16

    Anywhere you see Adsense at the bottom of it is a link to Google. Hit that. At the bottom of that form is a place to report the blog for abuse. Do that. It's like three or four steps. Do it EVERY DAY until the adsense is gone.

  23. timethief
    Member

    Here's the "raincoaster" link I was referring to above http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic.php?id=18029

    {waving to tsp}

  24. timethief
    Member

    Arrrggghghhh! the correct link is here -> http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic.php?id=18029&page&replies=16#post-135606

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