What About Plagiarism?
June 26th 2008 20:04
Background: Work, Borrowed and Stolen
In my last post, I mentioned that I'd discovered two unauthorized postings of my work on the Internet. One of the two posted my byline and linked to both my blog and the blog I'd originally posted the piece to (though changing the title of the piece), and the other removed my byline, provided no link, and also changed the title of the piece. I've written all about the first instance in my previous post, Who Has the Right to Post Your Work? I'll cover the second, more serious offense, in this post.
Google Alert Comes Through, Again!
I learned about both these unauthorized postings of my work through Google Alerts I'd set up using unique phrases from my work. In the case of the second article, I'd instructed Google to scour the Web for the following phrase: "individual's simple personal musings about a subject." That's all it took. I had set up a comprehensive, as-it-happens alert. So, as soon as the Googlebot found my content, a notification e-mail, including a description and link to the offending website, appeared in my inbox. Finding my work was as simple as that.
A Visit to the Offending Site
When I clicked the link to visit the website that had posted my piece without permission, I discovered that it was a British blogging website. (My post was also, as you've likely guessed, about blogging.) There, unceremoniously gracing the site's webpage, stood my article, sporting a revised title, some added text, and three added links to other pages on the site (both of which had been placed directly into the body of the piece). Conspicuously absent were my byline and the last few paragraphs of my article. Needless to say, these things made me rather unhappy. And while I was glad to see that no one else's byline was on my piece, that did little to assuage my annoyance at this site's presumptuous handling of my work.
A Message to the Offending Site-Owner
I decided to send a message to the website's owner via the site's Contact form. The following is the message I left:
You have posted my article, "The Fascinating World of Blogging: Is It for You?" to your website without my permission, at the following URL: [LINK REMOVED]. This is a direct violation of my copyright as the author of this work. Not only have you used this article without my permission, but you have also removed my byline, changed the article's title, and made other unauthorized changes to the article itself.
If you would like to continue to use this article, usage rights to the article are available for purchase at the Constant Content website at the following URL: [ARTICLE URL].
To continue using this article, you must do the following:
1. Visit Constant Content and purchase usage rights to the article.
2. Replace my byline.
3. Restore the article's correct title: "The Fascinating World of Blogging: Is It for You?"
4. Remove the additions you’ve made to my article (i.e., your links using the anchor text "B___," "B___ blogger," and "Blog"--which you may place at the END of your post, OUTSIDE and SEPARATE FROM my article, if you desire to keep them) and restore any other changes you've made to the original article.
If you prefer not to purchase usage rights to the article (which are really quite inexpensive); or if you're willing to purchase usage rights, but unwilling to make all the changes listed above, please take this article down from your website immediately, as you do not have authorization to use it, and as usage rights to the article include all the above requirements.
Thank you very much,
Jeanne Dininni
If you would like to continue to use this article, usage rights to the article are available for purchase at the Constant Content website at the following URL: [ARTICLE URL].
To continue using this article, you must do the following:
1. Visit Constant Content and purchase usage rights to the article.
2. Replace my byline.
3. Restore the article's correct title: "The Fascinating World of Blogging: Is It for You?"
4. Remove the additions you’ve made to my article (i.e., your links using the anchor text "B___," "B___ blogger," and "Blog"--which you may place at the END of your post, OUTSIDE and SEPARATE FROM my article, if you desire to keep them) and restore any other changes you've made to the original article.
If you prefer not to purchase usage rights to the article (which are really quite inexpensive); or if you're willing to purchase usage rights, but unwilling to make all the changes listed above, please take this article down from your website immediately, as you do not have authorization to use it, and as usage rights to the article include all the above requirements.
Thank you very much,
Jeanne Dininni
The Website-Owner's Reply
The very next day, I received an apologetic e-mail from the site owner telling me that he'd purchased the article from a writer--and I use the term loosely and only because it's the term he used--on one of the freelance bidding sites, who had told him she'd written it. He also said that he'd taken the article down.
That was the point at which I realized that I was indeed dealing with outright, intentional plagiarism--that my article had been hijacked by an unscrupulous "writer" who felt it was perfectly OK to profit financially by passing off someone else's work as her own.
My Unsuccessful Attempt to Get to the Bottom of It
I was quite relieved to learn that the website owner had taken down my article--though I admit I did feel bad that he'd been taken advantage of every bit as much as I had. I did, however, want to get to the bottom of it and do everything in my power to put a stop to this so-called writer's cavalier selling of other, real writers' work. So, I sent the following response to the website owner's e-mail:
Dear A___,
I'm very sorry to hear that you, too, have been the unwitting victim of the dishonesty of this unscrupulous "writer." Is there any information you can give me about the person who sold my article to you that might help me track down this individual and put a stop to this so others aren't taken advantage of as you were? If you have this person's name, [BIDDING SITE] username, or any other info about him/her, I might at least be able to contact [BIDDING SITE] and inform them that this individual is selling plagiarized work.
For your protection in the future, I recommend googling a unique phrase from any article you're planning to buy before you pay for it. This will show you where this work is already posted on the internet and who has posted it. You may not always be able to tell this way (e.g., when you've purchased it from someone selling it through a site where usernames are the norm). But, at the very least, if you see it posted under several different bylines, that should give you a clue. You might also be able to contact authors through their contact info on their websites to check on a so-called writer's ownership of an article.
FYI: I discovered that your website had posted my piece via a Google Alert that I had set up to detect any websites that had the following unique phrase from my article posted to them: "individual's simple personal musings about a subject." As you can see, Google can be a great help in detecting plagiarism—either through Google searches or Google Alerts.
I do appreciate your willingness to do the right thing by taking down the article. And again, I'm so sorry that you were victimized by this so-called writer, who gives real, honest writers a bad name; and I hope you won't judge all of us by the dishonest few.
Sincerely,
Jeanne Dininni
I'm very sorry to hear that you, too, have been the unwitting victim of the dishonesty of this unscrupulous "writer." Is there any information you can give me about the person who sold my article to you that might help me track down this individual and put a stop to this so others aren't taken advantage of as you were? If you have this person's name, [BIDDING SITE] username, or any other info about him/her, I might at least be able to contact [BIDDING SITE] and inform them that this individual is selling plagiarized work.
For your protection in the future, I recommend googling a unique phrase from any article you're planning to buy before you pay for it. This will show you where this work is already posted on the internet and who has posted it. You may not always be able to tell this way (e.g., when you've purchased it from someone selling it through a site where usernames are the norm). But, at the very least, if you see it posted under several different bylines, that should give you a clue. You might also be able to contact authors through their contact info on their websites to check on a so-called writer's ownership of an article.
FYI: I discovered that your website had posted my piece via a Google Alert that I had set up to detect any websites that had the following unique phrase from my article posted to them: "individual's simple personal musings about a subject." As you can see, Google can be a great help in detecting plagiarism—either through Google searches or Google Alerts.
I do appreciate your willingness to do the right thing by taking down the article. And again, I'm so sorry that you were victimized by this so-called writer, who gives real, honest writers a bad name; and I hope you won't judge all of us by the dishonest few.
Sincerely,
Jeanne Dininni
No Reply--and that Nagging Question of Why
The trouble--and I admit that I do find this a bit unsettling--is that the website owner never replied to this e-mail, which was dated June 8th (about 2-1/2 weeks ago). This does raise questions in my mind about whether the site owner had in fact been honest in the first place when he told me how he'd originally come to post my piece. Of course, it's every bit as likely that he simply doesn't recall the username of the individual from whom he bought the piece on a website that thrives on anonymity and mandates no outside contact between buyers and sellers. This would be a reasonable assumption. Yet, I would have felt so much better to at least have received a reply telling me as much.
My Decision Not to Identify the Website
I've decided not to reveal the name of the website that posted my piece for two reasons:
1. The website owner promptly apologized and removed my piece from his site.
2. Though his lack of response to my request for more information about the offending "writer" has left me wondering about his honesty, I really have no proof that his explanation for how he came by my article is untrue.
After much thought, I've also decided not to identify the freelance bidding site, since this could happen to any such website, entirely without the knowledge or consent of the site's administrators. I believe the negative publicity such a disclosure might create for the site would be both unfair and unwarranted under the circumstances.
Should I Pursue It Further?
My nagging question at this point is, "Should I pursue this further?" I can't help but wonder whether I shouldn't recontact the site owner--though that would seem fruitless--or perhaps try contacting the bidding site directly and giving them all the information I have, in the hope that they may be able to track down the transaction--and, with it, the offending "writer."
I must confess that I would find it most satisfying to have this unscrupulous individual banned from the site to prevent her from doing this to anyone else there--though, of course, I realize that the value of this action would be limited, since she could simply leave the site and perpetrate her thievery on other unsuspecting clients of other freelance writing websites. But, at least it would be a start--a small step toward righting a wrong and preventing the perpetuation of that wrong in one cyber location, anyway. I'll definitely be considering taking this step.
Come to think of it, though, I suppose it's possible that this person could actually remain on the same freelance bidding site by simply changing her username and registering with a new e-mail address. So, it's really questionable how much good it would do to contact the bidding site. I'll certainly have to give it more thought.
That's My Story
Well, there you have it--an intentional hijacking of a writer's work for purely profit-driven motives. A blatant disregard for an author's rights made possible by the sheer ease and amazing convenience with which modern technology has enabled Web content to be copied and pasted by anyone to any desired location, either online or off.
Do You Have a Plagiarism Tale to Share?
How about you? Has your work ever literally been stolen--i.e., used in a way that was obviously intended to be plagiarism, rather than simple posting of your work to another website in likely ignorance of copyright law and with proper attribution? Has anyone removed your byline without your consent? Has someone actually sold your content under his or her own byline? Has someone had the nerve to sell full rights to your work? If so, what did you do about it? What was the outcome? Even if it hasn't happened to you, what do you think about the issue? What would you do if it did happen to you? What do you think I should do?
Looking forward to your thoughts,
Jeanne
Did you enjoy this post? Have anything to add? Please feel free to comment on any aspect of this issue that strikes your fancy--whether or not your comment answers any of the questions I've used above to prompt thought.
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