website content theft . lessons in plagiarism and copyright infringement

Charles Caleb Colton once said “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery“. The problem is, he didn’t live to see what transpired with our website just a couple of days ago. I received a vague email from a friend who deferred me to a URL address, stating that I should “take a look at my biggest new fan”. As I clicked on the link and waited with baited breath as the page began to load, my jaw dropped. Looking back at me was a near replica of our website. And worse, the copy from our website was cut and pasted word-for-word into theirs.

Below is a screen capture of our website (top) and theirs (bottom) – you can click on the images to enlarge them. I have purposely blanked out their company name as I don’t want to give them any undeserved attention or web traffic. Although there are some obvious quality disparities and some subtle differences in layout, it’s obvious that our website was knocked off. And what you probably can’t read in the screen captures is the romance copy that was taken from our website and placed (unedited) onto theirs. Yes, it’s true, they actually left our company name on their website copy. (We also later learned that all of the pictures on their site were taken from other tent companies).

With the proliferation of the web, the ability to manage and control content is virtually impossible and the problem of plagiarism and copyright infringement runs rampant. You can employ a number of tricks to deter people from stealing content from your site, but the reality is that if they want it, they’ll find a way to get it.

Definitions
Understanding the terms is the first step to combating them. According to wikipedia…

Copyright is a form of intellectual property which gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation; after which time the work is said to enter the public domain. Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete. Some jurisdictions also recognise “moral rights” of the creator of a work, such as the right to be credited for the work. The intent of copyright is to allow authors to have control of and profit from their works, thus encouraging them to create new works and to aid the flow of ideas and learning.

Plagiarism is the use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work.

How to track content theft

. A fantastic site that allows you to check for other sites plagiarizing your blog or website is Copyscape. Simply input your URL and it will produce a report of other sites that have copied your written content.
. WordPress also has a variety of anti-plagiarism plugins. Online Tech Tips has done a good job of detailing them.
. Google Alerts is another great resource for plagiarism hunters. I use this tool to find out who’s talking about me or my company as well as to stay on top news about my competitors. But you can also use this to track sites that reference certain keywords.

What to do when you’ve found a thief

1. Collect your evidence
The first thing you should do is document the infringement. Take screen captures (ideally with time and date stamps).
Next, identify how to contact the infringer – email address, phone number, domicile address, Internet Service Provider. If you can’t locate this information, do a domain lookup through WHOIS. This will tell you who the website registrant is, the administrator’s name and email address, their IP address and a number of other valuable pieces of information.

2. Know what your goal is
Do you want the infringement simply to stop or do you want to sue for damages?

3. Issue a formal letter
A cease and desist letter should be sent to the infringer clearly identifying the copyright issue, what your expected resolution is, the time frame that you expect it to be resolved within and what you will do if your terms aren’t met. In serious cases you may have to also outline damages for lost profits. If possible, copy your legal department or council on the letter to show you’re serious.
I would also recommend that you send a letter to the infringer’s ISP (Internet Service Provider) outlining the infringement and requesting that the website be taken down. As a general rule of thumb, you should allow the web host 5 business days to remove the site. If they still haven’t done this after the allotted time, send a ‘cease and desist’ letter to the ISP.

4. Get contact
Look, if your goal is to get the site taken down as quickly as possible, you need to contact the infringer to ensure your message gets to them. In my case, I emailed them, filled out a form on their website, called their cell and their land line. I left the same message every time and the message was clear: you’ve violated copyright law; take down the site by end of day or our next conversation will be from my lawyer. I got a call back on my land line, my cell phone as well as an email. And the site was taken down. Case closed.

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This whole issue of web content theft is a tough one. Violators are hard to find and when you do find them it’s usually not worth pursuing legally. It’s disheartening when you spend thousands of dollars or invest ample time to create something, only to have it copied. So, it’s important to champion your work, know your rights and understand your options.

If you’re interested in learning more, below are a number of good resources on the topic:
About.com – website content theft
Microsoft office – 5 ways to guard against website content theft
Suite 101.com – How to stop web plagiarism
Lorelle on WordPress – what do you do when someone steals your content

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
President – ISES Toronto
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