Protecting Your Writing from Electronic Piracy

Just as the Internet has made publishing your articles much easier, it has also simplified the process of piracy. Lifting paragraphs or even a full article from your website or a website that has published your work doesn't take more than a few seconds. Protecting your writing from electronic piracy should be a priority in your writing career. There are a few ways to ensure that you aren't victimized, but you should also know how to protect yourself once someone steals your work.

Protecting Your Writing from Electronic Piracy: Search for Your Work

Every writer should know the ins and outs of search engines like Google, so use them to your advantage. Choose one day per month as Piracy Check day and use the search engines to search for your work on the Internet. You can enter the title of your article in quotes or you can search for portions of the actual text to see what pops up. This might be a time-consuming practice and you may want to reserve it for your highly-paid pieces, but I have uncovered copyright infringement in numerous of my own articles over the last eleven months.

Protecting Your Writing from Electronic Piracy: Look Out for Fellow Writers

The fight against electronic piracy is not one writer's battle. While you don't need to take it upon yourself to become a Piracy Vigilante, you can take the time to contact a writer if you find that his or her work has been stolen. This has happened a few times with some of my favorite writers on AC; I'll find their article lifted for a blog or article site somewhere else and shoot them an e-mail. It doesn't hurt to let people know that they have been targeted for copyright infringement.

Protecting Your Writing from Electronic Piracy: Make a Complaint

Many web hosting companies have strict guidelines for their subscribers regarding copyright infringement. If you discover that a website has pirated your article, contact the web host first to see what their policies are. If they refuse to help, your only real recourse is to contact the webmaster for the site in question. Send a detailed e-mail explaining your complaint and requesting one of two responses: Either removal of the pirated article or compensation for its use. This is the most difficult aspect of electronic piracy because you won't always be able to find an address or phone number, and e-mails can easily be deleted by the recipient.

Protecting Your Writing from Electronic Piracy: Notify the Original Publisher

Unless you published the article on your own website and nowhere else, contact the original publisher and apprise them of the situation. This is absolutely necessary if the publisher owns the copyright to your work; even if this isn't the case, however, the publisher might want to look into other copyright infringement by the same company or individual.

Protecting Your Writing from Electronic Piracy: Understand Your Rights

Although you can follow all of the advice listed above, you'll be far better off if you understand the ins and outs of copyright infringement. For example, many writers believe that as long as a publisher lists attribution to the author, it isn't considered infringement. This isn't the case. Educate yourself on the subjects of copyright law, fair use and different types of rights so that you're better equipped to handle the situation.