What to Do if You're a Victim of Online Plagiarism, Whether Forgery or Flattery

If you're the victim of online plagiarism, you've joined a prestigious club. Skilled content providers who can string together a meaty sentence filled with popular keywords, or craft a controversial headline will eventually fall victim to the unscrupulous, lazy and untalented.

Help, Someone Stole My Precious Content

Dear writer, color yourself angry.You have a right to be mad. A few months ago, I was a victim of online plagiarism. After 5 minutes of fuming, I quickly came to a huge revelation. Very few people steal trash. The best thieves in the world only steal treasure. Floored, flabbergasted and flattered, I counted my stolen 488-word article as buried internet treasure.

Turn the frown of forgery upside down.

In the midst of the Picassos and Monets of the online writing world, a well-written article is literary treasure. For writers new to the online world your words, thoughts and ideas can be lifted from the internet faster than the speed of sound. If you are a recent victim, welcome to the internet writing hall of fame.

No respectable working writer will stay in flattery mode longer than 5 seconds.

Here are a few guidelines to fight online plagiarism and protect your precious intellectual property.

First determine if the theft was intentional. Did the webmaster forget to add your byline? Did the content provider paraphrase your well-written paragraphs without attributing credit to the rightful owner? Before you fire off a hasty email to scold the offender, take a deep breath and think about the best approach to settle this major issue.

Use Google alerts, Copyscape and other internet methods to search for your content and byline.

Post with reputable online content distribution companies. Associated Content, Suite 101 and Constant Content, have strict copyright infringement policies for their content providers.

If the theft is blatant, send a firm but nice email to the site owner. In clear terms tell the content sniper what your demands are, and then wait for a 24 hour response. If your demands are not met, contact their hosting company and complain. Better yet follow my advice and post a nice comment on their blog for the entire world to see.
Here is a sample comment posting that I used when someone stole my content verbatim.

Feel free to tailor it to your needs. Use it to discourage other offenders from stealing your blood, sweat and tears. If your article is tied to a valuable keyword needed to boost online traffic to your site, readers will see that you are the true owner of the content, and will expose the website owner as a fraud.

Note: The following strategy only works if the website allows uncensored comments.

"Dear(name of web site owner/content provider),

I am so excited that the article that I wrote, "include name of article" is listed on your blog. However, I would appreciate it if you would provide a link back to my site( add you url) and include my byline with the article. I am sure that the omission of my name _________________________ and the original title was clearly a simple word processing error and not an attempt to steal my ideas and thoughts.

I would appreciate if you would handle this issue immediately. As a professional writer, I make my living by my intellectual property and words.

The original copy of the article was posted here on _____________ date______________: URL______________________________

I look forward to seeing proper credit given to the original creator of this article. I wish you continued success."

The internet is filled with valuable information to fight online plagiarism. Below are two of the best online postings, to help you fight the unscrupulous.

Lorelle at Wordpress - http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/04/10/what-do-you-do-when-someone-steals-your-content/

Moira Allen, Writing World - http://www.writing-world.com/rights/plagiarism.shtml

Believe it or not a victim of word-for-word plagiarism has something to be proud of. Don't be discouraged. Keep writing, blogging and posting great content. Fight back and protect your work at all costs. Congratulations are in order. You've made it to the top of the online writing food chain.