# Is Your Websites Content Original



## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

I just learned this through a member at CT. You can check if someone has copied your content. By Googleing your content. A example is one of mine bellow. You can see someone has apparently been using the following statement in there website.
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"With the world’s current growth it is not only good business, but also necessary, to implement environmentally friendly practices in day-to-day business.* We seek to protect valuable resources and enhance quality of life for generations to see."


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

It's not going to hurt your site. This happens all the time. If he was in your area I would let him know but he is a ways from you.


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

Doesn't google like you to have original? I don't care other than the posibilty of it hurting my ranking. I'm going to be changing that anyways. I never realy liked it.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

I think your site is older than theirs. also your page rank is a one and his is not rated yet.Google would know that yours was first anyway.It does help your site to change a few things now and then.Just don't mess with your key words, unless you want try others.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

What key words are you going for anyway on your home page?


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## LA Painter (Jul 28, 2009)

Whoa! I googled the entire paragraph from my home page and found a company in Vancover has copied it verbatim. Since I wrote it myself, what are the odds?!

That is wierd to see... :blink:


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

LA Painter said:


> Whoa! I googled the entire paragraph from my home page and found a company in Vancover has copied it verbatim. Since I wrote it myself, what are the odds?!
> 
> That is wierd to see... :blink:


so are you proud of this now?


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

LA Painter said:


> Whoa! I googled the entire paragraph from my home page and found a company in Vancover has copied it verbatim. Since I wrote it myself, what are the odds?!
> 
> That is wierd to see... :blink:


You know just for the heck of it you should send them a note and ask them how they like there content


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

Ya, I thought about doing that. Just to be a funny azz, but I really don't care other than my rating. I'm sure he will see a bunch of hits coming from the google, he will only see that statement and mine and his sites. Maybe he will wonder wtf. 
.
John I haven't even thought keywords. My main target will be HOA and gc's


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

ewingpainting.net said:


> Ya, I thought about doing that. Just to be a funny azz, but I really don't care other than my rating. I'm sure he will see a bunch of hits coming from the google, he will only see that statement and mine and his sites. Maybe he will wonder wtf.
> .
> John I haven't even thought keywords. My main target will be HOA and gc's


Well you better if you want to come up on the first page search for the people you want to work for. Isn't that the whole reason you got a website, for more business?


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

John, I just wanted to say I have a website. :smartass: 
.
I have them now I was talking for the reconstruction of my web.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

ewingpainting.net said:


> John, I just wanted to say I have a website. :smartass:
> .
> I have them now I was talking for the reconstruction of my web.


Sorry: I don't understand what you are saying.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

Someone anonymously sent me a note saying a painter/paperhanger on the Cape had one of my pix on his website. 

I don't cotton to theft of my copyrighted material.

I left a rather "terse" message on his answering machine. His wife returned the call in about half an hour claiming she was an inexperienced web master and had made the site for hubby. She also said she had gotten the picture off of google and thought it was a "stock photo". 

I assured her I wasn't buying any of her crap. Her tone changed, she apologized and said it would be off their site. I further explained to her it was unethical to represent someone else's work as theirs and that all pix on their site had better be work that her husband had done.


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## y.painting (Jul 19, 2009)

Duplicate text content will not hurt you.

Your website had it first, and the search engines know that. If any discounting is applied, it is to sites that have gotten it later. That's one of the issues with publishing the same article to your site and then a bunch of ezine-type places. Although they are all indexed, Google will only count the original for rankings.

wing,

You should definitely give the company a buzz or email them about this. I wouldn't want others using my copy.


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## RCP (Apr 18, 2007)

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"
A lot of these are from wanna be web designers doing a copy and paste, sometimes the biz owner has paid for the content and has no clue. Usually when you contact the owner, they are willing to have their web person change it. If no response, you can send a letter to the hosting company and it will get yanked pretty quick.

Here is more info


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## Induspray (Dec 10, 2009)

We have people copying content off our site all the time, our project pictures, content, buttons, meta tags etc. Go ahead and steal it. What we do is notify Google through their copyright infringement section and when they get around to it they will penalize the positioning of the offending site, in some extremes they have completely blacklisted the site . The best thing is that the offending site is never notified why their ratings have decreased. I have seen some of our competitors drop off the first page of google after we sent in a notice, maybe it was coincidence, maybe not. When you think about it isnt it better to let the offender use your content but at their own peril. If you are extremeley possesive about your content you can put copy sentry on your site for $5 a month for the basic service and it will email you when someone uses any of your content at their site http://www.copyscape.com

Now, if it really drives you nuts to know that someone elses site is broadcasting your content as their own and you want to devote some time to it here are the steps I would use

1) Email them and ask them to remove the copied material. Be polite but stern, telling them you will pursue legal means if this is not addressed within 48 hours. In the US, you can cite the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and copyright law violation.

2) If no response, have a lawyer send the same type of message.

3) If no response, contact their ISP and ask that they take action, copying your prior correspondence as backup. In the US, cite DMCA and ask how to proceed.

4) Contact a copyright lawyer and ask for legal advise on possible action. While often difficult to pursue, penalties for copyright violation are severe.

5) If totally stuck, change your content.

Usually the polite email does it. When from a lawyer I've seen VERY fast response on this -- almost obsequious if they realize they can be sued. 

If it comes down to it, see if their website gets spidered by "the wayback machine" - http://www.archive.org/index.php in which case even though they may do a last minute revision on their site, you'll have a record of their infringement.

Once a suit is filed, you'll need some evidence, preferably from a third party, and The Wayback Machine can provide that evidence.

The Copyscape site noted earlier seems worthy for detecting future infringement but in your case you've already latched on to the varmints.

I'd create a single cease and desist letter and send it to ALL the parties of interest at once (CC the email to the website admin, their host, your lawyer, their domain registrar, Google, etc.).

Chances are the problem will remedied in short order. If the infringement has been in place for a lengthy period of time (as shown from previous spidered versions of their site on The Wayback Machine), you might be able to file a damages suit in addition to the infringement. I.e., any income they generated from their site can be presented as evidence of damages to you.

For international claims, I believe the registrar's involvement can have the site/domain revoked (shut down), regardless of their home country - I think.


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## jason123 (Jul 2, 2009)

Recently I noticed a popular competitors site had copied and past a reputable painting manufacturer how to section. Its a cold cruel world. Sounds like its a first come first credit/ranking system.


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## LA Painter (Jul 28, 2009)

I just Googled a few paragraphs from my FAQ’s - which I spent a lot of time writing, and found several companies who have copied it. Bastards!


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