Green Your Decor content being republished without permission
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I rarely get off topic, but I want to bring a problem to my readers’ attention. The content from Green Your Decor’s RSS feed is being republished by several websites without my permisson — photos, graphics and all. Considering how much time and effort goes into every single post here, I am frustrated and upset, to say the last. They are even republishing my giveaways and winner notifications! Maybe I should’ve labeled this post as a “Green Steal of the Week,” too!
My attempts to contact the webmasters of all these websites have been fruitless, so I’m trying a different route. In principle, I don’t want to link to these sites, but I do want to make it known that the content they are republishing as their own is mine, and mine alone.
So readers, if you see any of my content on the following websites, know that it is there without my permission:
- GoGreenPark.com
- GoGreenLife.com (clearly by the same webmaster as the previous site)
- TeenGoGreen.com (the rest can be seen under “fashion”)
In a message directly to those webmasters, this is NOT ok. You are stealing content that I put a lot of work into, and I’m calling you out on it. Stop republishing my feed and write your own content.
GYD readers, lets see if they’ll republish this post like they have everything else.
Readers, particularly RSS subscribers, what do you think of the idea of using only snippets of my posts in the RSS feed and email newsletter? This will ensure that even for those people stealing my content, they’ll only be able to republish a paragraph or so and will be forced to link to my original work in order to read the whole post. It would be similar to the Green Your Decor homepage, where you see the beginning of the post, then can click the link at the bottom that says “Read the full post.” Your opinions are the most important in this decision, so please leave a comment and let me know what you think!
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Jennae, I think just using snippets in the RSS feed would be fine. Most of the blogs I read through RSS feeds only provide a paragraph and if I want more I click on the link in the e-mail.
Also, I love posting about your blog, because I think you have amazing ideas. But if at anytime I have ever overstepped my bounds in using your content or photos please let me know. I do my best to draft each post in a way to entice my readers to go to your site for the full story.
Keep up the great work and don’t let the thieves get you down!
Jackie (Tiny Décor)s last blog post..Eco-friendly Upholstered Crib
@Jackie You are more than welcome to continue directing readers to Green Your Decor in the way that you have. The way you do it is a great example of the right way to do it, and I so appreciate your links! Thanks for your support.
And just as an update, gogreenlife.com republished this post calling them out for stealing. And I captured screenshots of my posts to help me in my case to get them removed from Google and dropped by their hosts.
I was a little worried about this when I wrote a blog post recently on Bento lunches. I emailed the two people whose pictures I “borrowed” for the story to make sure it was okay (and linked to their sites and gave full credit to them). I heard back from one woman who gave her blessing, and never heard back from the other. But posting your work as if it is their own ‘green’ original content is not only unethical, it’s illegal theft. I think I’d consult legal advice and write some threatening letters instructing removal to the domain owner you find at Whois, and also to the ISP hosting the sites.
Kris Cs last blog post..Is Your Child Chic? Bento Designer Lunches Rule for School!
you know- they actually HAVE posted your comment on the fact that they are using your information and work without your permission!!! it’s simply ridiculous. I love your site, please keep posting!
Lisa
(Nova Scotia- Canada)
Jennae, it really stinks that you’re having to deal with this, and I hope you’re able to get it resolved. I’ve had to deal with this for several of my clients, (right down to DCMA takedowns) so if you need any help you know how to reach me! Plagiarism Today is a great resource site, too.
Sorry to hear people are stealing your content. You have an excellent site.
Unbelievable! Of course, feel free to use just snippets in the RSS feed! I like clicking over to your site from my reader anyways, because it’s so pretty!
Gidgets last blog post..Olympic Obscurity
I usually hate it when blogs truncate their posts for RSS feeds, but if that’s what you’ll have to do, I will certainly understand. Another blog I subscribe to called “Mental Floss” recently had to start doing the same thing, but went back to full posts when the people in question had been taken care of. I think that once Google deals with them, you’ll be free to continue allowing full posts to go out.
They will be getting money simply for people loading their websites with the ads, so it’s best not to even go to the sites.
Sites like that are all over the place. They are horrible - and I have my RSS feeds set to snippets for that reason.
You can report them to their domain register and host and have them shut down though.
Their host is http://liquidweb.com/ - abuse@liquidweb.com
Their domain names are registered at http://www.namecheap.com/, support@namecheap.com
(from WHOIS database)
The best option is to send a Cease and Desist letter including specific screen captures of your stolen content to them, their register and their host.
Crystals last blog post..I Love……
Hi Jennae,
I’d say go with the snippets.
I actually prefer snippets since they give me a quick way to see if I want to surf over to a site and read the entire article. (I prefer to read articles on sites rather than via email or RSS reader…)
Sorry to hear of your problem with content thieves. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I’m not sure that applies to theft…
- Aaron Dalton, 1GreenProduct.com
Aaron Daltons last blog post..Sweepstakes — Act2GreenSmart Bags
Thanks everyone for all your support. I sincerely appreciate it! I am working on cease & desist letters for each site, and I’m putting together all of my screen captures. I want to do at least 10 for each site to ensure that I show they have a record of theft, and that it wasn’t just a one-time thing.
I’m still considering whether to truncate my feed, so I’ll give my readers a heads up once I make the decision. Thanks for your input
Dear Jennae,
I am so sorry to hear about this incident. I just discovered your blog yesterday. It is fabulous. I submitted a post to the site that is using your content without permission. See below. I am not sure if it will be published. I just wanted to help out. I will not include this site’s links on my social networking sites. I will also watch out for other abuses.
Greenfully yours, Ananda
8.24.08 COMMENT POST I SUBMMITED:
Dear Fellow Blogger,
This weekend I discovered a wonderful new blog called Green Your Decor. As the founder of BAP Living social networking site, Go Green Sangha social networking site and Go Green Sangha Radio, I was very excited to learn about another positively green stimulating blog. Naturally, I wanted to share information about her fabulous blog with my social networking site members and radio audience. So I posted Green Your Decor links on both sites, added Green Your Decor founder Jennae Petersen to my list of favorite Go Green Women, and posted a short blurb and photo of her on my BAP Living site (we are saluting Go Green women this month). I also wrote an email to Jennae letting her know that I had done these things. Her blog is uniquely hers. The content contained in her blog posts are her material. If you choose to read and repost it, you are misappropriating her content. In addition, you should also give credit for any information that you obtain from her blog post along with a link to her original post.
Your blog post is clearly Jennae’s post. I recommend that you create your own original posts and remove Jennae’s post.
Greenfully yours,
Ananda Leeke
Go Green BAP Author Ananda Leekes last blog post..Green Living Links
Looks like your tactics have worked. I went to take a look at those blogs today and get a 404 error on the pages you linked to. Glad to see they’ve taken your feed down!
Thanks for your support everyone! Elizabeth said it right. Apparently my tactics worked. My feed has been eliminated from Teen Go Green and Go Green Park, and all past published items have been removed. As for Go Green Life, they have stopped republishing my feed, but all the past items they published are still live. I’m working on getting them to remove those items.
Thanks again for your kind words!
The snippets are probably a good idea for your. That is a bummer that people would stoop to that level. You have great content and articles on your site, please don’t let these people discourage you from putting good honest work into your site.
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