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100 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+38That's a great article. I'm going to put it on my website because other people need to read it.
- Bluth, on 10/12/2007, -4/+39complain about it on your blog?
- tempusrob, on 10/12/2007, -5/+26Give me a friggin' break ... defending one's copyrights is not the same as litigious extortion.
- dave_colorado, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15this is totally stupid.
i have a business website i've spent years on.
if somebody steals the way it looks or images from it - more power to them. why?
1. i have a business to run, i don't have time to deal with something so trivial.
2. i don't have time to scour the web to see if somebody did steal my content.
if it was a competitor, that's a different story.
otherwise, knock yourself out. my website isn't the best on the web, it's really nice, but you could steal from nicer ones.
so who cares? really? are you going to track someone down or are you going to focus on your business?
and if someone steals your blog design...well...your blog ain't that great anyway, charlie. get over yourself. for serious.
no digg. - Cojawfee, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14Fair use allows you to mention the copyrighted work, to reference it and a few other things. Not to just reuse it as your own. You still need the original creator's permission to use copyrighted work.
I wish people would stop running around screaming "FAIR USE FAIR USE" without actually knowing anything about fair use. - wtfdan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8You could do what YTMND did to eBaumsworld and have thousands of people DDoS/exploit their servers...
Actually, probably not because nobody cares.
:-| - Herolint, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7In all seriousness, who cares? Putting something on the web is like shouting it out on a corner. If you want to keep your secrets secret, don't publish them on the web.
I am a programmer and sort of a web designer. I got a lot of help with both when I first started out from generous people on the web. I figure if somebody wants to steal my site designs or content, then I'm just paying the world back for everything its given me.
People who worry about somebody "stealing" from their web sites are kind of stupid, I think. When somebody actually steals my web site and I don't have it anymore because it has really been stolen, then I'll worry. If somebody comes in to my house and clones all my stuff so we both have it all, good for him. Now we both have cool junk. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Interesting article. I'll probably copy it and put it on my website.
- cuppyCake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6And there's a difference between the free exchange of ideas and 'anarchy and pillaging', too.
- kindrobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I agree, but sometimes those same people will turn around and claim the idea was theirs in the first place and try to stop YOU. So protecting yourself from those people can be hard to do. Trust me, you never see it coming. But in my case, I did the same as you would. Moved on and did something I felt was even better.
- sakvor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I had lots of content stolen from my Icelandic Christmas site http://jol.ismennt.is (non profit educational site) in 2003 and it showed up on the site http://www.jol.is (commercial site) with all references, pictures, authors etc. carefully removed. The owner of http://www.jol.is was very arrogant when he was contacted. My revenge was to put up a special web page where I documented the theft http://jol.ismennt.is/brot.htm and contact local media about this. I and the owner of the jol.is website were interviewed on local radio and immediately most of the stolen material disappeared from his website.
- Herolint, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You are right. This is getting out of hand. Just because somebody centers an 800px DIV, colors it blue, places a logo across the top with a drop-down CSS menu underneath, and then writes pointless articles doesn't mean that they have stolen something or should be called a thief.
Also, who is the bigger thief, somebody who comes up with a similar idea to your web site, or you when you sue them for millions of dollars?
This is already out of hand. - chaosmachine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5there are actually agencies you can hire to scan the internet for people ripping off your content.. although, googling for random quotes from your site is probably just as effective.
- Glandmaster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Copyright infringement is not theft.
Here is an excerpt from a BBC apology which explains it further:
First though, an apology. File sharing is not theft. It has never been theft. Anyone who says it is theft is wrong and has unthinkingly absorbed too many Recording Industry Association of America press releases. We know that script line was wrong. It was a mistake. We're very, very sorry.
If copyright infringement was theft then I'd be in jail every time I accidentally used football pix on Newsnight without putting "Pictures from Sky Sport" in the top left corner of the screen. And I'm not. So it isn't. So you can stop telling us if you like. We hear you.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4758636.stm - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"Wow, this is just what we need, small independent content producers acting like the RIAA."
That's really pathetic. Downloading a song movie to watch privately on your computer is hardly the same as taking someone's content and profiting from it and passing it off as your own. To even remotely compare, people would have to be taking songs, calling themselves the artist who created the song and then selling the music. - Iconoclast5000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Repeat after me: Copyright infringement is not theft. Copyright infringement is illegal. Theft is illegal. Copyright Infringement is still distinct from theft. Copyright Infringement will not become theft just because it is your website content being copied rather than music from a member of the RIAA.
- burke, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Exactly. It's like saying you stole a concert if you recorded it.
- shindig111, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Frankly, complaining on our blogs might help sometimes. Action has to be taken but sternly. I remember last time when Vitaly Friedman's handbook got hijacked, he complained on his blog and the people who read his blog regularly fought for him by complaining it to the host and other stuff...
I can see good things coming out of complaining on our blogs. - burke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I don't.... think.... the hacker's weapon of choice is a 12 gauge...
- Teeg, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8They totally neglect to mention "fair use" though.
- phlll, on 10/12/2007, -7/+10It isn't stealing if nothing physical is taken. It's "copyright infringement."
- bigdig, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4One interesting point raised in the article is "If you find that others are linking to the stolen material as if it is the source ...". This has certainly caused some very heated accusation as in my other post, the author actually accused the person who provides link of STEALING,
http://digg.com/programming/So,_is_it_STEALING_ - GrendelT, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I had a problem of some Italian ISP linking back to my files section. After repeated attempts to contact the ISP via email, no corrective action was done on their part. So, I put in a small PHP script to check if the referrer was the ISP in question.
If so, it redirected to a page with static HTML made using *their* images 1000x. MAYBE that'll get their attention, but probably not. Probably not the best way to handle it, but it beats trying to link to a goatse or something - and I've had alot less traffic from their site. :) - TechnoPops, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Have you ever noticed that many people who tell other people to grow up seem to need to grow up themselves?
- geekee, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8"Give me a friggin' break ... defending one's copyrights is not the same as litigious extortion."
One mans "litigious extortion" is another man's defending his copyright. How do you suggest they defend their copyright? - rideagain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@issie:
well, if you write a book you'd want others to acknowledge you as the author, no? It would not be fair if they pretended it was their own work.
it's hard to say where copyright begins (a few letters? a word? a paragraph? a page?), but that doesn't mean that copyright shouldn't exist. - nucleocide, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2http://www.ripperhunting.com/
- pbjorge12, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Generally though, if you are dealing with simple plagiarism of content a simple message to their host will solve the problem :).
- Anchoret, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2> In all seriousness, who cares?
I do.
I'm a writer. I write well and cogently, and my output is finite and profitable.
I have had professional writers steal my messages from Usenet, for example, and publish them verbatim as their own work in commercial magazines for money.
When caught, their only lame excuse was, "oh, uh, I thought everything on the Internet was in the public domain." - Cojawfee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3A design is a creation, is intellectual property and can be owned.
- Cojawfee, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5How is it immature to want to protect one's own works? Since when have people become apathetic that you don't even mind when your creations get ripped off. Not to mention that most rip-offs are low-quality and give you a bad name just for being associated. Plus more people see that you apparently let this person make a bad spinoff of your work, so they will make an even worse one, and someone will make another, and someone will make another. Until you aren't even known as the original author anymore.
I guess I am just more grown up than you, to the point where I see the flaws of "It's on the internet, so it's up for grabs." - alexi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Then you didn't look, cuz it is there.
- Bigcat1021, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It is no different than a logo.
- kewlceo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2For those with the originality to come up with creative words or designs, pat yourselves on the backs when you're copied. You've done something well enough to warrant immitation. And, since you're the creative sort, you'll come up with something else cool, and that will be immitated as well. Get used to it.
- capn_caveman, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6I just bust a cap in 'em. Oh wait... I don't have any content.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Depends how much money one has. I essentially had my domain name stolen (well, not stolen but they created a domain that was named the same as mine and offered the same services and only changed the domain by two letters -- kind of like calling your fast food burger joing McDonald instead of McDonald's.
The truth is, you take court action. That's how you deal with it. But court action is not cheap. Or simple. You practically need a lawyer just to figure out what paper work to fill out and in what order. Much less to represent you. Most people know that anyone short of a corporation can't afford litigation, so they take without concern for being caught -- or at least knowing that if they get caught, nothing will happen to them. - gigabitten, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4hmmm, or spam your comments? bastard
- Klowner, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3There is a slight difference, which you may consider pointless, but I figured I'll state it anyway..
When someone pirates/copies/shares music/videos/content, they're not plagiarizing the original author, they're redistributing the content, it reaches more ears, eyes, whatever. Although the author isn't making the money off it, at least directly, so that's bad.
As opposed to..
When someone rips off something which you've already provided to people online, it's usually a case of the 'thief' re-displaying your content, whatever format it may be (written, graphic, etc.) and claiming it as their own, or using it in a way publicly which you, the original author, had no control over.
I'm not trying to justify piracy, I'm just trying to convey the idea that they're different. - renskav, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Cease and desist? DMCA? Lol dont make me laugh, obviously he has trouble understanding that US Law doesnt apply everywhere in the universe. Not that i've ever stolen content, but check http://thepiratebay.org 's legal section on how i would deal with people like this.
- kindrobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think it depends on the level of uniqueness involved. I've seen people try to copyright and even patent the most obvious, common things.
- Norante, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Sure, let's fall in anarchy and pillage each others works.
There is a difference between plagiarism and blatant stealing. - cuppyCake, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I'm sure the first guy to invent the wheel was so pissed about the theft of his 'intellectual property'... IP is a ***** notion, perpetuated by a society that's so well-off and uninformed that it ignores its ACTUAL problems to whine about 'content'... gimmie a break.
- Phil246, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2strictly speaking it wasnt ytmnd that organised it iirc, it was done spontaneously by their community, along with people from Something Awful as well as some other sites.
Still, ebaumsworld is notorious for stealing content - regardless of their claims that its "all legit" because the submitter signs a waiver - casca, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1IN reality, it's not worth trying to go after people that steal your content. It'll cost tons in lawyer fees and if they are using a good ISP such as Leaseweb (Offshore), they're not going to give a rats ass about some US citizen complaining about stolen content.
- merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"if an artist says that he distributes his artwork with one kind of medium and nothing else, you either agree with these terms and buy his art or disagree and go somewhere else"
That's just not true. The US Supreme court has upheld, in Sony v. Universal, the right of the American consumer to "timeshift" television content by recording it to VHS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeshifting
The original medium? OTA broadcast, satelite, or cable. The new medium? VHS. This precedent obviously aplies to far more formats and media than just these, as well. - livestradamus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Let them steal my lines, I've got a million more (& better) ones just waiting to be put out there.
Go ahead I ghrant you permission- steal this line. - livestradamus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1haha thats awsome
- kindrobot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Ansolutely. If you spend that much time focusing on paranoia instead of improvement, you've already lost the game.
- sud0n1m, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Does anyone have a mirror of this content? I would like to read the article, but will only go to a site that steals the content on principle.
- TWiTarmy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1creative commons anyone?
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