WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR BLOG IS COPIED

Several weeks ago, my blog entries in blogspot were copied and put under a different blogger/blogspot url. whattowearforchinesenewyear.blogspot.com.

Frannywanny discovered it while she was searching the web for her sister's Ke Tseng.

I was so scared! I thought someone hacked my account. Then... I felt so violated.

It took more than 3 days for the issue to be resolved. The copycat blog  would disappear and  then appear again. KALOKA! AS IN!  It was so frustrating. I thought it was spam.

Finally, after several email exchanges with Google, the copycat decided to take the blog down. I was this close to going to the GOOGLE HQ in my wedding gown to prove that I own the original blog!
 
Phew! I honestly don't know why it happened to me. I am not popular naman.

Anyway! I have a lot of people to thank for helping me: Candishhh, Frannywanny, Geekbubble and my friends from Google (Pudi and Vina).

Here's what you need to do if you have the UNFORTUNATE experience of your blog being copied.

1. Immediately change your password.

2. RELAX and WATCH THIS VIDEO: LEGAL REMOVAL REQUEST GOOGLE VIDEO

3. Check the profile of the blogger who copied your work and send him a request.  Be Polite. The last thing you want is to piss off your hacker.

4. Report the issue to GOOGLE: GOOGLE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT FORM


Good News! Google replies!

It is important that you really describe the plagiarized items very clearly because the google people (yes they are people) work on codes and algorithms.

Example:

"The photographs of my 3 friends(an Australian girl carrying red lanterns , a filipino guy carrying a covered mirror, a filipina girl carrying 2 enamel potties), picture of my dowry all displayed on my bed with red bedsheets and the picture of my figurines (the 3 gods, golden Buddha with kids, happy couple, my lantern, a dragon and phoenix plus all my text starting with the sentence "The good thing about living away from my family is SILENCE. " and ending with "Still on Pause, L" have been infringed alongside my other entries from June 2014 to Feb 18, 2015



5. If all else fails you have to report to DMCA which offers protection and takedown services. Please note that  they will charge you a fee to resolve the issue. Here's the link DMCA


My friend from google said..

The bots are called scrapers
They siphon content from other sites to establish new blogspots and try to earn advertising revenue. Insidious!


To protect your blog click on this link: HOW TO AVOID YOUR BLOG POSTS BEING COPIED




Be Safe,

L