Are People Stealing Your Content? How (and When) to Fight Back

ARE PEOPLE STEALING YOUR CONTENT?

How to keep your marketing content safe from internet thieves

The internet is the wild west.

Everyone’s trying to get their piece of content !"#$.

Don’t worry, you’re doing it right.

sparks discussion. You create content that

goes viral. You create content that

drives business. You create content that

But some people want to take shortcuts.

They steal your content to grow their business.

S"%&$ f'()#)'r?

IT’S NOT FAIR.

IT’S NOT FAIR. It’s your content.

IT’S NOT FAIR. It’s your search engine rankings.

IT’S NOT FAIR. It’s your business.

So let’s band together …

… and fight back against the content thieves.

HERE’S HOW.

Know your rights. 1

As soon as you publish content online, you are covered under Copyright Law. FACT  

No needed. ©  

… but, people are still legally allowed to use parts of your content under the “fair use” clause.

… so then what falls under fair use?

1.  Quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work

… so then what falls under fair use?

1.  Quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work

2.  Use of a work for commentary or criticism of the work

… so then what falls under fair use?

1.  Quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work

2.  Use of a work for commentary or criticism of the work

3.  Use in a parody

… so then what falls under fair use?

1.  Quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work

2.  Use of a work for commentary or criticism of the work

3.  Use in a parody

4.  Summary of an article with brief quotations in a news report

… so then what falls under fair use?

1.  Quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work

2.  Use of a work for commentary or criticism of the work

3.  Use in a parody

4.  Summary of an article with brief quotations in a news report

5.  And many other situations

… so then what falls under fair use?

Fair use isn’t black and white.

So if you’re still not sure if it’s f')r %*+ or copyright infringement …

Check out this fr++ ,-+,.#)*/* to figure it out:

http://bit.ly/cqOLL3

*Of course, we aren’t lawyers and /-)* ,-+,.#)*/ $"+* &"/ ',/ '* #+!'# '$v),+.

If you have one available, it’s '#w'0* best to get in

touch with a lawyer before moving to the next step.

Pick your battles. 2

Before accusing anyone of stealing …

Ask yourself 3 questions.

1.  Do I have a relationship with the copycat?

Ask yourself 3 questions.

1.  Do I have a relationship with the copycat?

2.  Will the copycat send me traffic?

Ask yourself 3 questions.

1.  Do I have a relationship with the copycat?

2.  Will the copycat send me traffic?

3.  Can I increase my brand exposure with the stolen content?

Ask yourself 3 questions.

If the answer to all three questions is NO ...

Lay down the law. 3

Grab a screenshot as evidence.

No  one  likes  a  ta,le  tale—talk  to  the  thief  directly.  

Then, talk with the thief directly.

If the thief doesn’t want to listen, ask Google to help remove the content.

While you can always try to get your content removed after it’s been stolen, it’s much better to …

Stop the crime before it happens. 4

Take ownership of your content with Google Authorship and branded visuals.

©  Prominently display your rights.

Make it hard for bots to steal content from

your RSS feed.

Create content usage guidelines.

These preventative measures stop content theft every single day.*

These preventative measures stop content theft every single day.*

*1+0 w"&’/ $+/+r '## ,"&/+&/ /-)+v+*.

But, even though there’s no 100% effective way to prevent people from stealing your content …

Knowing your rights and having an immediate plan-of-action will help keep your marketing content safe.

http://bit.ly/ContentTheft

Click here to learn more about keeping your content safe:

By Ginny Soskey.

@gsosk