Article Piracy: what would you do?
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It seems that this site[^] is hosting one of my articles that I submitted to CP. They're even using my name on it. The site is paid ($9.50/Month!), and they even didn't ask me for an authorization. My e-mail to them through their Contact Us[^] page was promptly ignored. I'm really ****ed with this and I wanted to know, what would you do in this situation? I don't want my name associated to some "SQL Server WorldWide User's Group", and I want that my articles and my code only appear on CP and on my blog. :mad: Yes, even I am blogging now!
I don't know how they do things in Brazil, but here most lawyers will meet with you for an initial consultation for free, or at most a $25 fee. Many times such matters can be resolved by a simple letter from a lawyer, and that rarely costs more than $100 - $200. Such outright theft is definitely worth pursuing. Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
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It seems that this site[^] is hosting one of my articles that I submitted to CP. They're even using my name on it. The site is paid ($9.50/Month!), and they even didn't ask me for an authorization. My e-mail to them through their Contact Us[^] page was promptly ignored. I'm really ****ed with this and I wanted to know, what would you do in this situation? I don't want my name associated to some "SQL Server WorldWide User's Group", and I want that my articles and my code only appear on CP and on my blog. :mad: Yes, even I am blogging now!
A quick whois shows that the admin / tech / billing contact is a company called Bits on the Wire. They are at www.bitsonthewire.com[^]. The contact page on that site has a toll free number you can call. Good luck. Frank "Keyboard Error - Press F1 to Continue"
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It seems that this site[^] is hosting one of my articles that I submitted to CP. They're even using my name on it. The site is paid ($9.50/Month!), and they even didn't ask me for an authorization. My e-mail to them through their Contact Us[^] page was promptly ignored. I'm really ****ed with this and I wanted to know, what would you do in this situation? I don't want my name associated to some "SQL Server WorldWide User's Group", and I want that my articles and my code only appear on CP and on my blog. :mad: Yes, even I am blogging now!
You could could try contacting the person who owns the domain, informing him that you will pursue legal action unless he cease and desist from using your copyrighted material. Here's the address: Stephen Wynkoop CEO, Bits On The Wire, Inc. 8987 E Tanque Verde #309-269 Tucson, AZ 85749 (520) 760-2400 /ravi My new year's resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | Freeware | Music ravib@ravib.com
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You could could try contacting the person who owns the domain, informing him that you will pursue legal action unless he cease and desist from using your copyrighted material. Here's the address: Stephen Wynkoop CEO, Bits On The Wire, Inc. 8987 E Tanque Verde #309-269 Tucson, AZ 85749 (520) 760-2400 /ravi My new year's resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | Freeware | Music ravib@ravib.com
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It seems that this site[^] is hosting one of my articles that I submitted to CP. They're even using my name on it. The site is paid ($9.50/Month!), and they even didn't ask me for an authorization. My e-mail to them through their Contact Us[^] page was promptly ignored. I'm really ****ed with this and I wanted to know, what would you do in this situation? I don't want my name associated to some "SQL Server WorldWide User's Group", and I want that my articles and my code only appear on CP and on my blog. :mad: Yes, even I am blogging now!
This page[^] details how much they pay people for submitting articles. Here's an excerpt, but there's much more info on the page (it was last updated 9/2003) - Bronze One to two articles per month $25/mo. Silver Three articles per month $50/mo. Gold Four to six articles per month $100/mo. + Override (see below) Platinum More than six articles per month $150/mo. + Override (see below) I certainly agree with you about unauthorized use of copyrighted material. Perhaps they would be open to offering you the appropriate compensation. Christopher Duncan Today's Corporate Battle Tactic Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World
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l a u r e n wrote: or roger could go pay them a visit for u Think globally. Act locally. Hmmm... ;-) Christopher Duncan Today's Corporate Battle Tactic Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World
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This page[^] details how much they pay people for submitting articles. Here's an excerpt, but there's much more info on the page (it was last updated 9/2003) - Bronze One to two articles per month $25/mo. Silver Three articles per month $50/mo. Gold Four to six articles per month $100/mo. + Override (see below) Platinum More than six articles per month $150/mo. + Override (see below) I certainly agree with you about unauthorized use of copyrighted material. Perhaps they would be open to offering you the appropriate compensation. Christopher Duncan Today's Corporate Battle Tactic Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World
They may have had nothing to do with it and instead someone scammed them by submitting CP articles for the cash.
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It seems that this site[^] is hosting one of my articles that I submitted to CP. They're even using my name on it. The site is paid ($9.50/Month!), and they even didn't ask me for an authorization. My e-mail to them through their Contact Us[^] page was promptly ignored. I'm really ****ed with this and I wanted to know, what would you do in this situation? I don't want my name associated to some "SQL Server WorldWide User's Group", and I want that my articles and my code only appear on CP and on my blog. :mad: Yes, even I am blogging now!
I would still continue to contact them about the article. I'd also add just to give them the benefit of doubt here, that maybe someone else has submitted the article, claiming it as theirs, so as to collect any fees. If so, I still think they should honour your request to discontinue the article, though. How did you come across the article posting? Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] I think people should be required to have an operator's permit to use the internet. John Simmons
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They may have had nothing to do with it and instead someone scammed them by submitting CP articles for the cash.
Adam Wimsatt wrote: someone scammed them by submitting CP articles for the cash. You've got a good point there, and it would be difficult for them to verify whether or not each article submitted is by the owner or is stolen. Unfortunately, their failure to reply to Daniel's email doesn't help their credibility. Christopher Duncan Today's Corporate Battle Tactic Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World
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l a u r e n wrote: or roger could go pay them a visit for u Think globally. Act locally. Hmmm... ;-) Christopher Duncan Today's Corporate Battle Tactic Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World
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I don't know how they do things in Brazil, but here most lawyers will meet with you for an initial consultation for free, or at most a $25 fee. Many times such matters can be resolved by a simple letter from a lawyer, and that rarely costs more than $100 - $200. Such outright theft is definitely worth pursuing. Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
Roger Wright wrote: I don't know how they do things in Brazil, but here most lawyers will meet with you for an initial consultation for free, or at most a $25 fee. Many times such matters can be resolved by a simple letter from a lawyer, and that rarely costs more than $100 - $200. Such outright theft is definitely worth pursuing. Here too, there's even a lawyer working here at the office which can do it for free, but I'd rather exhaust non-threat ways before going the lawyer path. As suggested here, I'd try alternative e-mails to reach them. If I need to spend time going into the lawyer path, I'll ask for damages. Yes, even I am blogging now!
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I would still continue to contact them about the article. I'd also add just to give them the benefit of doubt here, that maybe someone else has submitted the article, claiming it as theirs, so as to collect any fees. If so, I still think they should honour your request to discontinue the article, though. How did you come across the article posting? Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] I think people should be required to have an operator's permit to use the internet. John Simmons
Chris Meech wrote: How did you come across the article posting? A few days ago I was testing the Google web alerts and created a web alert with my name. Today I received a web alert about it. Nice Google feature :-D Yes, even I am blogging now!
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l a u r e n wrote: or roger could go pay them a visit for u It should be nice knowing a Karate master. :-D Yes, even I am blogging now!
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Coincidentally, I just stocked up on AK-47 ammo this week.:-D And I've been planning a trip to Tucson soon... Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
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l a u r e n wrote: or roger could go pay them a visit for u It should be nice knowing a Karate master. :-D Yes, even I am blogging now!
Well, technically, I have two more belts to earn before I'm considered a Master.;P Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
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Adam Wimsatt wrote: someone scammed them by submitting CP articles for the cash. You've got a good point there, and it would be difficult for them to verify whether or not each article submitted is by the owner or is stolen. Unfortunately, their failure to reply to Daniel's email doesn't help their credibility. Christopher Duncan Today's Corporate Battle Tactic Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World
Perhaps, but fraud is illegal, and perpetuating fraud is illegal. In other words, if this is a case of fraud, they owe the writer all the royalties given to the submitter. They need to immeadiatly stop payment on any royality checks not yet cleared. In any case, not responding to the first complaint puts them in a worse position as regaurds to the law. If they had responded to the first mail quickly, they can claim the fraud defense, by ignoring it they have placed them into a deeper position, one of intentially allowing fraud to continue. (Assuming of course that they are trying to be honest) However a lawyer is needed to go further.
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Coincidentally, I just stocked up on AK-47 ammo this week.:-D And I've been planning a trip to Tucson soon... Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
Roger Wright wrote: I just stocked up on AK-47 ammo this week. And I've been planning a trip to Tucson soon... Yummm. Why drink Miller Light if you can eat bullets? Aaron Eldreth TheCollective4.com My Articles While much is too strange to be believed, Nothing is too strange to have happened. - T. Hardy
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You could could try contacting the person who owns the domain, informing him that you will pursue legal action unless he cease and desist from using your copyrighted material. Here's the address: Stephen Wynkoop CEO, Bits On The Wire, Inc. 8987 E Tanque Verde #309-269 Tucson, AZ 85749 (520) 760-2400 /ravi My new year's resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | Freeware | Music ravib@ravib.com
Don't forget the toll-free number: 1-877-853-9158 :)
"When I was born I was so surprised that I didn't talk for a year and a half." - Gracie Allen
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It seems that this site[^] is hosting one of my articles that I submitted to CP. They're even using my name on it. The site is paid ($9.50/Month!), and they even didn't ask me for an authorization. My e-mail to them through their Contact Us[^] page was promptly ignored. I'm really ****ed with this and I wanted to know, what would you do in this situation? I don't want my name associated to some "SQL Server WorldWide User's Group", and I want that my articles and my code only appear on CP and on my blog. :mad: Yes, even I am blogging now!
:wtf: I have 4 articles on their site! :mad: I have contacted them as well, simply stating:
My name is Heath Stewart and you have 4 articles posted that were written by me and copyrighted by the original hosting sites - a copyright to which I agreed. The 4 articles in question are http://www.sswug.org/see/18067, http://www.sswug.org/see/11798, http://www.sswug.org/see/11583, and http://www.sswug.org/see/11303. Because this is paid content and published without permission, I would appreciate compensation (according to the payment schedule you have posted) or would ask that you remove them from this site.
We'll see if it pans out, otherwise we have a lawyer here that would probably be willing to help. I wouldn't mind so much if the content was free, but seeing that they charge for reading the articles and also compensate the original authors, I think it's only fair we receive the same treatment.
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
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:wtf: I have 4 articles on their site! :mad: I have contacted them as well, simply stating:
My name is Heath Stewart and you have 4 articles posted that were written by me and copyrighted by the original hosting sites - a copyright to which I agreed. The 4 articles in question are http://www.sswug.org/see/18067, http://www.sswug.org/see/11798, http://www.sswug.org/see/11583, and http://www.sswug.org/see/11303. Because this is paid content and published without permission, I would appreciate compensation (according to the payment schedule you have posted) or would ask that you remove them from this site.
We'll see if it pans out, otherwise we have a lawyer here that would probably be willing to help. I wouldn't mind so much if the content was free, but seeing that they charge for reading the articles and also compensate the original authors, I think it's only fair we receive the same treatment.
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
I got a pretty quick reply:
Hello! Thanks for writing! Please understand - we're promoting your work, not republishing it on SSWUG.ORG. The article summaries you mentioned are pointing to codeproject.com (18067), devhood.com (the others). We do outline this in our TOS (http://www.sswug.org/tos.asp) While our search is part of our services, we are not charging to link to you - we have members that pay dues and pay us to find the best content on the web, summarize it and make it searchable. When we do this, it promotes your site and work - we send people to your site to read the article(s). This should result in some good traffic for you. It's also something members rave about - a single starting point to finding the articles they need. We also have the FAQ, list servers, discussion boards, 15,000+ other articles, original content, exclusive content, webcasts, we support local user groups with cash and speakers and give aways and more. It's not like we're here to sell links to your stuff. We just promote it. :) If you're interested in writing for us directly, please see http://www.sswug.org/columnists.asp for details. Hope that helps explain a bit. Take care, SW
Microsoft MVP, Visual C# My Articles
