If you (and the other reputable renting companies) were to remove proven offenders from your sites as a matter of course, I think it would be a tremendous deterrent.
Let's remember, what we have here are owners who are willing to steal in order to attract business. Are these the types of people/places to which you want to be directing your web visitors?
I'd be delighted to give my future business to those companies batting on behalf of the good guys.
Well, the issues have both been sorted now. I pointed Karen Viney of French Connections to this thread, but as you see, she refrained from posting. However, she sent me a second email:
'Dear Jane, As promised I asked our technical department for advise on the effect of duplicating text in an advertisement. The answer I received from them is below
“in theory this is true but it depends how similar it is, if it's a paragraph here or there then it wont matter but if it's the same page exactly it will stir suspicion from the search engines. They don't publish their algorithms so we can't say for sure what will qualify for duplication, but it's always wise to avoid�
Regards, Karen'
.......and the second lot of 'imitators', whom I'd met and helped, were contacted by HolidayLets, and revised their text; they also replied to an email I sent to them, apologising unreservedly regarding the further chunk of text they had copied onto their website, saying it was 'unintentional'; the page has been temporarily removed while the text is re-written. It is possible that the website was constructed after mine, but before we met. However you'd have thought that they would have made the connection when they visited our house some months later.
They apparently explained to HL that their web designer wrote the text! (ie stole). Well, it's a very nice website - I've checked the design company on 'who-is' and they are based in Gloucestershire, ie with no obvious connection to the area of France our two properties are in.
In addition, have you ever heard of a professional website designer who also writes the text for the client? And who is unaware of the copyright issues involved in the unashamed transfer of text, verbatim, from one site to another?
OH has been too busy to look into this in depth, unfortunately, but said that all text is protected by copyright. You don't need to go through any formal procedures to earn this right. I always thought that the little 'c' in a circle, with the word 'copyright 1998' or whatever, was evidence of the owner having done something additional and clever to safeguard his property. Apparently not - correct me if I'm wrong - and that little sentence could be added retrospectively to a site anyway, couldn't it?
Someone else has suggested that a good way of ensuring you have proof, in the event of a dispute over ownership of text, is to print off all the pages of your website, ideally of course as soon as it is up and running, and send it to yourself recorded delivery. Keep it sealed in a safe place. The post mark on it will confirm the time frame around which it was published.
I have done that, albeit somwhat late in the day. Hope this helps some of you too, and thanks again everyone for your support and for sharing your experiences.
Now off to see if I can find some old 'cached' pages, as a further insurance!
Good news, GG, so all ends reasonably well? Sorry you had to go through the grief, but your experience has given us all some useful pointers on what to do if we are similiarly 'attacked'. Good tip about printing off website and sending it to yourself by registered post...
Youve had a lot on your plate,hope you not on the end of your tether....[just check]
You seem to be doing all you have to do and Good Luck..The thing is is there anyway that you can check all the other websites...I know you found this by chance when Googling, wasnt it for Susan?
How many other websites is this happening to I wonder.
Good Luck...and as you say...it does show how good your website is....
Do you think anyone would notice if I added it to mine might make mine stand out in Torre.
... said that all text is protected by copyright. You don't need to go through any formal procedures to earn this right.
Hi GG
Yes, that's correct. The copyright of your original text and photographs belongs to you automatically. If you wish, you can sell or assign your copyright to a third party. Or you can retain copyright but 'licence' somebody to use your pictures or text for a specific use and time period - usually in return for a fat fee!
Ros wrote:hope you not on the end of your tether....[just check]
Not any more Ros, thanks. And the smoke has since dissipated!
Thanks too, Jenny and Jimbo. I guess it should be a ritual for all website owners to monitor this periodically - eg by chucking the odd phrase from our text in inverted commas into Google, as Marcus suggested I did, and/or use Paolo's http://www.copyscape.com as a tool.
Gascony Goat wrote:
Someone else has suggested that a good way of ensuring you have proof, in the event of a dispute over ownership of text, is to print off all the pages of your website, ideally of course as soon as it is up and running, and send it to yourself recorded delivery. Keep it sealed in a safe place. The post mark on it will confirm the time frame around which it was published.
Ok, maybe I'm missing something here but why go to the trouble of posting it to yourself, when I print anything off the computer the date printed is shown on the top right hand corner.
In addition, have you ever heard of a professional website designer who also writes the text for the client?
Yes, I've done that before when the client was willing to pay me to write and edit the copy... but I wouldn't consider myself a "professional" website designer. Definitely an amateur.
And who is unaware of the copyright issues involved in the unashamed transfer of text, verbatim, from one site to another?
No, not this part. Isn't this something we're all supposed to learn as children? In my opinion, there's no excuse for plagiarism as an adult, particularly the "oh, I didn't realize that wasn't allowed" excuse.
Anyway, I'm glad this is proceeding without too much resistance...
Dohhh, thanks MG, I knew there would be a simple explanation Having said that, what kind of proof would an envelope give you, surely you couldn't prove what was in the envelope in the first place if you know what I mean.
Oh I know How about e-mailing it to yourself and if the date on that can be changed (can it ?) then just do an add on of some of todays news at the end.
With high storage webmail like Google (in theory meant to last you a lifetime of storage, ha ha) it would at least cover one's dated emails for 3 or 4 years, and it would be stored in genuine chronological order, and the full headers (if they can be seen in Google, I don't know) would prove the date.
Partridge wrote: Having said that, what kind of proof would an envelope give you, surely you couldn't prove what was in the envelope in the first place if you know what I mean.
I haven't broken the seal, and the idea would be that it would be opened in court!!
Mountain Goat, I have tried the link - you are an old clever clo..hooves. The search for our website brought up 4 pages in early 2005, which was roughly when the website went live. They were all the home page - the links buttons on the home page worked and brought up all the other pages contained on the site - these too would be of the same vintage then, wouldn't they? Sorry to be such a dummy, but had to ask the question.
Lets call a spade a shovel.....If they argued with you tell them youd send the Heavy Mob round
Mountain could restrain them and Id talk them to death....theyd soon admit everything
Having said that, what kind of proof would an envelope give you, surely you couldn't prove what was in the envelope in the first place if you know what I mean.
How about e-mailing it to yourself and if the date on that can be changed (can it ?) then just do an add on of some of todays news at the end.
