Please Don't Violate my Copyright

Recently, I have found that a number of people have taken my written materials for their own use without any permission or payment. Of course, the Internet makes it easy -- just download the page -- and who will ever know?

But when you take my written materials without permission or payment, you deprive me of my livelihood. You are, effectively, stealing from me." When you steal writing and host it on your own Web page without payment or permission you violate Federal copyright laws intended to protect writers like me, and place yourself and your business in considerable jeopardy by breaking the law in this open and public fashion.

What does a copyright cover?

Copyright law can be very technical, but, in relation to the Web, it says

You cannot publish (which includes publishing on a Web site as a Web page) any work which another has written without his or her explicit permission.

The assembled work of Web pages, specifically including HTML code, is also protected.

A writer doesn't even have to state explicitly that the material is copyrighted. It is automatically protected by copyright laws when it is published in final form.

Words and HTML code can be copyrighted, but ideas can't. If those ideas are put in other words and form, it is not a violation of copyright.

Isn't it okay to reprint so long as you tell where you got the article?"

No. If you go to the hardware store and tuck an expensive wrench into your jacket and walk out the door, it isn't enough to tell your friends: "I got this wrench from Joe's Hardware." If you reprint my writing without permission you have stolen it no matter what you tell people. Of course, it is even grosser when people take the article, remove my name, and copyright notice, and replace it with their own. (Oh, yes, a number of people have done that.)

How can you tell if someone takes your articles?

You'd think that a little Web site tucked away in an obscure corner of the Internet won't be noticed. However, Web plagiarism is a relatively simple matter to uncover using any of several Web search engines.

I found dozens of violations using this method:

1. Select a phrase on one of my Web pages of 3 or 4 words not likely to be found elsewhere.
2. Put the phrase in quotation marks in Google and search.
3. I can see if that phrase appears on any of the 2 billion Web pages that Google has indexed.

Then I cut and paste the name and address and URL where I found the copyright violation into a Web page which I put in a password protected directory of my Web site. This enables me to check easily to see if the pages have been removed. It also makes it easy for the violator's Internet Service Provider to see the comparisons, if necessary.

Why enforce your copyright?

If I don't search for copyright violations, my claim to my material tends to be weakened. My own business uniqueness is also diluted, since people can find exactly the same article or service advertised elsewhere.

How do you enforce your copyright?

• First, I request the copyright violator to remove my copyrighted material from his or her Web pages within 48 hours.
• Next, I check to see if this has been done. If not, I notify the violator's Internet Service Provider that they are hosting copyright materials. ISPs become very protective when their subscribers place them in legal jeopardy, since they now become liable themselves and have a lot to lose. Often they make it abundantly clear to the violator to remove the materials. Other times they just revoke the violator's account for violation of the terms of the contract which was signed when the service was begun.
• If these methods don't work, then I consider legal action.

Many people are unaware of copyright laws, and comply immediately. My desire is not to embarrass them or ruin their reputation with their Internet Service Provider or clients.

How much monetary damage are we talking about?

Since I have sold my writing for many years, I have a pretty good idea of the value of business writing.

• Article Reprints which have appeared in Web Marketing Today, for example, go for $150 or more per use (usually a one-month use in a print periodical). Only very seldom do I allow them to be reprinted on another Web site, and only if that brings benefit to my business. If I were to custom-write them for a Web design company my fee would be $150 per hour. A typical article might take eight or ten hours or more to research and write.
• Lost business to Wilson Internet Services because of potential clients being attracted to another's business by means of my business writing is hard to assess, but it amounts to hundreds or thousands of dollars per client, depending on the project..

What should I do if I have violated your copyright?

I require that all Web pages which contain my copyrighted materials be removed from the Internet within 48 hours of notice via e-mail. Unless this is done I go to the next step without further notice. (If you need an extension of time to write your own materials, please call me ASAP to make arrangements.)

Beyond that you could:

• Apologize to me and ask God for forgiveness.
• Adapt ideas to your own business and put them in your own words. I can't copyright ideas, but I do own a right to the words and the HTML code.
• Compensate me for the unauthorized use or damages.
• Vow never again to publish the work of another without permission or payment.
• Be grateful there are copyright laws to protect your work as well as mine.
• Feel free to link to my Web site if you find the materials useful to you or your clients. You are quite welcome to link to the materials there, just don't host them on your own site.

Thank you for your understanding of both my rights, my reasons for asserting those rights, and my determination to do so diligently and exhaustively.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
Director, Wilson Internet Services
Editor, Web Marketing Today