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Is it ok to rewrite articles from article directories?

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by ichigo, Jul 9, 2007.

  1. nickflame

    nickflame Peon

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    #21
    I understand that you are a writer and try to protect your content, but this is not a reason to lie to other people.
    I know that it is not ethical to rewrite other articles without asking permission but this does not change the reality.
    No one will sue you, give me several examples of people sued for rewriting article, do you know?
    Moreover it is quite difficult to prove what is a rewriting of your article, especailly if there is a general topic.
    Third, if you are not from USA then you can sleep very well, the legislation of different countries varies, and you won t be judged according to the us legislation.
    Forth , i used to work for a large company who used to rewrite articles, several thousands per month and sell them and they do not and have not had any problem yet.
    I am not trying to encourage article rewriting, this is just the reality, you have to face it. This is the true.
     
    nickflame, Jul 13, 2007 IP
  2. DeniseJ

    DeniseJ Live, Laugh, Love

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    #22
    It's not a lie.

    It's ILLEGAL to re-write someone else's work without the permission of the copyright holder to that work. Period. End of subject matter.

    Writers who care about their content can and will go after someone who stole their work, plain and simple.
     
    DeniseJ, Jul 13, 2007 IP
  3. kaiba910

    kaiba910 Well-Known Member

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    #23
    I agree with you.If i was the author,i would have sue those who rewrite my article without my permission.But rewriting also have its benefits.The writer who rewrites the article should credit the uthor
     
    kaiba910, Jul 13, 2007 IP
  4. DeniseJ

    DeniseJ Live, Laugh, Love

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    #24
    Even crediting the author doesn't necessarily protect you, depending on the copyright stipulations.

    The bottom line - you cannot take another person's work and make it your own without permission from the copyright holder.
     
    DeniseJ, Jul 13, 2007 IP
  5. internetauthor

    internetauthor Peon

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    #25
    Is it okay? No.

    Does it happen? Yes.

    Can writers sue? Yes, but you are far more likely to run into legal trouble rewriting something from a well developed website with high-quality pieces.

    i.e. I care a great deal more if you plagiarize something from my homepage than something I submitted to ten submission sites for back links, even if both are equally illegal and unethical.
     
    internetauthor, Jul 13, 2007 IP
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  6. DeniseJ

    DeniseJ Live, Laugh, Love

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    #26
    I agree with Rebecca.

    However, just because a site isn't well known does not necessarily mean the author won't decide to take legal action.

    Even if you think you can "get away with it," that doesn't make it legal OR ethical.
     
    DeniseJ, Jul 13, 2007 IP
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  7. kaiba910

    kaiba910 Well-Known Member

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    #27
    The conclusion is just write your own articles.Don't bother to rewrite for others because you are risking yourself to get sued.It's not that hard to write an article.
     
    kaiba910, Jul 13, 2007 IP
  8. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #28
    Since we're discussing legal issues, you should watch what you say as far as public accusations go. Accusing someone publicly as being a liar when you have no facts to support your claim can be considered libel. And for the record, I don't recall ever saying anything about certain types of content producers. A lot of webmasters steal content from huge sites (often via RSS feeds which they monetize without expressed permission) as well as small ones. The OP's question directly related to a large site which could certainly go after them for infringement if it was reported for violating their license even though they're not the copyright holder. As a matter of fact, I was preparing to sue someone for stealing content from a blog of mine just a few weeks ago. Their host finally came through and took down the site so I left it at that. If they didn't, I was prepared to sue them over the stolen content, a trademark violation, for the surrender of their domain name, and for any income earned from the pornographic ads they were displaying on my entirely ripped site and associating my name with. So will smaller publishers sue? You bet. Don't assume just because a site is small that the owner doesn't have the money or inclination to go after you and make your life a living hell.
     
    jhmattern, Jul 13, 2007 IP
  9. latoya

    latoya Active Member

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    #29
    Did you work in the legal department of this company? Otherwise, you can't profess to know anything about the problems they dealt with while infringing on the copyrights of others. There are drug dealers who move several thousands of pounds of drugs per month and do not and have not have problems...are you advising people to sell drugs too?

    To speak in absolutes like "will not" is just ignorant. You cannot say with certainty that someone will never never get sued for infringing on another person's copyright. No matter how great or small the likelihood, you can get sued for stealing someone else's work.

    Finally, you clearly have not done any research in regards to copyright, because if you had done any, you'd know that there are international copyright conventions that protect US authors in other countries and vice versa. So, to tell people they can sleep at night because they won't be judged by US legislation is, once again, ignorant.
     
    latoya, Jul 13, 2007 IP
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  10. nickflame

    nickflame Peon

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    #30
    Ok, i was talking about articles rewriting not trademark violation, or what you say there.
    Anyway, if you want i can rewrite one of your articles and publish as my own to check whether you can sue me or take my site down. I think it will be impossible even to find where is the article published, not to mention to sue me. I am checking my article rewriting with copyscape and article checker so that i won t have any problems.
    I am not an us citizen, in my country the fact that you have published an article does not give you copyright ownership of it. Moreover if i rewrite it, i am definitively confident that no law can force me to take the website down.
    I do not want to quarrel with you, this was just my opinion.

    I also agree that article rewriting is not ok , without the prior permission of the author but it happens. If you submit your articles to a directory, be prepared to have some of them copied or rewrote.

    Ok, it is illegal, but it happens, and there are small chances that someone will sue you, and even if they do, there are even smaller chances they will win, and even if they do, you will just be forced to take that article down, nothing more.

    I said that you lied because you try to frighten the possible article re writers saying that they will be sued by a lot of people, when THIS IS NOT TRUE.
    Otherwise, i have all the respect for you and your reputation, and for the fact that you support the original article writers.
     
    nickflame, Jul 13, 2007 IP
  11. marketjunction

    marketjunction Well-Known Member

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    #31
    I almost put a disclaimer up saying that I was being sarcastic, but I thought that no one could possibly think I was serious, so I left it out.

    Oi Vei

    :cool:
     
    marketjunction, Jul 13, 2007 IP
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  12. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #32
    I've already had articles removed that were rewrites, so it can definitely be done. And frankly, I'm not the person to test your theories with, because if and when I come across it I take it far from lightly. Having a site shut down is the easy part.

    If you think you're protected legally, go ahead. But if I find it, I'll make your life a living hell publicly until you're sorry you did. I don't put up with theft; especially from people who think they can justify it by any means. Considering it's my area of expertise, I'd have no problem causing a PR nightmare for anyone violating my rights to my work. And no geographical defense can protect you from cleaning up the mess afterwards. Point being... if you're going to screw with someone's work, know who you're screwing with. Anyone serious about their work won't just take it lying down.

    And if you're sued and you lose, it's not just a matter of being forced to take down the article. You can be sued for damages, money you earned from monetizing the work, etc. depending on exactly what you've done and how you've used it.

    I never said anyone would be sued by "a lot of people." I said a lot of content owners will sue. I never said they had to be small content owners. Tons of content owners sue... it's done all the time with the big guys and becoming a much bigger issue with smaller publishers with the legal issues regarding monetizing others' RSS feeds and such. It's not a subject to be taken lightly in the slightest, and chances of having the owner go after you are much greater than you're giving them credit for. You shouldn't mislead people into believing that they're safe doing it under any circumstances, because if anything "IS NOT TRUE", it's that. ;)
     
    jhmattern, Jul 13, 2007 IP
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  13. DeniseJ

    DeniseJ Live, Laugh, Love

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    #33
    Your opinion doesn't mean squat when it directly goes against the LAW. Read that back to me and tell me how illogical it sounds please.

    In your opinion, no law can force you to take down a site with plagiarized content. I don't know what fantasy world you are living in, but it's called COPYRIGHT LAW.
     
    DeniseJ, Jul 13, 2007 IP
  14. latoya

    latoya Active Member

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    #34
    I seriously laughed out loud when I read this. I doubt the judge will be lenient when ichigo says "Your honor, I thought it was ok to break the law because in nickflame's opinion it was ok." Neither the law nor it's enforcement is based on anyone's opinion.

    Anyone who wants to operate business within the limits of the law should not rewrite anyone else's copyrighted work without expressed written permission from the copyright holder.
     
    latoya, Jul 13, 2007 IP
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  15. MattKNC

    MattKNC Peon

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    #35
    It absolutely IS NOT okay. As JMattern mentioned, you could get sued. I mentioned on my blog a few weeks back about this problem which seems to be perpetuated right here on DP.

    Simply put: don't do it.
     
    MattKNC, Jul 13, 2007 IP
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  16. nickflame

    nickflame Peon

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    #36
    You are wrong, the phrase with this is my opinion did not refer to the paragraph that you quoted, but it referred to the fact that you can easily rewrite articles without getting sued. THIS IS MY OPINION.
    The part with the law is something else,is a fact, not my opinion.

    You think that if you are from us, you are protected world wide or what?
    Be serious.
    Anyway i will do my job, rewriting articles, you will do your job writing articles, each of us will earn some money and have a good life.
    The difference is that you speak from theory, or what you think is gonna happen while i speak from my experience , what happened to me.
    Of course you can get sued, but i said i re wrote hundreds of article without having the slightest problem with anything , and i sold them.
     
    nickflame, Jul 13, 2007 IP
  17. DeniseJ

    DeniseJ Live, Laugh, Love

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    #37
    That's great. But you don't have the right to call another respected member on this forum a liar. She's stating the truth - you CAN get sued.

    Just because you have yet to get caught doesn't mean other people will not.
     
    DeniseJ, Jul 13, 2007 IP
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  18. MattKNC

    MattKNC Peon

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    #38
    Nor does it make it right. It really burns me when people justify doing something that they *know* is wrong because they think/know that they will not get caught.
     
    MattKNC, Jul 14, 2007 IP
  19. DavidF9

    DavidF9 Well-Known Member

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    #39
    All too often people hide behind the fact that they live overseas as a defense to their actions. The fact of the matter is that geography is a barrier, but if someone is determined enough they can enforce their legal rights in another jurisdiction. In other words, thinking that because you live elsewhere from the party you are offending you can't get taken to task for your actions is naive and dangerous.
     
    DavidF9, Jul 14, 2007 IP
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  20. angelarticles

    angelarticles Peon

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    #40
    I would suggest that you do your own original research to avoid complications mentioned by above.
     
    angelarticles, Jul 15, 2007 IP