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Suspected copyright issue ; can anyone read/access this page?

Posted by tenforty • 10/21/07 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blogspot, copyright

I just discovered on technorati that this blog maybe has copied/translated an article of mine, but I just can't access this page and kept getting re-directed elsewhere.
tourismforever.blogspot.com/2007/10/reisen-im-1040-fenster-neuere-koh-kong....

Can anyone else get this page? If they just linked to it, that's ok, I guess, but I'd like to find out if they copied the article in its entirety and put it on their blog without my permission. What else can I do? Any help is appreciated.

User Comments

10/21/07

daisythecurlycat

It looks to me like it is a copy of your article, with a German translation added inside the paragraphs. At the very end of the article is this line with a link back to your blog:

Ich fand Quellartikel ubersetzt zum Deutschen

translates to something like this (according to Google language tools):
I found the source article compiled for Germans.

[reply]
1. 10/21/07
  
  tenforty
  
  Thanks! It's in German, then??
  
  Is this considered a copyright issue or not? Or is it a grey area?
  
  I would think that with online translation services anyone can translate any article directly from my blog, no need to copy and place it somewhere else!
2. 10/21/07
  
  crkian
  
  If I copied Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and translated it to German would it be copyright
10/21/07

tenforty

Yeah Chris, you're right!

[reply]
1. 10/21/07
  
  crkian
  
  Do they link to your photos as well
10/21/07

JunkDrawer

Same thing happened to one of my posts. German, too. The link back to the source, my blog, is listed at the bottom of it. So I'm not sure it's a copyright problem. It feels like one, but if they cite us, maybe that covers them legally?

[reply]
1. 10/21/07
  
  tenforty
  
  yes, they cited but no permission was obtained. I don't like it.
10/21/07

crkian

Even mentioning the source doesnt cover you I could copy probloggers blog and mention I got the source from him, but you can bet I would get in a little bit of trouble

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10/21/07

crkian

I may be wrong but some photos on here look like you and your friends lifeternity.blogspot.com/

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10/21/07

crkian

Report it, even the photos have your watermark on them

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10/21/07

tenforty

I couldnt access the german blog on my desktop PC, but I just managed to do so on my laptop. Hah, they did copy the whole article, plus pics! I'm composing a polite little comment to them [in English] now to remove it, or else. Let me calm down a bit first...

lifeternity is my friend's blog - that's ok.

[reply]
10/21/07

nusuni

If you want to try to get it taken down good luck - Google doesn't do squat about copyright infringement and it is translated. This is one of the few cases where I'd highly recommend leaving it alone.

However if you do want to do something about it, Jonathan Bailey runs a blog called Plagiarism Today - it's a great blog about online copyright issues, and he offers free consultation services there. Perhaps you could ask him for a consultation?

www.plagiarismtoday.com/consulting-services/

[reply]
10/21/07

tenforty

looks like the German has removed my article after my comment. Thanks all of you for your help, I just realised that the first one to respond was a cat! LOL
JunkDrawer, I would advise u to take action for your posts. Even tho they link back to your blog, I dont appreciate these kind of links. That blog has lots more articles I presume are also plagiarised and bloggers who dont do anything will just encourage them.

[reply]
10/21/07

MeghnaK

Glad that your problem has been solved
I just wanted to bring to your notice about almost a similar situation I faced (not german, though) and the people of BC helped me out to solve the issue. You can read this thread:
www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/is-it-called-copyright-violation-or-somet...

[reply]
10/21/07

tenforty

First of all, thank you, Nusuni and MeghnaK, for your comments and helpful links. I have bad news...woke up this morning (it's Monday 9am here) to find that the German page of my plagiarised article is still there!! I asked friends to check it out last nite - one of them reported Page Not Found, I went there and got the same message, and I thought the problem was solved. Not so. Now I just waiting and wondering about the next course of action. I have 2 questions I need help with -

1) are any of u German-speakers, can u advise if the translation is a good one, done manually and accurately, or translated via an online auto service, in which case there should be lots of German grammar errors.
2) is it wise to contact other bloggers who have their articles (and sources cited) on that blog to give them a little hint like "Hey, do u know your article appears at so-and-so" would it help if several of us put pressure to have the blog taken down?

Any thoughts on this?

[reply]
1. 10/21/07
  
  brigid
  
  On question two I think it would be a good idea to let them know. Especially if you know the individual.
  
  Unfortunately, I don't know anywhere near enough German to make an evaluation of the translation.
  
  Also, I'm not sure if how you might take this, but I did a quick look through Copyscape and found 7 matches for copies of your site.
  
  You might want to check that out.
  
  www.copyscape.com
2. 10/21/07
  
  AppleMan
  
  On my AMAZING mac computer (hint hint, visit my blog and get a mac: apple-report.blogspot.com is the address) I have a translator. Do you want me to translate it?
10/21/07

cooper

This is similar to all the spam blogs except in German.
I wrote a brief post about this Friday. I have no luck getting my stuff off these sites.

[reply]
10/21/07

AppleMan

Lol we should german blogs... they're all copyright infringers! Just kidding, I'm sure there's a perfectly good german dessert blog out there... somewhere... still searching...

No offense to german bloggers, of course.

[reply]
1. 10/21/07
  
  tenforty
  
  hey Appleman, someone did try to persuade me to get a mac, but im too old to learn new machine LOL
10/21/07

WT

I have a link in my sidebar to refer people to a site run by Jonathan Baily. He has a lot of really great information about this sort of thing. Check it out - here it is. www.plagiarismtoday.com/

-Will

[reply]
10/21/07

tenforty

I have a lot to think abt today... thanks, all of u! Thanks cooper, I'm checking out your post. Brigid, the ones thrown out by copyscape seem ok, either my friends' blog or those who linked to me. Any other imputs, suggestions?

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10/21/07

cooper

I read "plagerism today" routinely, and it really doesn't help much if the blog hosts do not shut down these splogs. Most bloggers aren't going to file lawsuits against sploggers so it just becomes a great annoyance

[reply]
10/22/07

tenforty

After what happened, I'm still not happy so I got this "not happy" post out last night.

tenforty.blogspot.com/2007/10/basic-blogging-etiquette-dos-and-donts.html

Any feedback welcomed.

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