No matter whether you have a small blog with a close-knit group of fans, or a well-trafficked travel website, spammers want your content.  And they can take it, whether you like it or not, thanks to the freedom and flexibility that information has online.   Many of you reading this no doubt have found, at some point, another blog or website that appears to be duplicating your content, word-for-word!

Stop those Filthy Dirtbags.

Some folk call these spammers splogs (spam blog), but I just call them filthy dirtbags.  Why?  Because sometimes, they steal so much content, and add it so quickly, that Google makes the mistake of thinking that their site is important, and all of a sudden THEIR content ranks before yours in the search engines.  How sh!tty is that?  Very.

You may have someone mention to you that they saw your content somewhere else.  Or, maybe your website has the “trackback” feature and you’ve seen weird sites linking back to you.  Yup, those are splogs.  You can just search for some of your blog posts in Google and see if you find them duplicated elsewhere.

I’ve unfortunately been the victim of a lot of splogs on our travel magazine, so finally, I fought back and got rid of the egregious offenders.  How?  With the only legal weapon content creators have: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

(UPDATED: Just a quick note to say that you should always try to get in touch with offenders before going down the DMCA route. Most spammers won’t reply or don’t have valid contact information, but you need to try, and then note the lack of response in your DMCA request.)

How the DMCA Works

Disclosure: I am not a lawyer. I do not play one on TV or on the Internet.  My interpretation of the DMCA rules and how you can use them to your benefit is not formal legal advice.  FILING A DMCA REQUEST IS A LEGAL MOTION, which means the other party can also file for retributions against you if they feel your request is invalid.  In other words, if you’ve got big problems, you need a real lawyer.

To put it simply, the DMCA was put in place to heighten the penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet. Lawmakers weren’t thinking of those of us with blogs at the time – it was more focused on the wide theft of pirated music and movies (backed by companies with big dollars), but the DMCA works to help anyone who feels their intellectual property has been pilfered .  You can find an excellent legalese summary here.

This is an American law.  However, because the Internet was “born” here supposedly, all you need to do is to find one loop in the chain that is an American-based company, and you’ve got your in.  So, let’s say your filthy splog is based in the Philippines (common).  But, they are hosted with Hostgator, a company in Florida.  Boom, busted.  Or, they’re a huge blog in China, but they use Google Adsense, based on California.  Boom, take them down.

First, I’m going to walk you through the places to look for where to file your DMCA request, then I have some important reminders for things that have to be in your request for it to be legally action’ed.  Remember, it’s the law, so most of these companies want to comply, but they will follow the law to the letter, so you must too.

First Step, Gather Intel

Ok, for your DMCA you have to know where to file it, right?  So what you need to find are a few things:

• Who is their domain registered with? Many registrars will help you with DMCA requests.
• Who is their web host? Hosting companies are required to unplug a website if the webmaster doesn’t take down copyrighted content (because then you can sue the webhost for non-compliance!)
• Who are their advertising/affiliate partners? Many affiliate companies don’t like to be associated with DMCA-violators and while I’m not sure this is the law, many – such as Adsense – will help you out.

The last question can be easily found by reviewing their website, of course.  As for the domain registrar and web host? Just go here to network-tools.com.  Put the domain in the box, and you’re going to run two checks.

First, choose WHOIS.  This will tell you who the registrar is.  Here’s ours – you can see it’s GoDaddy:

WHOIS Search Result

Then do the same search again, but instead choose NSLOOKUP.  This will tell you who the web host is.  As you can see, ours is a Canadian company.

NSLOOKUP results.

Ok, so now you know who their hosting provider is, who the registrar is, and what kinds of advertising/affiliates they have on their site.

Then, Ready and Aim

The order in which you should file your DMCA Requests - once step at a time.

This is the part where I get a little evil.  I always start with the money first, because this hits them where it hurts. Always contact the affiliate or advertising folks first, so you can take away their cash flow, and THEN file the DMCA to have your content removed.

Most ad networks have an abuse/contact information – but if it’s a splog, more than likely it is Adsense – and you’re in luck, they accept DMCA complaints via an online form and have a 48 hour turnaround.

Once you’ve managed to unplug their ads, then contact the hosting company.  Don’t use that email address you saw on the NSLOOKUP – just go to the hosting company’s site, search for “DMCA” and you’ll find the forms/fax information; if you can’t find it, call their toll free line, although they’re legally required to have it, so it shouldn’t be difficult.

Hosting companies have a tight turnaround by law – and what happens is if they don’t hear back from the website owner, they have to pull the site until they can sort it out.  That’s good for you, so expect quick response when you file. (It’s also good to ask in your request for them to confirm receipt – though most will open a support ticket and send you a copy via email.)

Your last resort is the registrar.  You really shouldn’t have any need to go here, but many of them offer DMCA support (mostly in helping you find the person who can do the unplugging).

Lastly, How to File your DMCA Request Properly

The law specifies exacting requirements for how to file your DMCA request. Take a look at this DMCA Template (Word Doc) with Google-based examples, you’ll see quite a few things that are REQUIRED:

• Your full contact information, including phone number and business mailing address.
• Indication that you are filing a request for an alleged DMCA violation.
• Specific references as to what has been copied, where to find the original, and where to find the unauthorized copy.
• Contact information you’ve gleaned from the Internet on the spammer.
• The last section, “Copyright Owners Statement”, is REQUIRED.

You must also sign and date your DMCA request, and then FAX OR MAIL it in.  Google is the only except to this policy, as mentioned above, but for the most part you must fax or mail for the ISP or webhost to act on your request.

Filing a DMCA takes time, and $2 for the fax.  But, it will make you feel better.  And if we all do it, then they’ll stop stealing what’s ours.  Please, take the two minutes, protect your content – and shut down the filthy dirtbags who are stealing yours.

P.S. Spammers got you down? We promise to help cheer you up – take our TOP Three for Free small business assessment.  We’ll make sure you are glad you did.

Other people who liked this article liked these too:

How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com

email

facebook

twitter

LinkedIn