What to do if someone is copying your online content

If you are publishing your content online and it is visible to people over the internet, then there are chances that your content may be copied by other people. Suppose that you are running a blog and spending your valuable hours to write unique and quality articles but some other newbies or spammers are copying your posts then what will you do? What action would you take against those copy cats? Well, you will get disappointed in this situation. The article which took 3 hours to write was copied in just a few seconds! It hurts very much. But no need to worry, I'm gonna tell you some ways to protect your original content and get the copied content removed from other blogs.

Why you need to take action against copy-cats?

1. To protect your search traffic: Search engines demand unique articles to be placed on top of the search results. If some newbies are copying your content, then search engines may consider your content as a duplicate content and you will loose your search rankings. In short, copy-cats will destroy your search engine rankings.

2. To keep your AdSense account safe: If you are using AdSense on your site and someone is copying your content, then google may disable your AdSense account anytime because unique content is required for AdSense and if your content is copied by others, your content is considered as duplicate content.

3. To keep getting new visitors: If your content is copied by others, then you will loose new visitors because your site is downranked in search results.

4. Emotional Aspect: Your content is your intellectual property and no one has the right to copy your content without your permission. If stupid copy-cats keep copying your content then you become frustrated and loose interest in blogging.

How to take actions against the copy-cats?

1. Write a mail and request to delete the copied content

You can write a mail to the copy-cat and request him to take the copied content down. Tell them why they should not copy any other blogger's content. If they accept your request and delete the copied material, it's fine but if they ignore your warning and misbehave with you, then now it's time to take the legal action against them.

2. File a DMCA complaint against the infringing blog

To file a DMCA complaint, click this link (OR this link) and select the product which you're using. For example, if you want to file a complaint against any infringing blog which is copying your blog posts, then select "Blogger" and proceed to the next step. Now fill the required details with appropriate reasons and proofs including the infringing urls. After that, enter your digital signature and submit the complaint. Google will review your complaint and if your complaint is genuine, the copied posts get removed from the copy-cat's blog. If he re-posts the copied content, then file another complaint and then google will delete the infringing blog. If the copy-cat doesn't use blogger platform, then google eliminates his indexed pages from search engines and his blog gets disappeared from google search results.
Note: If you are facing financial due to the infringer, then you may take some legal actions by filing a complaint in cyber cell. They will take action against the copy-cat and he might be arrested or charged a heavy fine also.
File DMCA complaints for Wordpress Blogs

Advice For Newbies

You have decided to start a blog, that's good. Best of luck from my side. But, before getting into this field, ask yourself that are you really serious about your blogging? Do you have abilities to write unique and quality articles? Do you respect Pro Bloggers and learn from them, instead of copying their posts?
If your answer is YES, then continue with your blog. But if your answer is NO, then stop blogging and do something else which suits you. You might not have ideas to write unique articles, but it doesn't mean that you start copying other blogger's posts. Blogging is for creative minded people, not for copy-cats. So, if you really want to be a blogger, then act like a blogger, not like a cheap copy-cat. If you write original and unique articles, then only you will be accepted among other bloggers and can build your image as a blogger.