Zurza struck again. No sooner had I uploaded my weekly post on August 16 to my Performancing Blog, complete with a copyright notice and a preface rant against Zurza than my post was stolen and posted to Zurza's blog. Have a good laugh and see the whole thing http://zurza.com/write-better-faster-part-3-by-joan-reeves%c2%a92008/. (I refuse to put a hot link to that spam blog.)I had to laugh. Guess whoever operates the Zurza site is using completely automated software. They don't even realize they're publicizing their own theft.
Wonder what I'll have to say about Zurza in my next Performancing post, if I keep that blog? Since the powers that be at Performancing haven't deigned to respond to my notice to them about the situation (neither have any of the other blog directories), I may abandon that blog. Apparently, they don't care that the posts there are being stolen. Now that I'm on Zurza's hit list, I'm sure it will happen every week. It's infuriating.
Same with Zurza's website host theplanet.com. No response to my "DMCA letter" notifying them of Zurza's copyright infringement.
I've sent "DMCA letters" to the Search engines also. Will let you know what happens.
Does anyone care?
I care. Why should I spend time and energy composing a great blog post only to have some moron steal it and post it on his/her own blog?
Any thoughts?
I'm so sorry! This is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Publishing on the Internet whether it be a blog or a book is a game of chance. The roulette wheel spins and someone will be next. It's just rampant.
ReplyDeleteI don't even understand the point of that site. They aren't advertising or anything.
ReplyDeleteDoes it help that your posts against Zurza fill a portion of the first page of search results when the actual site doesn't show there at all? =)
I love your posts and I'm glad I found you through your Performancing blog. Writing has always been something lurking, always something part of me, but only in the last 6 months did I let it out.
I try to respect copyright but I know I do make mis-steps on my blogs as I learn. Thank you for the great new lessons!
I hope you're able to remove yourself from their clutches.
Good morning, Wendy. Thanks for the lovely words of encouragement. I'm glad my blogs are helping you because helping and encouraging writers is one of my fave things to do.
ReplyDeleteZurza is a spam blog. If you went through their archives, you'd see tons of blogs about iPhone and other products. Yes, you are right about they steal good content -- I'm not the only one -- because it improves their PageRank and advertisers pay them based on their page rank. Sucks huh? Means they not only steal content but then they're making income because of that. That's why you have to send letters to the Search engines about them in hopes that the Search engines ban them so their PageRank goes to zero and advertisers won't pay them.
I don't know what to tell you; it sounds like you've done all you can. Hmm ... if you choose not to abandon the Performancing blog, you could just start every post with a disclaimer about Zurza and how your work is not being posted there with your consent. Then make sure each post includes a link or a non-hyperlink URL which will lead any ignorant readers back to the real source of the awesome post: your blog.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I do care even though I'm just a lurker and don't know you. This is offensive to all bloggers who put in the energy and just want to be recognized for their contributions. I'd certainly care if this were happening to me. It's amusing in its absurdity, and you should laugh if you can, but that doesn't mean you should dismiss the offense.
Hey, Jolie. Thanks for visiting. Yeah, I came up with the same game plan you mentioned. Remember how kids annoy the heck out of each other by echoing everything one says to the other until the other starts saying things like: I'm stupid. I'm an idiot." The other immediately stops mimicking. So if Zurza likes me to put words in his/her mouth, I just might do it. *g*
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if it will help them anymore than it helped you to put a big paragraph at the start of your post, but freelancewritinggigs.com is putting an add-on statement in every post. This statement is only seen in RSS feed. But, if someone syndicates it and puts it on an automatic feeder like Zurza they will see the message too.
ReplyDeleteThe gist of the message is that if you're not seeing this on a feedreader, you're reading it from a slimy no-good content thief.
But, the downside is that it gives your RSS readers quite a jolt to see such a harsh statement at the end of posts in the reader.
Food for thought.
Probably won't help but everyone has to do what they feel they can to protect their content.
ReplyDeleteThe really interesting thing is that Performancing has NOT published my blog post which I wrote last Saturday which included the warning. So that helped me make the decision not to blog any more on their site. So I'll be moving that series to this blog.