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Just like that, it’s time for another #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, where budding and established writers share sage advice on the process of writing and everything related to it. Read entries from the other participants here.
I honestly don’t have a plan for this post but I think I’ll use it as a platform to announce a slight scaling back on my blog. My recent blog posts have been the victim of copyright infringement where bot-controlled news aggregator websites have been picking up my content, both written and pictorial, and re-sharing it as it is. Some of the more ruthless ones change a few words here and there but leave the outline and pictures exactly as I published them.
The great irony of this entire situation, is that I’m a copyright lawyer by profession. Hence, I’ve dealt with it thus far by contacting them over email and threatening hefty copyright infringement lawsuits. The threat works in most cases, leading to the removal of the offending content but not in all. Even though it works often, it’s annoying to have to keep doing it. I’ve installed some protective plugins but they don’t serve to stop the copying.
This has made me lose the will to continuously write and promote high-quality posts. Where is the internet heading if there’s no value for original content at all?
I’m feeling slightly down and out and plan to scale back on writing blog posts for a while, except to complete a few prior commitments. I’m hoping this break (?) from blogging will be the much-needed push I need to begin writing my creative works.
I’ll leave you here with the hope that those whose websites I visit will return the favour, because that has not been the case with many people in the last two rounds of the #AuthorToolBoxHop that I have participated in.
Fingers crossed this post doesn’t turn up on a bot-website tomorrow! Bye for now, and let me know if you’ve faced a similar situation and how you’ve dealt with it.
Visit the sign-up page of #AuthorToolboxBlogHop here and read about the craft of writing from others too.
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*This is not a sponsored post.
**Copyright in pictures and content belongs to nooranandchawla.com and cannot be republished or repurposed without express permission of the author. As I am a copyright lawyer by profession, infringement of any kind will invite strict legal action.
Oh that is really terrible!! Ethics are clearly missing in today’s time. I am sure it must be an ordeal. Hope to see you back soon with some awesome content!! All the best
Thank you 😊 knowing me, I won’t be able to stay away for too long 😛
Oh that’s terrible. That sucks. I hope that you’ll find the drive to write consistently. All the best. I hope this sabbatical works out in your favor.
Thank you Shweta… That means a lot to me 🤗
Do keep writing
I write a weekly column for a national paper, so the writing will definitely continue… But yes I hope to be back on my blog soon too 🤞😊
The Perils of being online. So sorry you had to go through that, Noor. i know how annoying that can be, Hope your break gives you creative ideas that you come back to your blog with. Enjoy the break and come back rejuvenated
Thank you Mayuri 😊
I can relate to that, Noor. My blog has already been scraped twice since the lockdown. Hope to see you back soon with more awesome content.
Thank you Ritu! It’s very disheartening but I hope to be back soon too 😊
Hi Noor:
We’ve always had hackers, bots, and outright plagiarism. It has risen to a fever pitch as most of us are forced to used the web to communicate & connect with others. A new level of firewalls and such are much needed, but to the most dedicated of thieves: this is their time.
I’m sorry you had this happen. I’m sure many of us have faced the same but have not discovered it. Yet.
Take the break. Write your WIP. Create. There is so much more to you than this blog. I’ll miss reading your posts, but, as you mentioned, you hope you’ll be back soon.
Walking away to regroup is a powerful tool to use. A bit of the stress lifts as you decide Next Steps.
Good luck.
Stuart
Thank you Stuart… Yes I do hope to pop in intermittently! Your encouraging words made me feel better 😊
I’m so sorry that happened to you. I hope a mini-break will recharge you.
Thank you.. I hope so too!
It is definitely not fair. But please don’t let this incident affect your inner writer. I hope to see you soon. Good luck!!
Thank you Alpana 🤗
Hi Noor! Your comment about folks not returning comments in this blog hop lately is valid, and I’m happy you spoke up. I’m trying to figure out what to do about it. My first step was to tell everyone there was a problem with reciprocal commenting and ask everyone to help me fix it by returning comments as much as possible. I, like you, really hope the situation improves this month, because otherwise I’m going to have to do something more drastic. And thank you for explaining about how your content is being stolen. I’m curious, so I’m going to go see if I can find my content elsewhere… I can’t find anything out there without about 10 searches from different posts, but I think I’ve probably just been lucky so far or maybe the posts I checked are too recent and my old content is all over the place without my permission.
Please know that I really enjoyed getting to know you, and whether or not you stay in the hop, I hope to get to know you more.
Thank you Raimey… I do hope to stay in touch with you regardless of how soon I return to the blog! I’m yet to comment on participants blogs, will do that today and then will know who returns 😊
So sorry to hear you’ve been targeted by bot pirates! May they walk the plank and sink into the briny deep–blub, blub, blub.
Aye aye!
ohh this is really sad Noor and I could understand that you must had a hard time to deal with this. but I do not want you to stop writing as we all love your creative and informative posts. take a break and come soon. this blog hop is sounding really really exciting to me, and I had not heard about this before. will check out this for sure. thanks for sharing.
Thank you Surbhi! I hope to be back in action soon 😊
Hmmm. How do you get to know if someone is copying your content or pictures??? I’m curious to check if mine is copied too. You are someone who should keep writing and not stop… Ever…
Thanks dear Cindy, I do plan to keep writing 😊
The best way to find out is by inserting many internal links to existing blog posts from your website. When these scraper sites copy your post, they copy the links too and you are notified that an external website has linked to your post. That’s how I’ve always found out…
OMG, copyright infringement… that’s just not fair. Glad to know you were able to deal with it. This comes as a warning for all to be cautious in this online world.
Yes it’s so important to be cautious!
People have been brazenly sharing my posts without asking or even acknowledging me on their websites! I really dunno what to do about it. The sabbatical will recharge you am sure..u belong here..so come back soon 🙂
Thanks Harjeet, you can always write them a harshly worded email saying if they do not ask your permission before printing your material, you will initiate copyright infringement proceedings under Indian law. That usually works.
That’s really disheartening. Why can’t people right their own stuff if they are so keen on writing. I love your fictions, and maybe this sabbatical will give us a good novel to read. All the best Noor.
Thank you Ruchi! I hope for that novel too 😊🤞
This is so frustrating–I’m sorry you’re have to deal with this. Copyright to us writers is really important. I’m not sure how I would go about trying to have something taken down if it were copied. It sounds really overwhelming, especially as you say it’s happening a lot. Pulling back and taking a break sounds like something that will be helpful for you, but I hope you don’t stop blogging. I’ve been enjoying your Blog Hop posts.
Thank you Jimmy… I hope to be back soon 😊
That’s terrible, Noor. I know how much efforts it takes to write and publish each post and then someone takes the entire credit of it. But how did you know. I think I have faced this but did not know what to do.
Thanks Debi..
I make sure to put internal links in each post I publish, so if someone scrapes my post they pick up the internal link too. I get notified that someone has linked to me.
This is very disheartening to hear. I am unaware of many such issues. Thanks for sharing the incident as it warns me against that kind of perpetrators
Yes be careful 😊
It’s really sad to be facing this, originality is getting lost in many places, let it be a post or a picture. It’s nice that you could handle and come out of this situation
Thank you
I am appalled! Honestly I don`t know much about Bots etc. This is so terrible. Your posts are great. Pls keep writing Don`t let these parasites stop you from doing your best.
Thank you Arti. I hope to be back soon!
Sorry to hear you have suffered this infringement. Hopefully it can be cleared up quickly.
Thank you for stopping by 😊
It’s absolutely horrible! I hope that these bots self-destruct soon. I’ll have to check if this sort of thing has happened to my blog, too… I hope that this time offline will be good for your writing 🙂 I had to stay offline for a couple of weeks just to recharge and I’ve decided to do some scaling back, too.
Ronel catching up for August Author Toolbox day DIY Booktrailers
Thanks Ronel. Yes do check. It’s happening too often!
I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with that! I can only imagine how frustrating that has to be. Sometimes taking a break for a while can really help especially if you’re feeling that overwhelmed by this. I hope it helps and I hope you see less of this in the future! Don’t give up on your writing!
Thank you Lena!
How horrible! I wouldn’t even know where to look as far as finding any of my work copied on other sites. I hope you don’t have to continue dealing with infringement in the future.
I did learn a lot about copyright infringement this summer. As a teacher, we have so much to consider in this progression of the digital age.
Yes absolutely. I’m glad you’re aware of the laws and can protect yourself and hopefully this will never happen to you.