A Blogger Plagiarized My Content - What would you do?

[Wilktone]

I don't want to overreact to this situation, so I would like to hear some different opinions on what you feel is an appropriate response.

Some years ago a music blogger posted something on his web site that was being discussed online in a couple of different fora I read. The ideas he put there were a little controversial, but he certainly had some valid points. I wrote my own blog post discussing his original post (quoting and linking directly back to him). This blogger noticed and participated in what, for my site, was an active discussion on the comments.

Back about 4 months ago I came across a post on his blog, posted 3 years after his last comment on my site. His latest post consisted of the entirety of my blog entry, copied and pasted, including all the discussions in my blog's comments section. The only thing he added was slapping on a new title, which happened to be misleading.

This sort of thing isn't all that unusual. In fact, once a year or so someone contacts me or I accidentally come across something I wrote posted somewhere else without my permission, sometimes crediting me and sometimes not. Every other time this happens I've simply sent an email asking it to be taken down and it's been done. This time I can't get through. The contact form on the web site sends me to an error message and leaving comments on his blog post just tell me that my comment will be appear once it's been approved.

In looking for an alternate way to contact this blogger I learned some sad news. He passed away a few months ago. That explains why I wasn't able to contact him. I know someone has the virtual keys to his site, because now someone has now posted his obituary there, but I haven't been able to reach anyone for over 3 months.

I could file a DMCA violation with his hosting provider. I don't know how long his web site will be up. There are things available for purchase there and some other musicians who appear to be a part of the same network who might have a vested interest in keeping the site up and running. Some of my research indicates that hosting providers often don't deal with the specific page that has a DMCA violation but rather block or remove the entire site. All I want is my original content to be deleted, not the entire site.

The principle of it is important to me, and also his new title to my content both implies that it's his intellectual property and also that I'm claiming to have earned a degree I don't have (which is splitting hairs for most people out of a particular circle, but for those of us who have earned advanced degrees it these are important distinctions).

So my question to you, would you file a DMCA violation or let it rest?


Dave

[hyperbolica]

How much is your reputation worth, and is his site big enough to cause you real pain? Is it costing you money? DMCA may or may not achieve anything. You might get a lawyer to send a cease and desist, but that's definitely going to cost you money.

One way or another you should be able to contact the executor, and even in that case, it will probably take some time to change/fix.

My blog has been ripped off many times. I've found entire PDFs of my books being given away on commercial sites. Usually I can take care of it easily, but sometimes it's out of the country, and you can't really do anything without involving international lawyers, which generally only makes sense if there are tens of thousands of dollars involved. There is always the low-brow route of taking to Twitter to publicly malign the theft. Maligning the dead, even if it is deserved, is probably not a cool route to go. Unfortunately, that may turn out to be the most effective.

You may be able to do a whois and find out who the host is, and take the matter up with the host. That's probably the most kosher way to handle this.

Best of luck.

[Wilktone]

Yep, I hear you.

For what it's worth, the DMCA action I'm considering is to contact the host and explain the violation and situation to them. The research I've done on this suggests that this is the next step if you can't get through to the site owner in violation. After that the owner in question has the opportunity to correct the violation (e.g., delete the content) or contest it.

It's relatively easy to lookup who hosts a site, so I know who I would contact. Like I mentioned, I don't want the entire site blocked, just my work removed. I suppose that whoever I contact at the hosting company would have an idea if that's possible on their end.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Dave

[tjonz]

IANAL, but I would think the probate court could point you at the executor of the estate, who in turn should be able to point you at the caretaker of the deceased's blog. Just a thought.

[Wilktone]

Just thought I'd update. I broke down and contacted the hosting provider and they very quickly got the plagiarized content removed, without blocking the rest of the site. The hardest part of that was figuring out the correct host to contact.