Okay....So you can probably tell by the title that today's post will not be your typical Pilates article but it will be a complete and total sound off about the ethics of blog writing and taking other peoples work. I thought about apologizing for this rant....but I can't and won't. I still believe that this article will be informative. Maybe even spark some good conversation.
Most of you that follow this blog know that there is usually a new post about every month and half about something related to Pilates. Most of the content on this site is written by myself and does consume an ample amount of free time in order to compose. The other articles not written by me are from other individuals that have contacted me and offered to contribute an article. They have also approved their work after the post is made. They get links to their website.
So, I recently decided to start a twitter account and see what all the fuss was about. After I created the account I added a few Pilates professionals and other individuals I found interesting. When I logged in Saturday morning I noticed that someone I was following had several threads that were promoting articles from my blog. COOL.....I though someone really loved my blog and was using my new twitter buttons to share the love. Well....no. I clicked the link assuming I would end up here but the links took me to another "Pilates" blog that wasn't mine. I found that the most of my articles (that took me a few year to accumulate) were pulled of this site and added to theirs in a matter of a day. All the content on this particular site was not original work but the posts of other Pilates bloggers. Of course there is no valid email address to contact this individual. My comments requesting the removal of my articles were ignored. Nice!
I would like to state right now that the content of my blog belongs to me! I have no problem with links and I certainly don't have a problem with someone interested in posting one of my articles with my permission and appropriately crediting me for my work. I don't believe it is ethical to cut and paste other peoples hard work onto your own blog. It's actually pretty cheap that you have nothing original to say for yourself. Well, why don't you go ahead and steal this article too!!!! Or better yet....why don't you just remove my articles off your site instead of stealing over half the articles on my blog.
I am totally appalled at this. Am I in the wrong here?
For those of you that network in the Pilates field, could you please go ahead and pass this article along to other Pilates bloggers or writer. I'm not the only one that is having my feeds pulled by a splogger.
It is unfortunate that this stuff happens. I am going through something similiar with my domain name. All one has to do is request permission and give the credit to the right person.
ReplyDeleteWow. This is sad. I just found your blog earlier this week and posted a link to it from my FB page and the page for my studio. I really want my clients and students to benefit from your great articles. I have so often wished I could find the time (yes, need to organize!) to write a blog and here you've done all the work for me. Articles are great and you are really offering an amazing service to the greater Pilates community. I would never think to steal them and pass them as my own. I truly respect your time, effort and talents. So, thanks from all of us who value what you've done even though it may be tinged with a little guilt that we haven't done it ourselves :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid this happens all the time, and often it's not even a real person doing it - it's done by 'robots' just pulling feeds based on keywords.
ReplyDeleteDon't get too upset about it though, as your site is original and full of great content you'll get the rankings and the traffic for it, not the content thieves.
My friend has this very same problem over at www.purplefoodie.com - she is REALLY GOOD at getting that stuff removed and can point in you in the direction you need to go.
ReplyDeleteGood luck. That really sucks. I need to get my pics and put a watermark on them so they aren't copied!