SUPERHIGHWAYMEN: CHASING THIEVES ON THE INTERNET
by Larry O'Hanlon
My first foray into the netherworld of Internet thieves started when
a friend told me I was "all over the Internet." He had plugged
my name into Google (www.google.com)
and was rewarded with scads of hits. A few months later I was between
assignments and beginning to question whether I existed-as freelancers
will do-and decided to try the same search. To my great satisfaction I
scored nearly 300 hits. Woohoo! My folks would be proud, nemeses chagrined,
and women would be transfixed by my electronic grandeur.
My delusion of fame was short-lived. As I scanned the listings I began
noticing that about half of them were not sites for which I had written.
Most I had never even heard of. What the heck is Earth Changes TV or the
Quickening News, for instance? And I don't recall lending my name or articles
to the folks of RemnantofGod.com or Crytalinks.com (which seems to focus
on animals with psychic abilities). None of these are exactly in my target
market. They are, from what I can tell, shameless copyright infringers
with a particular appetite for news briefs I've written over the last
few years for Discovery.com. I also discovered many non-commercial sites
that had "borrowed" my materials. These included universities
and professional scientific organizations that would appear to have an
interest because their researchers are mentioned or interviewed. No one
from any of the sites ever contacted me about reusing the material-a requirement
since Discovery.com buys only limited rights to news briefs.
When I started clicking on the links my alarm was somewhat lessened.
Many sites merely link to my stories posted on their original Web sites,
which is fair enough. Other, less reputable, sites reproduced entire articles-which
got me growling, grinding my teeth, and looking for ways to stop them
or get them to pay up. So in November, after consulting my Discovery.com
news editor Lori Cuthbert, I went after a few of the "perps"
with all the awesome power of a lone freelancer with a chip on his shoulder.
We'd see how sharp my quill is.
|
To: Lisa Thiesse,
Quickening News, tzranch@worldnet.att.net.
From: LarryO'Hanlon
You are
hereby notified that you have posted copyright-protected material
on your Web page without permission of the copyright holder. Respond
at once or you will be automatically billed a reprinting fee of
$150.00.
Thiesse: There
is a problem? How may I help you?
LarryO': The
problem has been stated. What is your response?
Thiesse: I'll
remove the piece. To (sic) bad . . .You probably had people looking
up the site all the time from it.
LarryO': Too
bad? Not really. You stole material to increase visitation to your
Web site. You have profited by theft. That is illegal and you can
be prosecuted under federal law. You have a lot of nerve worrying
about visitation to your site-especially when it's based on material
you've no right to use. Do you understand? How would you like it
I intercepted *your* paycheck or used your name without your permission?
Because
of your lack of remorse in this matter I will be informing national
journalist & writer organizations of your violation so that
other writers can check for illegally reused material on your site.
If more violations are found we may decide to take class action.
Be forewarned: this is no bluff. Your days on the Internet are numbered.
|
(Cue thunder and lightning)
Okay, so maybe I exaggerated my power to punish Quickening News. But
bluffing is part of this nasty game. Thiesse bluffed when she implied
ignorance of any problem (all the more blatant since Quickening News has
a copyright statement and symbol at the bottom of their homepage). I bluffed
back that I could huff and puff and blow them over with my bad-freelancer
breath. Thiesse hasn't responded, but maybe next time Quickening News
editors will pause for a microsecond before stealing more copyrighted
material. Or not. Here's another exchange.
|
To: Mitch Battros,
Earth Changes TV, earthchanges@earthlink.net
From: Larry
O'Hanlon
Please inform
me from where and whom you obtained permission to post several of
my copyrighted articles. I hold the copyright for articles I have
written for Discovery.com and unless you have an undisclosed agreement
with Discovery.com, you are in violation of copyright law.
Battros:
Dear Larry,
I will be
glad to remove any copy written (sic) material we may have put up
on our news page. Please send me the date and name of article and
we will remove immediately. If we had put any of your articles up,
we gave you full credit and referral.
I apologize
for any inconvenience. I await your data so we may fulfill your
request.
LarryO':
Dear Mr.
Battros,
I suggest
you search your archives for my name to find the stories. It seems
that there are a number of Discovery.com articles posted, apparently
without any agreement from Discovery Communications, Inc., or me.
You are responsible for eliminating them in order to conform with
copyright laws. I require that you inform me of the articles you
remove from your site, as well as whether there exists any agreement
with Discovery.com for your use in the first place.
Incidentally,
giving "credit and a referral" is not the same as obtaining
permission. You certainly must know this and I find it bizarre that
you infer otherwise. I earn my living by writing and you have apparently
stolen what I have produced for your own profit. I am now obliged
to inform Discovery Communications officials and other writers belonging
to the national writers organizations about this incident so they
can investigate the possibility of additional copyright infringements
on your Web site.
Although
my response here may seem severe, it is extremely mild when compared
to the legal action I could undertake.
|
Fire and brimstone! . . . and more bluffing. But what else can a guy
do? Like most freelancers, I haven't the time, money, or legal savvy to
chase down these guys and make them pay. Maybe someday a group of us freelancers
will. In the meantime, I haven't gained an electronic cent from these
and other exchanges with rogue Web sites. I have, however, started a list
of rules for lone freelancers to follow while chasing down offenders.
- Review your contracts to keep abreast of what rights you and others
have over the intellectual property you create.
- Plan to periodically search for copyright violations. Whatever search
engine you favor, use an advanced search option in order to get an exact
name match. Otherwise, I get lots of useless "Larry" and "O'Hanlon"
hits that have no connection to my work. Because a stolen article might
be pasted somewhere in the body of a long page, it's equally important
to search for all content on Web pages, not just the metatext written
by Web page designers. I've also had success finding specific articles
by listing my last name and a topic heading or title, like "O'Hanlon
seismic sleuths."
- There's also a need to check on print databases, like Current Contents,
and other library databases for print infringers.
- If you find copyright violations, try to get the word out, especially
if the perpetrator appears to steal regularly. I'm open to suggestions
on how individually, and collectively, we can turn up the heat on Internet
thieves. Perhaps some programmer out here can produce software that
checks for illegal uses of articles written by NASW members-or at least
compiles a list of hits by Web site and name of members.
- Don't play nice. Theft is theft. Make them pay or make them stop.
There's no sense in being all over the Net if it doesn't pay the bills.
#
Larry O'Hanlon is disassociating himself from articles about psychic
Labrador retrievers from his home in Cool, Calif.
|
