I recently decided to search some articles I wrote in the past and found that some people (especially one firm) have taken my article and resubmitted it to a number of other article directories. They did give me credit with copy write symbol and my name then proceeded to put links to another website.

They can't do that can they? Before I call them and accuse them of theft I would like to make sure I am correct.

my original article is here: ezinearticles.com/?Top-10-Inexpensive-Tips-to-Getting-Your-Home-Ready-to-Sell&id=552366

one of the stolen ones is here:
freearticlesarchive.com/article/Top_10_Inexpensive_Tips_to_Getting_Your_Home_Ready _to_Sell/28131/0/

Thanks.

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Mike Taylor
Indianapolis Real Estate | Carmel Real Estate |My REW Blog

It is plagiarism for sure!

The copyright Michael Taylor is not enough because right afterwards they have published

Which would mislead readers into believing the folks at my Florida Home Buyer are the offer. I would sue their asses for something like that (Well maybe not sue them) - but I would most certainly write a nasty letter.

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Webmasters who spend their energies upholding the spirit of the basic principles [Of Google] will provide a much better user experience and subsequently enjoy better ranking than those who spend their time looking for loopholes they can exploit. Google.com

better yet, become number one for their keywords and make the page devoted to how they suck.

heheh

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Austin Texas Real Estate | Coldwell Banker Austin | Austin Texas Real Estate

LOL...I thought about that too, but I figured I would give him an opportunity to correct the situation. So far, no luck. Although, I am not really sure I want to start a war I am not sure if I can win.

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Mike Taylor
Indianapolis Real Estate | Carmel Real Estate |My REW Blog

I would do some research here United States Patent Office

Build your case and present them with the facts via a Registered Letter.

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Larry Jensen, Principal Broker
St. Lawrence Properties, llc
www.StLawrenceProperties.net

What's My Mileage?

I would be happy your article was actually promoted. Most likely if you contact them, they will simply remove your article entirely.

You just have to ask yourself if you are worse off by having a third-party promote your name and article?

While it is a nice pat on the back, it makes me irate that someone else is getting a link from intellectual property that I created. That is why I put effort into writing a quality article so that I could get link to my site. I would rather have them remove it than have someone else benefit from it. In this link based world the little "copyright Michael Taylor" does nothing for me.

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Mike Taylor
Indianapolis Real Estate | Carmel Real Estate |My REW Blog

Yeah, I would definitely write these people a letter. They should at least give you a link as well (after all, they did take your article in the first place).

Hopefully there's a bright side to this. If you distributed this article well enough... all of this groups SEO efforts will be in vein since this article will be flagged as duplicate content .

Anyways, another thing you might want to look into is www.copyscape.com. They are actually a search engine designed to find plagiarized material.

If your articles were posted on your own website, no one is allowed to reprint them without your express permission.

However, if you have submitted your articles to article directories, expect people from all over the world to grab your articles and post them on their sites. This is one of the conditions that you have agreed upon when you applied for an account in article directories.

But (yes, there's a but here), those who plan to use your articles in their respective sites must post your articles AS IS. No alteration on the contents and most especially on the resource box. They should also retain the links you have provided in your resource box. Otherwise, you have every right to compel them to remove your articles from their sites.

In your case, you can write the admin of the article directory. Users are not allowed to post contents that they don't own.

Try writing the admin, they usually respond to this kind of issue. Of course, who would want to ruin their reputation with a couple of posts from plagiarists? Hosting companies also respond quickly with copyright issues. They even suspend the account of the infringer if he fails to remove the articles in question from his site.

On tracking down plagiarist, Philman is right about http://www.copyscape.com. I use it all the time to hunt down those intellectual copyright thieves. I'm the jealous type. I don't want anyone to just grab my articles without my express permission

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Kreativwriters.com -- Premium Web Content Provider. Affordable even for small and medium online businesses.
Careermemos -- Career advice and tips to keep you sane in the workplace.

Yes, there are many ways to look at it as indicated above. You can look at it as they are advertising your work or stealing your work...if you gained additional traffic because of it...let it go...if nothing negative happened because of it...let it go...if you have had adverse effects because of it..pursue a correction

just my 2cents

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Tampa Real Estate | Tampa Foreclosures | Tampa Real Estate Blog

Team Masse services the Tampa Bay Real Estate market as well as the following areas: Apollo Beach, Riverview, Ruskin, Brandon, Lithia, Valrico, Gibsonton, South Tampa, and Channelside District along with St Petersburg and Clearwater. Referals are always welcomed and given.