Comments

Posted by jdoriot

freaked out now...how did you find out someone had done this? I don't blame you for being irked about this!!

• Permanent Link

Posted by sagerats

If the author of that website plagerized your work, it's probably a safe bet the other entries are plagerized as well. Maybe not all, but more than just yours. I'm going to post this on my website too. Get the word out that this website is up to no good!

Keep us posted! Abiding in the Vine!

• Permanent Link

Posted by PatriciaWHunter

...and I wonder if you shouldn't contact Google so that they remove the ads from that sight. How did you ever discover this? Praying for there to be a quick and just resolution.

• Permanent Link

Posted by sagerats

Just wanted to let you know that I'm helping to spread the word, it's on my blog now as well as the Company Porch.

Tia Linschied
Guest Senior Editor of HSB

• Permanent Link

Posted by drewsfamilytx

I can't believe that they even stole your PICTURE! Now that would really make me nervous and angry...especially since I post pics of my children.

Marsha

• Permanent Link

Posted by KarenW

That's scary! How did you find out about this?

• Permanent Link

Posted by Joanise

I looked over the link you provided and it's not available anymore. They heard you! Good for you!

• Permanent Link

Posted by tbrowne

If we click your first link it is gone but if we cut and paste the address in your post then it is still there along with some others.

This is one of those I just don't understand it things. Ugh!!

• Permanent Link

Posted by SteveWalden

Since the administrator took down that post (yay!), I've pointed to another post I have the copyright for. I will soon post a listing of all the articles duplicated.

• Permanent Link

Posted by chickadee

how exactly do you copywrite your blog? is just typing in a copywrite enough?

• Permanent Link

Posted by Anonymous

My guess is the site is hoping to collect money as people come in via some search engine and go out to one of the ads on the site.

I have ask Google to stop feeding them ads.

It always helps to hurt them in the pocket book.

• Permanent Link

Posted by Henry Cate

The previous comment was mine.

http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com

• Permanent Link

Posted by takingthechallenge

This is absolutely horrible! And to steal your babies photo too!! Others have asked and I'd like to know too...how did you catch on to this? How can we protect ourselves from this happening? What response have your recieved with your complaint? Were you able to locate the person behind this slimy behavior? (I feel like I'm working for 20/20!)
Thanks in advance for your responses and thanks for letting the homeschool blogging community know this was happening!

• Permanent Link

Posted by SteveWalden

Some folks have asked me how I found out about this. It's kind of simple actually.

In an attempt to get people to visit my blog (shameful behavior, I know), I registered with Technorati, a blog search engine. You can do it for free and it makes your entries stand out to people using Technorati. You can also add the search tools, as I have, to your template so that people can search your blog for what they want to find, like "bringing up boys" when you don't have a specific category. It's a tricky search feature though, and I'm thinking about taking it out.

One of the links Technorati offers is to search for blogs that link back to yours. I searched it and found "Teacher-relations.com". I found it, not because they had intentionally linked back to me, but because of their wholesale copying of my blog entries, a link I had included that pointed back to my blog showed up as a link from their site pointing back to me. Technorati just assumed that they were talking about me instead of stealing the words from my blog. I found the site, saw what they were doing and promptly flipped out.

When I climbed back into my chair, I did a whois and began my quest to uncover who is behind this infringement. We're still working because they registered their site with privacy blockers to hide their identity. I don't think it will be too difficult for law enforcement to track, but I hope I don't have to get them involved. The gloves come off on Tuesday.

• Permanent Link

Posted by SteveWalden

Chickadee asked, "how exactly do you copywrite your blog? is just typing in a copywrite enough?"

For the sake of clarity, there is a legitimate difference between copywrite and copyright. Homophones are so fun. Copywriting is a profession where a writer, who is usually poor, starving, and alone, hires out their services to a company to write copy for them. This can be form letters for direct mail advertising, ad copy for newspapers and catalogs, or other such services. The lucky and good ones get full-time employment so that they are no longer poor and starving.

To copyright your blog means to post a notice of copyright, as I have had at the bottom of my blog since early on. This does not mean that if you do not copyright your blog, any fool with a computer can steal your posts. According to Copyright.gov, an author (that's you) has copyright protection "from the time the work is created in fixed form." So, if you publish to the web, like you do in your blog, the moment you publish your post by clicking "Add New Entry," or whatever button you use to submit your entry, you own the copyright to that post and people must seek your permission to use it. Obvious exceptions exist, such as quoting and citing a published work. If I wanted to quote you from your blog, I could do it, but I would need to note the quotation and cite you as the author. If it's a large quotation, it's usually better just to link to that blog so that users can read the original work for themselves. This way, everyone has intellectual freedom while still protecting the words of the author from being stolen.

If you want to post a copyright, you have to be sure you aren't covering something you don't own the copyright for. For example, I don't exclusively own the copyright for the template I use or the copyright for "homeschoolblogger.com" so I can't claim it on my site. That's why I say "All blog entries..." It's specific, and it covers what I own outright.

That said, I'm not the final authority on copyrights. For more questions about copyright law, please visit Copyright.gov and their FAQ section.

• Permanent Link

Posted by takingthechallenge

Just wanted to thank you for answering the questions in your comment section! Very helpful! Sure hope you get this resolved and these thieves are caught and stopped!

• Permanent Link

Posted by RollsLife

I support your stand against this thieving "blog" website. I believe you will win in the end. Good luck!

• Permanent Link