Using My Content w/o Permission

So in this age of the Internet, it’s pretty easy to take other people’s content and use them on other websites, forums, etc. As my blog and articles on other sites gain popularity, I’m finding that there are those who are unfairly plagiarizing my work by taking original content word for word without mentioning my name, where the content is originally from or linking back. This is not okay.

I’m more than happy to share my information with others for free. However, I do ask that if you can’t paraphrase my content and need to use it verbatim, at least have the professional courtesy of asking my permission or letting me know who you are and where you want to use my stuff. If you’re going to use content from my blog, please link back, mention my name and who I am or at least mention the name of my blog.

I am also a writer for eHow.com and do a lot of articles related to the modeling industry. I recently got an email from a website designer who was interested in using my articles for his site and mentioned that he has already used two of them. Well, he took the entire articles from eHow, which is illegal. So eHow will be tracking him down and depending on his response, legal actions may take place. Even though he said he would link back to my own sites and promote me, the original article was first published on eHow so they should get the proper credit and not my blog or other websites (hope that makes sense? Besides, when they give eHow credit, I am automatically included so it isn’t like I’m being left out).

Please note: in order to use my eHow article content, please link back to the original URL if you are going to use it in its entirety or mention my name and that the content is from eHow if you don’t use the whole article (it’s not hard to do, plus do you really want the eHow attorneys after you?).

It’s impossible to police the entire Internet to find those who use my articles without permission but if I can at least put this message out there, maybe a few people will actually heed my words and take the proper steps to use my content with permission. Or at the very least, write your own dang stuff, this isn’t rocket science!

If any of my readers out there finds my work being used without permission, please shoot me an email (don’t leave a comment on my blog) and let me know the URL and I will investigate. Please do not contact that person yourself. Thanks!