Who’s ready for some drama? Not just the geeky dental drama you’re used to, but also the blogging, copyrighting, Facebook kind of drama?
If you’ve spent any time on my blog, you’ve probably noticed that I like to be pretty open about what’s going on. I recently discovered that someone was using one of my posts on Facebook without my permission.
First, my awesome, loyal readers alerted me. I received 4 messages in one day. Have I mentioned how grateful I am to you? Well, I am; and for reasons that go far beyond this, so thank you! Anyway, I found this: 
When I first found it, the likes and shares were around 3000 and 5000 and rapidly growing. This made me panic. My blog was going viral on Facebook, and there was NO link to my blog at all. Time was of the essence, and I needed to act quickly. I contacted them, and they eventually added a link, HIDDEN at the bottom after all of their other links to their own sites (some of which have since been removed.) However, this was not good enough and not what I had requested.
Then the following conversation ensued:
Before I start, note that the only changes I made were removing Facebook links, names, and profile photos. Oh, and my smart-ass comments in red were just added now.
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- Conversation started Saturday
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4:18 pmMe:
Please change your 10 Reasons Your Dentist Probably Hates You Too post to say the following, or remove it. You have stolen my intellectual property and benefited with over 10,000 hits to your page using my content.
If you choose not to change it or delete it, I will report it to Facebook as a violation of the copyright rules.
Thank you.
if you want to post the first 3 reasons on your page, that is fine, but at the end of that, there should be a link back to my blog that says “more…” It can look like this:
1. The first thing you say when you sit down in my chair is, “I hate the dentist.” Really?!? Did your parents teach you any manners? Did they ever teach you that it is impolite to tell someone you hate them the moment you greet them? What I really want to say back is, “aww, I hate you too.”
2. You come to your appointment, and it’s obvious you haven’t brushed your teeth in days. I’ve had some people with great hygiene come in and apologize because they’ve just eaten lunch and couldn’t brush. This is not what I’m talking about. I mean food and thick plaque everywhere. After 10 years of seeing blood and rotten teeth and some really nasty things, this is still the 1 thing that makes me dry heave. You know when you come to us that we have to be in your mouth. Would you clean your home before having company? Additionally, I have spent hours literally bending over backwards repairing your teeth. Could you at least pretend that you are caring for the work that I have struggled to complete for you?
3. After we have spent hours of meticulously repairing your teeth, you complain about the bill. Would you walk out of the grocery store with a bag full of groceries and expect not to pay? I’ve just helped you to continue to smile and eat comfortably, two pretty valuable things that help your quality of life.
Read more at http://lolabees.me/2011/11/28/10-reasons-your-dentist-probably-hates-you-too/
I don’t mind if you add your own links to the bottom in addition. This way you can generate traffic to your page, but also generate the proper traffic that my blog deserves from it. Thanks!
Lolabees Pretty clear instructions, right? And I think I was being generous here.
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Them:
hi…Dont forget tht you are talking to group of doctors .we have not stolen it .we got it from other sources.If You want us to update that source we can do it.we attributed your source becoz some doctor referred it and we felt it as genuine. Eek. Where do I begin here? A group of doctors? Soooo… what? Do you have some special power, or influence, or intelligence? Should I have addressed you with more respect?
also we are running paid campaigns.we are not getting traffic just becoz of one post.
when you come online plz reply.
also we are least bothered abt the traffic from this post as it from US
our target is only Bangalore, India. I’m relieved to see you are least bothered by this traffic. Then why haven’t you taken it down or sent the traffic to my site?
the way you are approaching is as if you are threatening us.plz dont behave like that.being a writer try to gain as many fans as possible Really? You are playing that card? Now I’m getting a lesson on behavior from you?
If this work is genuinly done by you , hatts off to u
we appreciate tht *Blush* Are you trying to flatter me?
but we need solid reference saying tht it was first written by u
becoz there are hell lot of sources claiming as theirs
and if everyone starts messaging like this i have to redirect to so many blogs What!?!? Should I highlight this? Did you just say “are hell (I think you mean whole???) lot of sources claiming as theirs and if everyone starts messaging like this i have to redirect to so many blog”? Did you just admit that you have so many other blogs that you should be redirecting to, or in other words crediting for the content you use? Besides, if you don’t trust that I am the source, why did you agree to put a link at the end of it? You are a group of doctors, right?
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Them:
and almost all sources have mentioned all points without any reference to your work as you have said.atleast I have given attribution at the end …becoz being docs we know the importance of copyrights and most importantly we have ethics.So think twice before addressing anyone as if they have stolen the content Oh, this again? This is like the cheating spouse who gets mad at the other for even suspecting they are cheating! I’m glad you feel you did the right thing by “at least” hiding my link on “your” post where no one can see on it. Again, why did you do that when you still have no proof it is mine? But you are a group of docs, right? Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me of that again.
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Them:
we all discussed and come to a conclusion tht if you can give us genuine resource saying tht its written by you we will remove this post.because tomorrow it shd not be a problem to us from others if they too claim it as theirs . Wow, aren’t you thoughtful! (Readers, they never removed the post.) Tomorrow it shd not… huh? What? I don’t understand. Regardless, I’m sure people are lining up to claim this post as their own. Um… you are a group of doctors, right?
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Me
Hi, I do appreciate a reply. I am unclear the relevance of the fact that you are a group of doctors. Could you please clarify?
You did not ask me for permission to use the content. I apologize that my initial correspondence with you has been aggressive in tone, but I addressed you that way because I had already told one of your doctors specifically how I would allow you to use my content as I have done with my initial message to you. She did NOT follow my instructions (and I feel I have been very generous in allowing you to use the content up until now.) It is unclear to me how she was able to add the link, but had to check with admin to change it any further. This seemed suspicious to me, and she told me to contact you directly. So, yes, I was upset about it by that point and directed my anger at you.
With that said, the truth remains, that this is my content, and you are using it in a way that I did not approve.
As of yesterday, you had over 8000 shares of my post and over 3500 likes. That adds up to 11,500. This is over 10,000 hits to your page just for this post alone. You may have many more hits from your other sources, but these are all hits that should have been directed to my blog. My blog is international, not just in the US, so this does matter to me. I have had 4 different followers of mine report this to me, and they are not just in India.
Like I said in the first message, I am more than happy to share my content if you share it as outlined in the first message I sent you. I think this is very generous on my part. I am not satisfied with a link at the end that is followed by your other links that is not very visible.
You must be very careful with using content online. I do believe that most people who cut and paste content do not realize they are stealing content. Perhaps this post I wrote will enlighten you. I have already linked you to the original site. I don’t know how else I can prove to you that this is my content. Now, you might read this recent post of mine and please do what’s right and prove to me that you haven’t stolen my content, but instead have made an innocent mistake.
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Them:
hmm gud one…infact we have done more research than this including fb
infringement protection…many page owners and bloggers try to divert traffic from other fb pages by imitating as owners of the content.also we contacted fb regarding this .they said we have to follow the genuine owner’s rules if its proven that the original source is genuinely from the same user .so i am asking you for the proper source or article with your name or registered website attached to it.if possible let us know if your work has been published in any media/pubmed/newspapers/tv channels/reliable websites with reference to your website.anything which is reliable. Why do I have to prove myself, when it is YOUR responsibility to check your sources? You’re a group of doctors, right? So you should be good at research, and while you’re busy researching ways you can try to make yourself look like the victim, you should also research the source of this post. And, yeah, I’ve actually targeted your site because it’s so original that I’m trying to divert traffic from your page to mine. Hmm, hello pot. My name is kettle. Quit stalling already.
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Them:
we just now paused the sponsored ad.now u can see the no of shares declining 🙁 Is 1000 new shares in 1 day a decrease? You are a group of doctors, right? Again, how kind of you. But, seriously? Do you actually expect me to feel sorry for you that your shares are “declining”? And did you actually have the nerve to frown-face-icon me about this?
we can highlight the source till you give us a genuine resource by mentioning on top of the description.we dont want to feel guilty later if it truly belongs to you (Readers, they never did this. I guess “can” doesn’t necessarily mean “will.”) Oh, I would never want you to feel guilty either. Guilt is not a good feeling.
is that fine till then I think that’s a question. An empty one at that, but I still think it’s a question. Didn’t they say they were a group of doctors Yeah, that was a question too.
We will mention it as originally posted on your website (with a link)/hypertext .
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Them:
also we will help bust the ones which are using u r content on the net and fb .because we have huge database of dentists . if u r interested u can work with us.also we can work on something which can mutually benefit us on the internet. Bahahaha! This just keeps getting better! Not only do you want to partner up, but you’re also going to bust the 9000+ (probably innocent) people who shared the content from YOU? Besides, I’m not sure I like your definition of “mutually benefit”. Wait, are you trying to distract me? I thought you said the content wasn’t mine.
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Me:
Let’s start here. Note that these posts were written in 2011– almost 2 years ago. You will not find another source. By now, I knew we were going nowhere. I was just hoping maybe somehow I could appeal to these people who are in the business of taking care of people.
http://lolabees.me/2011/11/28/10-reasons-your-dentist-probably-hates-you-too/
http://taoofdentistry.com/blog/10-reasons-why-my-patients-love-me/
http://bizzytoothmommy.com/5-hot-posts-you-need-to-read/
http://mclaughlinjoy.com/2011/12/10-reasons-you-dentist-probably-hates-you-too/
http://dumbfunnery.com/2011/12/02/dental-equivalent-of-cramming/
https://www.speareducation.com/spear-review/2011/12/you%E2%80%99ve-got-to-love-it/
Do you want more proof? 😉 I had to wink-face-icon them back. That was supposed to imply sarcasm.
No more responses from them.
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Me:
Thank you for trying to cooperate with this matter. I am willing to reach an agreement, but until then you said you would “highlight the source till you give us a genuine resource by mentioning on top of the description.we dont want to feel guilty later if it truly belongs to you.” That has not been done.
Shares are still rising rapidly, and the more they rise, the more damage done to my site.
Thanks
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Them:
I am in favor of circumstances that are mutually beneficial and am open to that, but please know that as it is right now, this is very beneficial to you, and very detrimental to me.
That last message to them was Sunday morning. At this point, my hands were tied. On Monday morning I had enough sense to get some screen shots, so I could at least have some fun with the situation. I’m guessing the Facebook copyright team doesn’t work over the weekend. At 11:50 a.m. Monday I finally received notification from Facebook thanking me and informing me that the post had been removed. An hour later, I received this message:
Them:
hi…! hope we will benefit mutually !we have verified your links.if you are interested we can share it .but u need to take your infringement report back.we don’t wanna argue with fb about it by submitting a DMCA report.because its a black mark to our page. Um! I’m! Speechless! Yes, I owe you so much gratitude for finally verifying my links! You are a group of doctors, right? I’m sure you did such thorough research that it took 2 whole days to complete. Thank you for slaving away at this over the weekend. I hope we can benefit mutually too! Wait, are you threatening me now?
Them:
anyway u spoilt your own traffic to your blog.u just hurried up without waiting for our reply.all the best with your work.gud night Oh no! What am I going to do?!?! Will anyone read my blog now that I can’t partner up with such a power player? I’m worried. I might have to quit blogging because now no one will read. Did you say you are a group of doctors?
And that was it.
Aaahhh… I feel much better now.
I was never too terribly worried about copyright infringement until I started seeing how rampant this problem is. I continue to learn more everyday, and this experience alone offered me a lifetime of lessons. But all snarkiness (is that a word??) aside, those of us who produce commentary, stories, art, photos, etc,. work hard at what we do. Please respect our intellectual property rights. If you see the share buttons below, use them. If you want to use the content in a different way, just ask the author. You may be surprised by how generous they will be.
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