Plagiarist/Mirror Site?

[bashfullyshameless]

Heya,

So I did a search on Google for my own story title and came up with hits off this site here:

http://orz8.appspot.com/cms/cms/show_article/1776001.html

Which, of course, doesn't credit me as the author.

Does this stuff happen a lot? I saw quite a few other titles there that I recognized from Literotica. Any recourse here? Anything to be done? Or is this just the way it goes on the Internet?

 

[Weird Harold]

Heya,

So I did a search on Google for my own story title and came up with hits off this site here:

http://orz8.appspot.com/cms/cms/show_article/1776001.html

Which, of course, doesn't credit me as the author.

Does this stuff happen a lot? I saw quite a few other titles there that I recognized from Literotica. Any recourse here? Anything to be done? Or is this just the way it goes on the Internet?

PM Laurel with the particulars of your story and the site you found it on. It does happen quite often, but Literotica is very good about generating cease and desist orders for copyright violations.

 

[Manu]

Thank you for the reply, Harold! Yes, we have been fighting with this site for a while now. The problem is that Google wants a DMCA notice for each story that is copied, but they post more stories every day, so it's very difficult to deal with.

But, we have another idea that we would like to get help with. It turns out that Google App Engine does not allow adult content. If you look on their TOS here:
http://code.google.com/appengine/program_policies.html

It says the following:

Prohibited Content: Pornographic, obscene or excessively profane content

If we can get enough people to let Google know that this site contains adult content on a hosting service that was not intended for adult content, then hopefully they will remove it based on that violation, even if they don't seem to want to remove it based on copyright violations.

Here is the form to file a complaint about the adult content (and/or copyright theft):
http://code.google.com/support/bin/request.py?contact_type=AppEngineContact

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to file a report.

 

[TxRad]

Thank you for the reply, Harold! Yes, we have been fighting with this site for a while now. The problem is that Google wants a DMCA notice for each story that is copied, but they post more stories every day, so it's very difficult to deal with.

But, we have another idea that we would like to get help with. It turns out that Google App Engine does not allow adult content. If you look on their TOS here:
http://code.google.com/appengine/program_policies.html

It says the following:

Prohibited Content: Pornographic, obscene or excessively profane content

If we can get enough people to let Google know that this site contains adult content on a hosting service that was not intended for adult content, then hopefully they will remove it based on that violation, even if they don't seem to want to remove it based on copyright violations.

Here is the form to file a complaint about the adult content (and/or copyright theft):
http://code.google.com/support/bin/request.py?contact_type=AppEngineContact

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to file a report.

From some of the titles it seems they also have underage sex and snuff stories. Another angle to explore.

 

[R. Richard]

Manu:
I sent them a little message:

It appears that appspot.com is plagiarising stories from other sites and also using underage sex. Underage sex is against the law. Perhaps I could speak with your legal staff?

(If they ask me for specifics, I just point out to them that reading underage sex stories is also against the law and I must politely decline to incriminate myself. The people who provide the Internet service don't have to worry too much about legal issues. Their legal staff are licensed lawyers and they have to worry.)

 

[OnnaDare]

Hahaha - they got me, too. Should I be flattered?

But the funny part? Their plagarized story of mine is only the first page from my Lit submission, so - NO SEX WHATSOEVER! That doesn't happen until pages 2,3, and 4. My only hope is that anyone who reads it gets pissed and leaves the site. Serves them right - LOL.

"Bill Tom" is a stupid fuck!

Onna

 

[Manu]

Manu:
I sent them a little message:

It appears that appspot.com is plagiarising stories from other sites and also using underage sex. Underage sex is against the law. Perhaps I could speak with your legal staff?

(If they ask me for specifics, I just point out to them that reading underage sex stories is also against the law and I must politely decline to incriminate myself. The people who provide the Internet service don't have to worry too much about legal issues. Their legal staff are licensed lawyers and they have to worry.)

You would think that Google would check the messages to the "Report" form that they have on the site. And you would think that underage stuff would be of concern to them when they specifically ban even "excessively profane content" from that hosting service. But, I haven't seen any reply from them yet. Hopefully, if more people complain, they will eventually look into the situation and fix it once and for all.

 

[sr71plt]

You would think that Google would check the messages to the "Report" form that they have on the site. And you would think that underage stuff would be of concern to them when they specifically ban even "excessively profane content" from that hosting service. But, I haven't seen any reply from them yet. Hopefully, if more people complain, they will eventually look into the situation and fix it once and for all.

Well, you'd think Literotica would respond to reports of copyrighted material reposted to its forum--and uniformly delete the material--but it doesn't. So, there you go. (I think the examples are identical).

 

[oggbashan]

My report on Getting Nude With Chairman Mao hasn't produced a response from Google. It is posted as being someone else's work yet they copied my copyright notice.

Og

 

[R. Richard]

Quote:
Originally Posted by R. Richard
Manu:
I sent them a little message:

It appears that appspot.com is plagiarising stories from other sites and also using underage sex. Underage sex is against the law. Perhaps I could speak with your legal staff?

(If they ask me for specifics, I just point out to them that reading underage sex stories is also against the law and I must politely decline to incriminate myself. The people who provide the Internet service don't have to worry too much about legal issues. Their legal staff are licensed lawyers and they have to worry.)

You would think that Google would check the messages to the "Report" form that they have on the site. And you would think that underage stuff would be of concern to them when they specifically ban even "excessively profane content" from that hosting service. But, I haven't seen any reply from them yet. Hopefully, if more people complain, they will eventually look into the situation and fix it once and for all.

Getting Literotica people involved was my hope. C'mon people, step up!

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Quote:
Originally Posted by R. Richard
Manu:
I sent them a little message:

It appears that appspot.com is plagiarising stories from other sites and also using underage sex. Underage sex is against the law. Perhaps I could speak with your legal staff?

(If they ask me for specifics, I just point out to them that reading underage sex stories is also against the law and I must politely decline to incriminate myself. The people who provide the Internet service don't have to worry too much about legal issues. Their legal staff are licensed lawyers and they have to worry.)




Getting Literotica people involved was my hope. C'mon people, step up!

I already did, twice...no response.

I would guess that unless it hurts Googles bottom line they won't care as long as the payment for the service comes rolling in on time.

 

[_Lynn_]

Quote:
Originally Posted by R. Richard
Manu:
I sent them a little message:

It appears that appspot.com is plagiarising stories from other sites and also using underage sex. Underage sex is against the law. Perhaps I could speak with your legal staff?

(If they ask me for specifics, I just point out to them that reading underage sex stories is also against the law and I must politely decline to incriminate myself. The people who provide the Internet service don't have to worry too much about legal issues. Their legal staff are licensed lawyers and they have to worry.)




Getting Literotica people involved was my hope. C'mon people, step up!

I sent a message after reading Manu's post in the other thread about this. No response.

 

[oggbashan]

The site provides for comments.

I have added comments to all the stories I've found so far that this story has been stolen from me.

Og

 

[TE999]

They have one of my stories. How annoying. They've even included the salutation to my readers. I'll file a complaint as well.

 

[R. Richard]

I sent a message, which message will be read by some underling who will probably discard it. The next step will be for me to send a letter to Google.

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

The letter will be read by someone who will probably notify corporate. If not, the next step is to talk with the CA Attorney General.

 

[bacon3k]

Wow, they're bold. Here's one that even states the contribution was for Literotica!

http://orz8.appspot.com/cms/cms/show_article/1811028.html

 

[R. Richard]

I just posted in the Google site:

It appears that Google hosted appspot.com is plagiarising stories from other sites and also using underage sex. Underage sex is against the law. Perhaps I could speak with the Google legal staff?

(Reading underage sex stories is also against the law and I must politely decline to incriminate myself. I'm a Literotica author and I'm mad as hell.)

 

[sr71plt]

We go over and over this. The Internet is too amorphous to control. You're not getting attention because you are messaging to mechanical bots. The offending Web site doesn't care what it has on its Web site as long as advertisers will support it. This is going to continue to happen. And it's sort of amusing that this Web site, Literotica , which doesn't police its own copyright responsibilities, tries to go after another Web site for doing the same thing.

You've already given your stories away on a free-use site. If you want to keep your work from spreading elsewhere, just don't put it on a free-use Web site.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Just received a response from the app-engine support staff...they must be in India...

Greetings!

Thanks for writing us. We are in understanding of your current concerns and investigated the application which you have described in your ticket. Please be aware that we support copyright owners to the full extent, however resolution of such issues require legal involvement. We cannot act on inquiries like yours with regards to copyright violations without a well-formed DMCA take-down request.

If, given the above, you still believe that this app is infringing on your rights, please see this web page for more information on filing an appropriate DMCA take-down request: http://google.com/code_dmca.html (Google Code, including App Engine). In other words, we can't do anything unless we hear back from the legal team once they've received your request.

Note: if your request is about copyright issues for Google search instead, use this link: http://www.google.com/dmca.html

Best regards,
-App Engine support team

as you can see by the phrasing of the email.

Here is what I sent back...

Dear Sir,

You seemed to have missed the point to my writing you. I opened the ticket not as a complaint about any copyright infringement, but to bring to your attention the placement of child pornography on that site.

But if you don't care about the pornographic nature of the content of the site residing on your servers, servers which you would be legally responsible for, then I will just forward the information I have to the offices of the FBI.

Not only is that site in violation of copyright law, it is also in violation of all covenants of your use policy. I do hope that the corporate officers have this brought to their attention prior to the FBI appearing at their doors.

I will state again this is not in reference to a copyright infringement, but a violation of your policies. But, I would hazard a guess that as long as payment is received for use you just don't give a crap. Too bad.

Now where did I put that number to the local FBI office.

Will have to wait and see what their response is.

 

[R. Richard]

Just received a response from the app-engine support staff...they must be in India...

as you can see by the phrasing of the email.

Here is what I sent back...

Will have to wait and see what their response is.

Zeb:
I sent pretty much the same message and got back the same response. I didn't reference the FBI (good move!) but I did suggest that they talk with their legal staff about conspiracy.

 

[sr71plt]

If they are in India they couldn't care less about the FBI or U.S. copyright law.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

The site has my stories too, with an imaginary author. It has a leave a comment feature that doesn't really work; it tells you to install "simplified Chinese" to post your comment. Not just plagiarism, but insult as well. So much for the internet.

 

[CharleyH]

Heya,

So I did a search on Google for my own story title and came up with hits off this site here:

http://orz8.appspot.com/cms/cms/show_article/1776001.html

Which, of course, doesn't credit me as the author.

Does this stuff happen a lot? I saw quite a few other titles there that I recognized from Literotica. Any recourse here? Anything to be done? Or is this just the way it goes on the Internet?

Yes, this stuff happens a lot. My advice - learn to deal with it on your own. Laurel will help you, sure, but my advice: learn to deal with it on your own. There is no better challenge for a writer than fighting for the right on ownership of their own stories! Seriously, if you go to Laurel, you miss the opportunity to learn how to deal with people who plagiarize you. Laurel can only help for so long.

 

[sr71plt]

Obama's move wasn't "bold" at all. He's a centrist, gang. His half-hearted approach to issues such as this lost the folks who backed him to begin with without winning him new support anywhere.

Those who think that the answer to any of our problems is just to say "no" to doing anything are idiots.

I particularly liked an interview I read in my newspaper today on the recent election where a guy says he voted against my Democratic representative in the congressional elections because he wasn't getting the job and unemployment benefits he needed. The idiot thinks the Republicans are going to give him a job and/or extend his unemployment benefits--let alone, per the topic of this thread, inprove his health care aspect?

 

[Zeb_Carter]

If they are in India they couldn't care less about the FBI or U.S. copyright law.

I don't think the servers are in India, just the idiot that answered my complaint ticket. It just maybe time to bring this to the attention of the corporate offices of Google.