Putting Our Heads Together: Blogs

People who blog about Migraine disease and headaches are some of my favorite people. There are some superlative blogs out there that offer readers information, support, and hope.

Sadly, there are also others out there that irritate the daylights out of me. Why? Because they're put up by (I can't and won't say "written by.") people who can't be bothered to write their own content. Instead, they steal content from other blogs or Web sites. I've come across yet another of those who's owner is ripping off articles Nancy and I have written on MyMigraineConnection. Mind you, these articles all have copyright notices on them. This person just seems not to care. This blog is called "Migraine Mastery." It's published on Blogspot, which is owned by Google.

I'd love to give this person the benefit of the doubt and email them about this issue, but I can't. Nobody can email them because they've not put a profile on their blog, or an email address, or even their name. They also don't allow comments to their entries. So, there's just now way to contact them.

Google owns Blogspot, and I could contact them. I could fill out all their forms and snail mail or fax them, but their copyright infringement complaint system is complicated and time-consuming. I suspect they do that deliberately to discourage people from filing reports.

What I'm going to do about this is something I haven't yet decided. For now, I'm sad. Sad, frustrated, and yes, ticked off. Here are the URLs for the articles Nancy and I wrote and they ripped off:

Migraines Often Tirggered By Chane In the Weather
Famous Migraineurs - Terrell Davis (written by Nancy Bonk)
Trileptal Fails Test for Migraine Prevention
Medication Overuse Headache - When the Remedy Backfires
Cluster Headaches - The Basics
Chronic Daily Headaches - The Basics
Acephalgic or Silent Migraine - The Basics
Abdominal Migraine - The Basics
Ice Pick Headaches - The Basics
more...

Some of these articles have been republished on "Migraine Mastery," without permission, in their entirety. Others have been excerpted. They do say "For more information visit healthcentral.com, but that doesn't excuse using the content without permission. If a blogger likes an article they read elsewhere, there is a legal and respectful way to share it with their readers. They can excerpt a paragraph or two of the article and provide a link to the full article for people who want to read the rest.

You know, in one way, maybe I shouldn't be bothered by this. After all, it may be getting information to more people. Still, Nancy and I spend a great deal of time researching and writing our articles. The HealthCentral Network helps many people, but they have a business to run. When people republish our articles elsewhere, it may be taking traffic away from the THCN, and we must have traffic there to stay in business.

The bottom line is that his is wrong and disrespectful. It's stealing our work. I wonder how bloggers who do this would feel if someone were using their work this way.

I love my work -- love learning and sharing what I've learned so other people have better information for their struggle with Migraine disease and headaches.

Something I don't love, however, is having my work ripped off. Unfortunately, that's been happening more and more. The most recent culprit is whoever does the Blogspot blog "Migraine Treatment and Symptoms." I came across this blog through a Google Blog Alert on an article entitled "Abdominal Migraine What Is It?" That caught my attention because it's the title of an article that I originally wrote and published on About.com. The same article is now among my published articles on MyMigraineConnection.

This blogger doesn't have a profile on the blog, so there's no way to email or send them a message. So, I posted a comment to the blog asking that they contact me about the article. They didn't. They DID delete the comment AND close the blog to comments. They also published another of my articles, even giving the URL to the article.

It's possible that this person doesn't understand copyright law, but if that's the case, why delete my comment and close the blog to comments? I left my name. Copyright law does NOT say that it's legal to copy and republish an entire article. That is NOT "fair use." Fair use would have been copying and republishing a small portion of the article and providing a link for those readers who wished to read the rest. Posting the original URL or even the person's name doesn't make things legal either.

Obviously, this person likes my articles, or they wouldn't be copying them. If you like someone's work, don't you owe them some respect? It's hardly respectful to copy someone's work. If people don't visit my web sites, I won't have a job. Copying the full article is not only stealing my work, it means fewer people will come to my sites.

Google, who owns Blogspot makes it very difficult to report copyright violations. There's a long list of information that you must provide them with -- via snail mail or fax. They also say that anyone filing a copyright violation report that doesn't pan out will have to pay costs. Well, I'm going to take the time to do their onerous paper work because it's my work that's being stolen.

If you see something on my site or someone else's that you like and want to share, please be respectful and law abiding. Copy and paste only the first couple of paragraphs and provide your readers with a link to the original article. You'll be doing me and other writers a huge service.