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Copy cats are NOT cool

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I don’t normally like to use my blog as a platform to criticise others. But today I’m making an exception.

Angry, by Marco Veringa on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcoveringa/3243701953/

Angry, by Marco Veringa on Flickr


[edit 30 October 2009: Scroll to the end for an update]

There are many reasons why I have a blog, and gaining a good, strong Google ranking is just one of them. So I generally don’t mind being quoted anywhere (in fact, I positively encourage it) and I’m all for getting my work out through different channels. All in all, I’m a pretty reasonable person and I appreciate that copyright isn’t always straight-forward in an age of content sharing.

But I’ll admit that I was a bit taken aback when I saw a translation agency had copied an article of mine to their company blog last week, without so much as a credit or a by-your-leave. Or any kind of reference back to me or my blog, for that matter. I mean, I appreciated the sentiment of sharing “very educational” articles, but I couldn’t help but feel that their approach, combined with the spammy Google Adsense ads, detracted somewhat from this noble aim.

Elite Bilinguals' editorial policy

They *say* they give due credit - but I think a more polite approach would be to email authors for permission first. Taken from http://point-translations.blogspot.com on 29.10.09.

At first I just thought they must be naïve. I ran a quick check on the company, and they looked pretty bona fide in every other sense. Lacking an ethical compass, certainly, but maybe also just a little myopic in their over-eagerness to embrace social media. (Let’s face it, we can all get a little blinded by our own brilliance at times. Especially when we think we’re on to Something Special. Like a blog.)

So I thought maybe they were just too amateur an operation to fully appreciate copyright. Maybe they really thought they were doing me a favour by sharing my hard-won wisdom with their 26 subscribers*. Or maybe they genuinely believed I wouldn’t mind them making money off my content with their liberal sprinkling of Google Adsense ads. (Yes, that bit really hurt).

Either way, I figured they must be pretty misguided not to realise that Google blacklists sites with duplicate content. And whatever about my own ranking, surely there was no way they’d risk their own Google ranking too… right?

But because this last point is a deal-breaker for me, I took the time out of my day to email the agency in question, request that my content be removed and, while I was at it, offer them a few tips on how to properly syndicate content. I didn’t even bill them (because I’m good like that). The offending post was promptly removed and the oversight blamed on an errant employee. Fine – I was all set to move on. I like to pick my battles and frankly my life’s too short to worry about what other people are doing wrong.

But then, on Sunday, I see they’ve gone and done it again. This time, they’ve filched an article from Bab.la’s Lexiophiles. Not a single line of credit back to the source – no author name, no reference or link back to the original site, not even an article title. In fact, the article doesn’t even make sense here because it’s so out of context, it’s hard to figure out what it’s referring to until you’re half-way through.

Clip from the start of the offending article (taken 29.10.09):

Elite Bilingual Service's version of "due credit"

Is this what you call "due credit'? Taken from http://point-translations.blogspot.com/2009/10/corporate-blog-of-elite-professional.html. Article originally appeared at http://www.lexiophiles.com/language-blog-toplist/top-100-language-blogs-2009-how-and-why

And from the end (taken 29.10.09):

More due credit by Elite Bilingual Services

More due credit of the uncredited variety. Taken from http://point-translations.blogspot.com/2009/10/corporate-blog-of-elite-professional.html. Article originally appeared at http://www.lexiophiles.com/language-blog-toplist/top-100-language-blogs-2009-how-and-why

The part where I address the culprits directly

Come on, guys – I was on your side. I was fair, and I gave you a chance. But how ‘s a girl to keep her head stuck in the sand with this kind of carry on? The Lexiophiles team works hard to produce relevant, original content, and they deserve better than this.

It doesn’t matter how good the rest of your online brand appears now. I’m forced to view your entire blog as a completely unscrupulous attempt to drive as much traffic as possible back to your company website. Oh, and if you can make a quick buck off the backs of your fellow professionals in the process, then all the better. After all, your blog is hosted on a free blogspot platform and isn’t linked to your company domain. If your blog gets blacklisted by Google, you only need to open another free account somewhere else, right?

Not cool, guys. NOT cool.

Elite Bilingual Services claim to be Asia’s leading translation agency. And I’m sure they’re a nice bunch of people. Yet this kind of behaviour gives a bad name to all translation agencies, and further devalues the work of individual translators.

My request

If you, dear reader, also object to copying and pasting work without at least asking for permission, then please consider emailing marketing@elitebilingual.com and let them know what you think about their editorial policy. Maybe this is a chance to harness social media to effect some small measure of positive change on behalf of our profession. And let me know how you got on. (Good luck leaving a comment on their blog, my comments disappeared into the ether.)

A big thank you to readers Prini and Andy for raising this and for advocating on my behalf. This post is me paying it forward. [ed Apr 2010: comments left on original post since deleted in the interest of coherence]

* figure based on Google Reader statistics.

—-

UPDATE 30 October:

Shortly after this post appeared online, the company in question posted an apology on their blog. I’ve also received emails from 2 different employees, explaining the situation and apologising again.

Apology following copyright breaches

Apology. Taken from Taken from http://point-translations.blogspot.com/2009/10/we-are-really-sorry.html on 30 October 2009. See link for rest of post.

I must say, I’m impressed with their response. Furthermore, I’m happy to give them the time they’ve requested to review past posts, and I’ll follow their progress as they revamp. Why? Because we all mess up. It’s how we get ourselves out of such a situation and move forward that shows people what we’re made of. And who knows, this incident might gain the company an even loyaler following of readers. Have a good weekend all, and thank you for your comments.

Comments

  1. I am not in this business but was interested in what other problems independent freelance professionals in all walks of life have and what tools they have available to protect themselves when “attacked” by others looking for a “free ride” on the backs of “real” professionals.
    The word “Professional” is too loose a word for some and obviously people that abuse this “professional” title unprofessionally should be fully exposed at all costs.
    I commend your professionalism and patience used in dealing with this abuse of copyright as stated.
    It is very obvious that you have well earned the title “Professional” in more ways than one and can only hope that this is noted and that others can and do learn from it.

  2. Thanks for the link, Sarah. Note the DMCA is just a local (i.e. US) copyright law though – so not much good if I’m living in Australia and the breach was in Singapore!

    All countries who are signatories to international copyright treaties have their own versions of the DMCA. However my trying to implement these in this particular case was never going to be practical, achievable or effective – which is why I felt I had to take the actions that I did.

    Glad it’s all sorted out now!

  4. I couldn’t agree more, Sarah. You work very hard on your content and every y fellow professional surely understands the need for due credit. Kudos to you for fighting back! I actually ask for reprint permission of my OWN articles that have appeared in print (ATA Chronicle, etc) if I want to publish them elsewhere (for instance, my blog). It’s the correct and ethical way to do it. Agreed: copy cats are so not cool. They can write their own content.

  6. Thanks for commenting, @mj, @Sara, @Jill and @Martyn. It strikes me how many other translators have found themselves in a similar position at various stages – and that’s just the cases we find out about. Possibly the tip of a very big iceberg… wow.

    @Christine enacting copyright infringement across borders is indeed a bit of a joke for the average individual and/or small business owner. I expect that will change in the future as our legal institutions catch up with an increasingly globalised world. It’s partly why I decided to write this post in the first place – I felt it was the most effective way for me to address the issue and hopefully, give it an airing in the process.

    @Céline believe me, I looked long and hard at the rest of the content but couldn’t quite work out whether imitation was really flattery in this case 🙂 (And by long and hard, I mean all of 5 seconds)

    @Olivia good point – transparency is like the new currency in a globalised village, and their public apology is indeed courageous. From a business point of view though I think it’s also a smart form of damage control, with the potential to actually enhance their public image… It’ll be interesting to see how they manage things from here. An interesting case, all in all.

  7. Sarah, haven’t posted on here before, but just wanted to add to the ‘well done’ messages. This has happened to me in the past too, and it is extremely irritating.

  9. Sarah, good for you for not letting this go unnoticed. This actually happened to me about 2 years ago. I was recontacted by a translation agency I had not worked for in a couple of years. When I went onto their website to see if they were still who they said they were, at same address, etc. I noticed that *entire pages* of the content of their flashy new website looked really familiar. Not surprising seeing as the content had been lifted *directly from my website* (an old version no longer on line). When I phoned the manager to take the issue up with her, she said “oh, well, everyone says the same thing on their website anyway” (I reminded her that I had paid a professional French copywriter for the copy and that there’s a little thing called copyright involved…). After a cease-and-desist letter, she removed the plagiarized content and blamed it on the summer intern. Classic!!

  10. I agree with you Sarah. Plaigiarism is a serious issue, and it should not be brushed off lightly. If this company thought that lifting others’ work would be a clever way to make a fast buck, then their plan backfired. The company is doing its professional image no favours: their use of a free blog host shows a lack of belief in investing in their work, and lifting articles has resulted in a mish-mash of styles and registers in their blog posts, which instantly looks unprofessional too. The public apology is a courageous move on their part. It will clearly further mar their corporate image, but then, you can’t expect to come out on top if you practice such underhand tactics.

    The global aspect of the internet may make it appear anonymous, which may encourage people to act dishonestly. But in fact, the translation community is like a small village. We all watch out for each other, we can all contact each other easily via e-mail, and so unscrupulous behaviour will not go by unnoticed.

  11. I can’t believe it. They didn’t take anything from my blog! Sob.

    Seriously, well done for reacting the way you did. I went on their blog and they’ve published a post on this issue – they sound genuinely sorry and it looks like it won’t happen again. Congrats!

  12. It seems to be their marketing strategy to get people to their website by copying everything they find on the Internet that is related to translation. They copied one of my articles too, not from my blog, but from the Translation Journal, an article from 2006 with information that is now partly outdated. I found it by pure chance and requested that they either remove it or give me credit for it. So at least they added my name and a link to my website. I am afraid there is not much you can do against copyright infringement on the Internet, especially when the culprit is located in another country as you would have to sue them in their country and under their legislation. Maybe if enough people complain to them, they eventually give up.