Okay. I now realize that this is the fourth article I have published about the HubPages writing platform on my channel here. Some of you who may be my followers are probably wondering when I'm going to publish another one of those juicy, controversial articles that I have been doing so over the course of the past three and a half years. Well, I've been spending a great amount of time on HubPages, trying to get to posting my 100th article there. LOL! I'll probably make it to my 100th article here on the Hive writing platform before I do so on my HubPages channel when you consider how I've been posting one HubPages-related article right after another here on my Hive-Blog channel.
There is a great number of people making a living in posting articles on HubPages. I want to be one of them, but there is so much to plow through that I feel exhausted every time I publish an article on that writing platform. At the same time, I don't regret for even one minute that I joined that writing platform back in 2016, and I would be really happy if any of you Hiverians were to decide to join it too based upon what I have told you so far and what I will be telling you.
Now, don't get the title of my article wrong. I have encountered frequent copyright violations in which people have plagiarized my writing from my HubPages channel. However, none of those culprits were actual Hubbers (members of HubPages). They were all on other websites; and whenever I have discovered something of mine that they have plagiarized or copied verbatim, I have usually found articles on those same websites that they have stolen from other Hubbers. It gets me agitated every time that something like this happens, but here is how I deal with it.
1. Dealing With Copyright Violations On HubPages Or Anywhere On The Internet Is A Ball And Chain
Any time any of us find out that someone has illegally copied our writing, most of us wish that Interpol (the International Police) would grab all these copycat scoundrels and lock them all up in some Third World prison that bears a strong resemblance to the one in the movie titled Papillon. After Interpol locks them all up, they can throw away the key too. There is only so much of this nonsense that one can take. Well, Interpol may not come to our rescue in that event. However, there is something that you can do about this problem.
First, you have to contact the person who stole your article or prose and politely ask them to taken down their illegal copy of it from their website. You submit to them what is called a formal Digital Millennial Copyright Act complaint. It would also be a good idea to compose this same complaint in a formal format. Otherwise, it will likely be ignored. Then again, usually these scoundrels ignore most such complaints, but the fact that you made the effort demonstrates that you have the right to take the matter to the next level.
Now comes the fun part. That is, reporting it to Google. Google cannot remove the plagiarized or stolen article of yours from the Internet, unless, of course, it is on a website that belongs to them. However, they can arrange so that the stolen article does not appear in any search engine results so long as you do everything the right way. You can watch a video below that explains how this process works with Google.
How You Report Content For Legal Reasons
Now, here is where it gets a little tricky. You have to report each and every URL to Google where your stolen article or prose appears on the culprit's website and where there are thumbnails of your stolen article or prose on the culprit's website. The culprit could even go as far as providing a link to your stolen article or prose on a social media site. In that event, it may or may not be findable through the Advanced Google Search.
Nevertheless, once Google removes all of the culprit's URLs that you requested, your main goal is to ensure that there are still no search results that come up whenever you Google the article or other prose that the culprit stole from you. He or she may also place thumbnails or other types of links elsewhere on the Internet to make the stolen article or prose accessible through the Google search engine. However, bear in mind that the culprit is going to feel discouraged to continue plagiarizing your writing after he or she realizes that your actions are significantly reducing the amount of traffic that they are receiving on their website.
There will eventually be one point where the culprit will not want to mess with you anymore, because he or she will know that you mean business after you take so many actions against him or her through Google in the way I described above. It may be a load of work, but you will be glad that you did so inasmuch as it will keep others from robbing you of the commission that you so deserve from your articles. Also, keep in mind that, unlike on the Hive writing platform, articles on HubPages continue to earn commissions indefinitely so long as there are advertisements on them.
2. Notifying Other Hubbers About Their Plagiarized Work And Stolen Articles Can Draw Followers To Your HubPages Channel
Whenever you spot an article on the Internet that has been stolen from another Hubber and you notify that Hubber about it, he or she may be so grateful that you did so that you'll likely pick up a few new followers here and there. Additional followers on your HubPages channel equals additional people who read your articles and may click on the advertisements on those same articles. Voilà! You get more commission than before.
Interacting with other Hubbers and engaging on the HubPages writing platform are just as important as doing likewise here on the Hive platform. Letting other Hubbers know that you care about protecting the HubPages community from copyright violations is a good way to make friends on that writing platform and to gain additional followers. Eventually, you may receive notifications from other Hubbers that someone has stolen your article or prose and you will appreciate that he or she has made you aware.
3. My Conclusion To This Topic
Everything that I have explained above will guide you through what you need to do in the event that you ever fall prey to an unscrupulous copycat on the Internet after you publish an article on the HubPages writing platform. Also keep in mind that those same procedures are standard ones that you can follow to combat plagiarism and copyright violations for articles you have published on other writing platforms, even on this one.
The Hive writing platform may only pay you for posting an article on your Hive-Blog channel or PEAKD channel within seven days of its publications, but I'm sure that each and every one of you simply detest people who go stealing your articles and the likes. Now that you have read my article, you will be well-equipped to deal with the situation.
Also, don't decide against joining HubPages simply because I told you about the problem that they are having with outsiders plagiarizing and copycatting articles from there. The probable reason that HubPages has so many problems with plagiarism and copyright violations from outsiders is because that writing platform has a very good reputation and is popular. In any event, copyright violations on the Internet is a reality on every writing platform. Even YouTubers have to deal with this same stressful type of situation. Google owns YouTube, and we all know how tough YouTube is against copyright violations.
I have not always agreed with everything that Google has ever done, but I have to hand it to them that they do have a tough policy against copyright violations. If Google got that much right, then they can't be all bad. Anyhow, from your Spaceship Captain, I wish you all the best of luck on your journey as a writer and as a prospective digital nomad.
This Article Has Been Copyright-Protected.