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Someone used my article title and user-name but not article itself.

  1. NateB11 profile image92
    NateB11posted 2 years ago

    I found an article online that had the exact same title of one of my hubs, along with my user-name, but the article itself was not mine. I'm trying to figure out (1) why they did that and (2) if I should do something about it. I don't even know if it hurts my traffic. They didn't even steal the article, just the article title and my user-name. What should I do and what effect would using the title of my article and my user name have, if any?

    1. NateB11 profile image92
      NateB11posted 2 years ago in reply to this

      It gets weirder. I check out the site where the article is posted and it's a "blogging" site and full of spam posts. Looks like it's barely maintained, just a bunch of users who post spam. Thinking I really need to get my article title and user-name disassociated with that place. I was going to contact their admin but not certain I can trust them; maybe should go straight to adsense, because they have ads on the site.

      1. LillyGrillzit profile image81
        LillyGrillzitposted 2 years ago in reply to this

        adsense.

        1. NateB11 profile image92
          NateB11posted 2 years ago in reply to this

          I think you're right. Especially if it's some automated spamming/spinning site, probably won't do any good to contact their admin. Would like to get the content taken off though. Don't think Adsense can do that, they'd just ban the account.

    2. SpaceShanty profile image92
      SpaceShantyposted 2 years ago in reply to this

      I think it could be an automated programm which steals articles and reposts them , it just doesn't always work that well, hence only the title and username.  It happends all the time on Youtube, popular videos get copied and reuploaded.

      1. NateB11 profile image92
        NateB11posted 2 years ago in reply to this

        Makes sense. Thanks, SpaceShanty.

    3. galleryofgrace profile image82
      galleryofgraceposted 2 years ago in reply to this

      It's probably your article- just spun around a little. I would at least post a blurb explaining what they did. Someone may read it. Something like  a disclaimer saying you didn't write this version.

      1. NateB11 profile image92
        NateB11posted 2 years ago in reply to this

        Makes sense. I was thinking I should write something about it.

    4. NateB11 profile image92
      NateB11posted 2 years ago in reply to this

      I decided to take the legit route and I contacted the admin of the site. I used a throw-away email address just in case they're spammers of phishers. I don't know, looks all shady at the site so I'm taking (possibly unnecessary) precautions. If my email does no good, I'll contact the webhost.

      1. Writer Fox profile image80
        Writer Foxposted 2 years ago in reply to this

        Impersonating someone to gain a benefit is against the law. You might mention that in your email:
        http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictiona … ersonation

        1. NateB11 profile image92
          NateB11posted 2 years ago in reply to this

          I was thinking about that, that it's impersonation. Thanks for the info. I don't really want my brand associated with that site.

    5. NateB11 profile image92
      NateB11posted 2 years ago in reply to this

      Just an update if anyone's curious; the owner of the site emailed me back and said that user has been deleted because he was posting spam and violating the site's Terms of Service. All content and links were deleted.

      Sure enough, I checked and it's all gone.

      All's well that ends well. Admin said he appreciated me letting him know about the user.

      1. susi10 profile image94
        susi10posted 2 years ago in reply to this

        It seems that others were having problems with this issue too (including me),
        http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/120350#post2548531

        I am glad that you got it sorted in the end, I will consider doing the same too because I have seen many articles using my name but having nothing to do with the content of the article itself. How frustrating! Thanks for the update.

        1. NateB11 profile image92
          NateB11posted 2 years ago in reply to this

          I hope you get it all sorted out too, susi.

  2. wilderness profile image96
    wildernessposted 2 years ago

    If I'm understanding what happened, I'm not sure you have any recourse with anyone.  Neither your user name nor hub title are copyrighted by themselves; anyone can use them as they wish.  An honest site owner won't (it can't be accidental) but no one else has a legal right to object, either, so hosts, google adsense, etc. probably won't take action.

    And I could be all wet, too...

    1. NateB11 profile image92
      NateB11posted 2 years ago in reply to this

      I think you're right about that. I went through Google's questionnaire and it led me to contacting the site owner. I don't think that will do anything. Might have to let it go.

      What effect it will be having the title and user name on the article, I'm not sure. Doesn't seem like it'd have much effect. It's a few words (title and user-name) from the article.

 
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