Once again I have fallen victim to having my website content stolen. I admit that it isn't as severe as www.Smak4Art.com's blatant copying of www.eSpyre.com but it's still right up there. Should I see this most recent copyright infringement as a form of flattery? I fail to see how having something I worked hard on copied and pasted onto another website is supposed to make me feel good about myself. What is worse is that the owner of the website in question is now claiming to own the content in the first place. They went from stating their website was hacked to saying it was a coincidence and that our writing styles were purely similar to the accusation of me stealing the content and threats of legal pursuit. They even went as far as to suggest I had no idea what SEO is and that's it's ridiculous I am offering that as one of my services.
My website:
www.ashleighjames.com/freelance-search-engine-optimization.php
The website using my content:
www.IncredibleSoftwareSolutions.com
A quick viewing of their website will indicate to any search engine optimization provider that I know a lot more about SEO than they do. I pride myself in the quality of my SEO work. I'm not just about '#1' rankings. I understand the need for optimization for a number of keyphrases to create truly targeted traffic, not just aiming for number 1 on a generic term. Their website has keyword stuffed title tags, copied and pasted content (five different sections saying the exact same thing, crammed full of keywords - that is spam is it not?) and hidden keywords. Page names are also written out using underscores instead of the worldwide standard of dashes.
"I have been known to get web sites to a first page PR10 within six months."
Yeah - and I'm George Clooney!
(Haha, it's the first name that popped into my head.. =P)
After searching for their website using Google the following message was displayed on a number of their listings.
Warning - visiting this web site may harm your computer!
To be more accurate, and in my opinion, Google should display the warning "using this companies services may harm your website" as it appears to be closer to the truth; they do not know what they are talking about!
To cut a long story short, content from my Freelance Search Engine Optimization page has been taken without consent and the person responsible, Hilary Albutt of Incredible Software Solutions is a content thief and a con artist who has stolen a lot of content from many websites.
I apologise for being so blunt but as an act of "trying to save her own ass" she has placed a note in the footer of all pages stating that if you'd like to copy what's on the page you are allowed to which I'm guessing it to suggest other websites have infact copied her work. This is NOT true!
If you are in the business of web design and search engine optimization, I suggest you take a look at the site and see if your website copy has been lifted. For those who are interested I have uploaded the following set of screenshots which I believe are aptly named.
http://www.ashleighjames.com/CopyrightInfringement
For assistance with dealing with content thieves, I recommend the following websites which have helped me greatly.
Copyscape - http://www.copyscape.com
Internet Archive - http://www.archive.org
Copyright Infringement - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement
The UK Copyright Service - http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk
Copyright Aid - http://www.copyrightaid.co.uk
If you have been through the motions of copyright infringement and content stealing I encourage you to leave a comment and share your story. Content thieves should not get away with their crimes!
10th of May Update
After contacting Hilary Albutt of Indredible Software Solutions regarding her taking of my content, I received a nasty email in reply that contained threats of legal action against me. She believed that I had little proof that the content was mine and therefore decided to try and claim my work as her own. Following my reply to this email saying that she should be ashamed and pointing out that she cannot sue me for her taking of MY work, she promptly took down 500 words written by me. 33 still remain though I have decided not to pursue this matter any further. For the record, Hilary Albutt’s method of search engine optimization will result in temporary results only and your website is likely to be blacklisted in the future due to unprofessional, spamlike and frowned upon methods used by her and Incredible Software Solutions.
