Sunday, October 16, 2011

Adsense, Blogger and the DMCA Notice

With the recent push by Adsense to ensure the quality of publisher websites, it has become even more important that Adsense publishers are vigilant about protecting their copyrights.

I've already written about some of the ways you can protect your contents on this post back in 2009 about duplicate contents.

There is a new one also out there called "EmbedAnything". Personally, I would not use this, and not having used it, I don't really have any recommendations for it.

My personal opinion is that Embed Anything might be fine for those who wish to share their contents, but it not an option for those who do not. I also don't believe it would provide much in the way of actual protection.

Anyone can copy from your website, even if you disabled the right click function (which is totally annoying to most visitors as the right click context menu contains many functions that people use while viewing a website, not just the copy function) people can still copy your content. A couple of ways. Firstly, Firefox will show a notice that the right-click function has been disabled on that website, however, Firefox will still let you highlight and copy the text, rendering the "no right click" codes entirely useless.

And if someone really wants to copy your text, they can simply view the source code for your page, and highlight the text block they want, then copy it. Disabling the right-click functionality doesn't work in source code view, so pretty much any browser can still allow people to copy your work.

What's left then?

Besides the free registry places I listed in my old article (which still apply), you need to file DMCA notices to get your copied works removed from the sites that copied them. Keep in mind though - if you had previously given someone approval to re-post your content, you should not file a DMCA notice. You've given them permission and that means it is not a DMCA issue - they posted with your authorization.

The other thing you need to be clear about when filing a DMCA claim is that you actually own the content. If you've copied a bunch of images off someone else's website...you don't own those, and you may not file a DMCA claim for things you don't own.

Lastly, in filing a DMCA claim, you need to file it with the correct agency. If the person who copied your content has a website and paid webhosting, you will want to find out who their webhost is (do a "whois" search for that) because that's who you want to file the claim with. If they are also using Adsense, you can file a DMCA claim with Adsense. If they are using Blogger, you'll need to file a DMCA claim with Blogger.

You need to complete the forms fully and correctly, and from some of the DMCA notices I've seen on Chilling Effects...some people don't understand how to fill out the forms. Below are copies of the DMCA notices for Adsense and Blogger, with instructions on how to complete them correctly (click the image to get a larger view).


Sample




Sample



Please remember - do not complete a form unless you are the original owner of the contents.

17 comments:

  1. may be can be fill by them, who is also not a legal owner.

    sorry for bad english

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you mean it's possible for someone to file a DMCA for someone else, you can only do that if you are legally appointed to act on their behalf.

    If you mean someone can complete the form even though they don't own the content but just are saying they do - yes, they can complete the form but that's why it's important to use some way to protect your content - like a free registry site.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Can you please look into my blog url and give me some insight? Is my blog suitable for adsense or not?

    ReplyDelete
  4. gud information i like it can u jus watch my blog and say whether it is eligible for adsense

    http://frndsworld.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Geetesh - it looks to me like your blog does not contain original contents.

    Many of the posts I checked have information copied directly from wikipedia. That isn't suitable for Adsense.

    Even though the wiki may allow you to copy their articles, Adsense doesn't want that kind of website. They are looking for websites and owners who write their own original contents, not copy the content from others.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Osama Shabrez - You have a site related to games and technology and to be honest, I find most of them cover the same things in the same way - even when the articles are written by the blog owner...there is nothing much "new" in technology blog. They all tend to cover the same things in the same way. The one thing I noted in your blog was the hacking disclaimer.

    Adsense really doesn't care if it's "ethical" hacking, or hacking information for educational purposes. They don't really want to deal with that sort of things on most blogs, so you may find that this could cause an issue for you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment is to draw your attention to one of the thread/question I posted in adsense forum @ http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense/thread?tid=76364e8fde23ef8e&hl=en

    please delete it, and sorry for inconvenience.

    You are one of my most favorite TC on the adsense forum among all other TC that I love as well.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Gracey,

    Google disabled my adsense account. I will thankful if you can take a look and help me find out what actually happened.

    www.worstinside.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well you do have multiple policy violations on your site. At least two. You have contents that are copied from other websites, and Adsense doesn't allow you to use someone else's contents. And you have a link to watch online TV or online cricket, unless it's a pay-site. You link to another blogger illegally displaying these.

    You also don't seem to have a privacy policy - if you do, there doesn't seem to be a link to it where anyone can find it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense/thread?tid=740a8188555688b8&hl=en

    could you please flag it to be reviewed by google employee?

    I have been waiting patiently and silently for a long time

    ReplyDelete
  11. No, I'm sorry but we cannot flag threads about disabled accounts. The Adsense Pros who handle our forum do not handle the disabled accounts section.

    ReplyDelete
  12. http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense/thread?tid=740a8188555688b8&hl=en

    In that case , can you guide me to the direction where I can get my appeal reviewed and human reply to my query.

    I am not insisting to reinstate, but to review my appeal and respond, I am not asking them to do so in rush, but at least do reply in a week or 2 whatever time they need,they take but reply at least.

    ReplyDelete
  13. You need to go to this thread and post a request for help here, from this guy:

    http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense/thread?tid=14b9baeea938411f&hl=en

    He's really the expert on click bombing, and he can suggest what you should do. Read his story as well - some of what he's done may help you.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Gracey please look at my thread in adsense forum

    http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense/thread?tid=4cf20bbb8c3917f4&hl=en

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi

    I have three que...
    First..Can u suggest some adsense alternative that I can experiment with? Presently traffic on my blog is quite low so i dont want to risk adsense.

    tsvaishnav (tav)
    Second...How to increase traffic from search engine and what it takes to promote ur blog well..as with adsense i cant use facebook, youtube etc...so what exactly should I do?

    Third...What does original content really means? Like if i create a website about programming tutorials or webdesign tutorials...there are many other website that gives the same info...Does that mean my content is copied even if i write what I understand n completely in my own language?

    ReplyDelete
  16. hi Gracey
    My google account is disabled and but my adsense account linked to the google account is still active As my google account is disabled i have no access to my adsense account I use rediffmail for signup to adsense. Please help me to get access

    ReplyDelete
  17. I can't really help you with a Google account. Unless you can get your Google account back, you won't have access to your Adsense account.

    Follow the instructions on this page to get help with your Google account.

    http://helpfulinformationfornewbies.blogspot.com/2011/05/adsense-blogger-gmail-and-google.html

    ReplyDelete

Please DO NOT DROP LINKS HERE using monetized URL shorteners or the comments will be marked as spam. DO NOT post links to affiliate sites or links to promote your website. This is a "NO FOLLOW" blog.

If you want help with an actual blog or website, please just post for help in the Adsense forum, or leave your G+ profile link. I will not publish comments with blog/website or channel links.

Thanks.