UPDATE 27/8/11: Some of the links below no longer work as it’s clear that eHow has been deleting some of the articles; despite me not receiving any reply to my email/tweets/facebook posts. However I have not completed my check of their site, and new links may still appear.

UPDATE: I have some additional thoughts on the situation here. But the below list is the most up-to-date of eHow’s articles vs my own.

Today was the last straw in an ongoing problem for me: probably a year or two ago I noticed referrals to my website from eHow.com. Curious to see what it was all about, I clicked the referral link and was instantly annoyed. Some wannabe writer with no clue as to the meaning of “copyrighted” decided to completely copy one of my tutorials. (Read more here) If you click on that link, you’ll see just how blatant it is: and trust me, (or not, go do some googling and see if I’m right) nobody else has written a tutorial that takes a stuffed teddy bear and turns it into a marionette. Marionette tutorials on the net are practically unheard of, and I know that it’s unique. I also know that I posted the tutorial first. (Sadly, eHow has also removed all “date posted” info, so there’s no way to legitimately tell.) I should have mentioned this in my letter below too: for every tutorial and pattern I make, I strive to do something that I’ve not seen or done anywhere else. As such, it becomes even more obvious when something’s been copied, because nobody else will have done the preparations; pattern making; edits; or anything else. I strive not to churn out content purely because it brings in the advertising dough. I actually do put a lot of effort and research into it, unlike the majority of eHow’s contributors. And where I mention other people’s tutorials: I clearly link to them, I don’t copy and paste the whole of their content onto my site and then tweak it.

At first, I reported the articles for copyright infringement. No answer (and they’ve removed the button to do it; although not for the photos!). I left comments on the articles; often removed (up until they introduced a Facebook plugin, which was only recently) or left unanswered. I took to tweeting @eHow with a link to the article and a link to my own for comparison; no response. I have even resorted to blocking any referrals from their website (I can’t block contributors - average people - from visiting my site. But I can prevent people from viewing my site if they click a link from eHow).

Today I discovered that somehow someone avoided that block. I have been keeping tabs on eHow and if new content appears that I’m not familiar with - on the subject of puppetry - I check to see if my site is listed. (Some contributors are respectful and only link to the site; but there are many who copy outright) I had noticed recently that eHow uses a service from optimost.com which refers all links. I didn’t notice any change in my stats, and assumed it was harmless. But today revealed that these referral links all now avoid the block; and updating my files doesn’t prevent it either.

This is really the last straw. I’m perfectly happy for people to link to my content; happy for people to use it as inspiration. This isn’t some person on the net screeching about a case that’s unfounded or just wanting attention. And it’s not me screaming over a potential business competitor; I do fine knowing plenty of other puppeteers sell books, patterns and puppets online (and even go out of my way to help them earn money). This is actual, real, clear plagiarism. And there’s a very fine line between inspiration and plagiarism and eHow’s contributors have crossed it numerous times, not just with my work. That eHow never responds to my requests is infuriating, even though the writers have clearly broken eHow’s own terms and conditions (see below). Ironically, even the contributors rip off other contributor’s content (UPDATE 21/08/11: The resource referral link seems to have been changed). And even the images that go with the articles sometimes are exactly (creative commons found on Flickr) what I use on my site.

So I wrote a letter to eHow and am posting it here for posterity. I will be screenshotting all the articles mentioned below, along with my own content (which by the way, can be seen on Archive.org, as a good way to discover who wrote what first). If there is no reply - and I have cc’d as many people as I could find who work with eHow - I will be doing whatever I can to at least catch their attention. So if you’re a writer, if you’ve had your work copied by them or anyone else, please forward this to everyone, make comments to eHow and generally get the word out. More importantly, if you’re a puppeteer, you should check them out. I’ve seen blatant rip-offs of many other people’s work (Puppetpub.com comes to mind, along with Sagecraft, Puppeteers Unite, and even my friend Kelvin Kaos. There were many many more) and if you’re concerned, please let them know.

(Note: I should have added below, but didn’t, that SOP content comes from PIM and so some of the referral links from eHow is outdated. However, anyone who spends 5 seconds looking into this issue will figure it out…)

Hello eHow,

I am writing to you to complain of the numerous articles found on your website that considerably plagiarises content from my website. I do not mind being used as a referral when people list it as a resource or reference link: however many many of the articles written by your contributors have been “rewritten” versions of tutorials that I have spent many many months writing and researching, and have existed on the internet far longer than has been published on your website. The articles on your website always are ‘tweaked’ just so they appear as though not to be copied and pasted from my site; but I know my content well and can spot a re-write. (I have been employed as a journalist and writer over the past 10 years. I know what a rewritten article looks like) Additionally to that, I am on the internet a considerable amount and know of most of the puppet tutorials and articles out there; I am familiar enough to judge where ideas are similar and where ideas are unique (see my list of articles below)

I have tried numerous times to make comments on those articles (see below), only to have them disappear or not be approved. I note that once when I could report an article for copyright infringement, this option is no longer available (I do not count “inaccurate” as the same thing as “stolen or rewritten work”.). Interesting still to note that there is a “flag this photo” option, but not a “flag this article” option. Even funnier to see that photo credits are given, but no credit to me as being the originator of the work.

I do understand that your contributors are mostly members of the public and not part of your staff; however, as you are the ones hosting the content, and as I assume you have some sort of editorial process, I would think that an understanding that plagiarism is not ok would be at the heart of contributions. I understand that your staff, if there is an editorial approval process, can’t check every article against the whole of the internet.

And so I have tried to make you aware of the problem; with no response. I have used the comments form on the website; tried to report the article; tweeted @eHow when I notice an article plagiarised. I have not even received one reply back asking me to discuss further my concerns. This is the first time I have contacted anyone via email, and I hope it will be the last.

Quite frankly, this issue makes me furious, not so much because often the content is stolen: but because the content is rewritten in a manner that makes my original tutorial worthless and reduces the professionalism of my writing, as well as being incorrect on a number of points. I am happy that my website and writing can offer a useful resource, and that’s why I do it: but not so that other people can reproduce my work and reduce the quality of the information to less than worthless. Add to that the fact that writing is often my sole income and your website redirects interest in my articles/tutorials to a very poor copy of the original where it prevents visitors from enjoying the tutorial and using it to its full extent. I can barely cover the costs of running my website as it is, I’d appreciate it if other people didn’t take away from my income as well, as a lot of my income derives from patterns provided at my site in conjunction with other articles not behind a pay wall. [In fact, this whole thing makes me question the validity of offering everything for free, and perhaps should seek to put up a pay wall around everything on my site]

I have worked for a number of website companies (including my own websites), and frankly, think it very poor of another online business to have such little respect for copyrights. One of the first rules I learned was that if it’s copyrighted, link to it: but DON’T REPRODUCE IT. My website policies clearly state that the content is copyrighted (NOT creative commons, but copyrighted completely) and I have never been contacted for permission to use or rework my content from your staff or any of your contributors. Your contributors have broken the Terms and Conditions of your website, as stated here: http://www.ehow.com/terms-of-use.html

And I quote: “a. you own all rights in your User Generated Content and the performance contained in your User Generated Content or, alternatively, you have acquired all necessary rights in your User Generated Content to enable you to grant to eHow the rights in your User Generated Content described herein and for us to exercise the rights with respect to such User Generated Content that you grant herein; … e. your User Generated Content is not defamatory in nature, does not infringe the intellectual property rights, privacy, rights to publicity or any other legal or moral rights of any third party.” And is similarly written further down in the terms.

Herein I enclose a list of the articles which infringe on my copyrights, against the articles/tutorials on my website. A quick comparison will show that anyone can easily see that it is a poorly written version of something on my site. This list does not include articles on your site which reference, but do not rewrite, my work; nor does it include URLs which no longer work and I could not find copies of using internet archival services.

[Note: the below list may change if I find further articles; these will be clearly marked and not sent in the original email to eHow. EDIT 30/11/08: Also assume that all of the articles on eHow.com are on eHow.co.uk or vice versa]

Lastly, I note that there are many professional puppeteers who provide content to eHow. Paul Louis and Emily DeCola are two names that come to mind: so it’s not like you don’t already have some good relationships with other puppeteers, nor the ability to source puppetry content another way. Do you extend respect of copyrights only to those who provide you content/you pay for content; or does that extend to everyone else as well?

I would appreciate if the articles were removed, and care taken to prevent further copyright infringement of my work. I will be following up on this issue if there is no response, and will be making sure that further steps are taken to ensure I am either given proper credit for my work or the offending articles are removed. Note I also regularly check eHow for new puppetry articles and will be making similar requests if further infringements are found.

I’d appreciate some sort of response from you, and will be publically posting this request on my website in order to ensure my readers are aware that the original content has been distorted and used without my permission.

Regards,

Naomi Guss