Bloggers Beware!

Some folks aren't nice and they do not play fair.

In the past I've read about other bloggers who have had their blog posts stolen taken from their blogs and posted on another blog without their permission.  I'm sure most bloggers will agree using a picture or two from our blogs with a proper link back is perfectly fine.  But don't assume, not everyone will give you permission to use their photos.  Taking our work and passing it off as your own is not acceptable.

While checking my stats, I noticed traffic from a site I wasn't familiar with.  After clicking my way through their blog, I noticed a lot of the projects(tutorials) that were posted, were from a blog that I am very familiar with.  The blog owner actually copied entire blog posts as well as features from her link party(I was featured on her blog, that's how I was able to find this blog- through my stats).  I contacted the blogger and she was furious, upset that someone would do this and think that it's OK.

Later in the week while browsing Pinterest I noticed a company that was advertising a product using a room in another blogger's home.  I emailed the blogger to make her aware and again she was mad.

After all of that, I was prompted to do a search on my own blog.  Using Google Images, I chose a few pics from my popular posts and searched to see if any of my content was published on another blog(website) without my permission.  Low and behold there it was, my entire blog post on another blog.  I immediately contacted the blogger and asked her nicely to remove my post.  My exact words were, "Although I'm flattered that you enjoyed my post, copying my post word for word, picture for picture is not acceptable".  For days I heard nothing, then she made her blog private.

In my search I also found a few blogs that used pictures from my blog without linking back to me.  I chalked it up as an oversight. I'd like to believe that most bloggers are honest and don’t intend to infringe upon copyrights, but I still went ahead and contacted the blog owners and asked them to credit my blog.

We are surrounded by so many fabulous blogs and loads of inspiration.  Most of the blogs I read freely share their creativity to inspire others.  When someone takes from another blogger by stealing their work or not properly linking the images they use in their blog posts, they are not playing nicely.

*Side note:  I've had this post saved to my drafts for some time now.  I was hesitant about publishing this post because I didn't want to come off as being "preachy".  I wrote this post to make you aware and for you to take steps to protect your blog.  Watermarking your photos is a great idea, but unfortunately this step does not prevent them from being used without permission. 

I am linking this post to:

My Plea To The "No Reply" Bloggers

I enjoy hearing from each. and. every. one. of. you.  I would love to be able to thank you all for stopping by and leaving me such thoughtful, encouraging words, because I truly appreciate all of your visits!  I feel that it's  proper etiquette to respond to comments.  But sometimes I can't!  When I receive an email notification that someone has left a comment and I try to respond;  instead of seeing your email address, I see <noreply-comment@blogger.com>.  Also, If you ask me a question in a comment, it is easier for me to respond through email.
If you would like to receive an email response after your comment,  you can easily fix this by updating your settings.  Go to your blogger dashboard, click "edit user profile", then check "show my email address" and save!  Pretty simple huh! 

I've been blogging for a little over a year now and there is so much that I didn't know when I first started.  I am so thankful for more experienced bloggers who took the time to offer me advice.  A year ago I was a "no reply" blogger too, but a fellow blogger took the time to show me how to easily correct this.  So that's what I'm doing today.  As I'm sure most of you are unaware that you are showing up this way!