I’m Not Too Keen on My Posts being ‘Hijacked’

I remember a few years ago running across a .cn website that was simply lifting my posts whole and putting them on their site.  Sure, they mentioned the origin, but there were no links back to my page.  Indeed, there was no way to get back to the original post without going indirectly through search.

At first I was complimented and then I was dis-amused.  And I must say that I’m a bit dis-amused at the fact that the Biblioblog Reference Library is doing the same thing.

If, for example, you go there you’ll find posts from here and many other blogs which, for all intents and purposes, are attributed without connection.  More precisely, if you go to this post-

And click on ANY of the hyperlinks, NONE of them take you to my post.  Indeed, the only link which takes you to the source of the post is ‘Zwinglius Redivivus’ – but even that takes you simply to the blog and not the original post itself.  All the rest link back to sites within ‘The Biblioblog Reference Library’.

Look let’s face it, there are several things going on here:

Posts are being harvested and when search engines look for topics, they are directed to the harvested location rather than the original location.  That’s a little more than unpleasant- as it infers that the Reference Library is actually writing posts rather than simply collecting them.

And, frankly, posts by many bloggers are just being pirated without attribution (in the strict sense of the word).  Searchers for the ‘blood of Leviticus’, landing on the Reference Library, will need not bother looking at the original post because the entire post has been replicated.

I try to be very careful, personally, to 1) never post something I’ve seen elsewhere without attribution (that is, a direct link to the actual piece).  I think it’s dishonest to do otherwise.  I realize loads of bloggers have no problem with being dishonest about the things they post, passing them off as though they had discovered them de novo.  But, again, I think it’s unethical to do so.

And 2), I try always to give just a part of whatever I’ve referenced, always directing readers to the original source so that those sites get the traffic they have earned by their own work.

Because I hold these two values very dearly, I’m going to insist that the Biblioblog Reference Library remove my feed from its site.  And if you happen to see posts from me there, please know that they are there without my permission and I view such as a violation of my Creative Commons copyright.

[I appreciate Joel’s useful information which led me to my present position].