How to stop theft from happening?

[Rissa 2]

I have a question or so a concern,

 

I have come across a few guests that will sign up as guestie (they will be deleted if registered with this as it is against our rules). They will stop by in the c-box and ask some questions and state that they are just being "Nosey" I take this as a red flag. I have had a few members come to me that said guests have created a site and the application of my character will be on their site and that the guest just changes the names. How does someone deal with stealing I know this topic is quite popular but it literally hurts a site because then people start to question of which material was actually stolen. 

 

Can someone please help me with this? My site is a premium site and I know there are more drastic security measures with Premium but it gets rather tiresome.

[Somniac 207]

So, the thing with stealing applications is that then you actually have to write the character.

 

I’m kind of confused as to why someone would do this because aren’t we all here since we like making stories and characters?

 

Anyway, a lie can only go so far. There will always be thieves. Live your best life, ask for takedowns and show timestamps if you see something like that but try not to sweat it otherwise.

[Dragon 673]

4 hours ago, Rissa said:

I have had a few members come to me that said guests have created a site and the application of my character will be on their site and that the guest just changes the names.

 

Did they provide proof?

[Rissa 2]

@Dragon Yes they would link me to their site that has the application with the character I was using with my creativity with a different name. I have had to shut down sites previously because of the same thing. I find it rather compulsive and disturbing that others will do this. I just wish there was a way to ultimately stop them. It's just frustrating when you put your good hard work into something and someone steals it from you.

[Dragon 673]

I understand how frustrating it is. I once directly confronted someone for theft, in a very public forum so that there were multiple witnesses. The individual I confronted didn't seem to have much of a grasp on plagiarism, and insisted that their theft of my writing was a compliment to the quality of it. They even suggested they were doing me a favor by sharing my work. I share that anecdote just to point out that a lot of people out there just don't get it. 

 

Unfortunately, there's no 100% way to theft-proof your work in the RP world. There are just steps you can take to mitigate and correct. Of course there are the obvious privacy settings etc which you already mentioned. They're a decent step. A determined plagiarist, however, will register an account to gain access to a site. 

 

In your case, there's minimal reason to ever shut down a site you've built over theft, though. You have time stamping on your side through the post dates on your forum, if nothing else. That means that you can prove the material originated from you - because the thief will not be able to produce a forum post or digital document that pre-dates anything you have in your possession. It doesn't bode well for a thief (or someone accusing you of being the thief to save face, because it happens) when you can produce a time stamped document from years ago, and the best they can do is provide a document from a few days or weeks ago. 

 

My advice is that every time you create a new character (or lore, or code, or whatever the case may be), be sure to save it in some kind of document on your computer. The document will be digitally (and unalterably) stamped with Date Created, Last Modified, and Last Accessed - the exact times of creation, modification, and access will also be stamped. 

 

Most site administrators are hard lined against plagiarism, and will give offending members the boot pretty quick when presented with proof. They don't want their reputations tarnished by that. So contact the staff where you can, show them the time-stamped proof that you were the original creator of the material (your forum posts alone should be enough, even if you're not in the habit of saving profiles on your comp). Give them the option to do the right thing. If they refuse, then you have the option of contacting the company or individual who owns the forum software. They will generally solve the problem swiftly when presented with proof, if only because they're more likely to face lawsuit than the owner of the site (plaintiffs generally go after the party with more money to fork over). 

 

 

[Morrigan 1,826]

 

[xexes 108]

On 1/11/2020 at 10:09 PM, Rissa said:

Yes they would link me to their site that has the application with the character I was using with my creativity with a different name. I have had to shut down sites previously because of the same thing.

 

The person who tells you about the theft.... Is it always the same person? Think carefully...

 

You said that you've had your apps stolen a couple times before? That would indicate that it is just ONE person who loves your writing so much they steal it (imitation is the greatest form of flattery). Let that sink in - its not everybody who is doing this to you, just one person. Perhaps you know this person. If you can get a hold of this person and talk to them you may be able to get them to stop. 

 

If this person is mean or a troll, reporting their theft to their site admins will just make them happy (feeding the troll). But in most cases this tends to be someone who is ashamed of their own writing and not willing to put in a lot of thier own effort (so they will flake out quickly). In this case you CAN opt to create a log of their thefts and report it to the admins each and every time - BUT that's a lot of work and remember this person will flake out in their own. You can choose to do nothing and let them grow out of this embarrassing phase of theirs on thier own.

 

I would like you to consider that you can choose whether you let this bother you or not. Yes it sucks things were stolen but honestly it eventually happens to pretty much anyone who puts things in the internet. But this  person's writing doesn't affect you where you live. They are not your problem. And now that you understand the situation more, you can choose to let that person remain exactly that : not your problem. It's up to you.

 

I know that theft is angering though.

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by xexes

[Miss Bunny 6]

As much as it makes me filled with Rage! I have long ago had to let go of my worry about things on sites being stolen by others. Given how difficult it is to police such things, it would be a never ending battle to try and stop these people from such things. As long as no one does it on a site I am on or run, or brings drama with them related to it, I just get on with my own things.

[Redalia 3]

My greatest personal fear is having my work stolen and like, published before I do. To save me the heartbreak, I've built a flexible system/world that I use publicly, and everything that may actually result as a print, hard copy piece of my hard work will remain private, and I will shrewdly pick whose eyes see it. It still drives me nuts when something is stolen regardless, but at least I'm not as heart broken when it does happen, simply because I do separate what is and isn't public. 

Constant updates to the work also helps to validate who the material actually belongs to. Sometimes simply letting the works speak for themselves can be enough. Sometimes not. But just sometimes. 

[RedISC 4]

A site I found once had people's applications private/only able to be seen by members. It was a little bit off putting (because personally, I like seeing what characters already exist so I can avoid stepping on toes!) but it was effective. They put some apps that were volunteered in a forum that could be seen by guests/non validated users, so you had an idea on how to write the app. That could be a work around for your things getting taken? Sorry to hear about your issue!

[Bishop 172]

I'm kind of dealing with this a little bit. Our super super super old RP friend (like seriously he is like in his 60's) took it upon himself to flat out TELL my friends he was taking their characters and former storylines and copy and pasting them from our super old site from 2011 and making them his. Like it wasn't an ask, it was a "You wrote this, it is on my site now"

 

Now mind you...we've had this figuring he was going through some dementia of some sort by the way he would act, but then at the same time like you just can't take one persons stuff and move it over as if it were your own. 

 

I have had RP partners come and go and like when my character's partner fades out I fade out the character too. I'll mention them sure from time to time, but I flat out would NEVER have the balls to just...take.

 

We came to the conclusion that this was his backward way of just getting us to write with him again or it is due to his elder age, because I mean this is preschool stuff ya know? You don't take.