One more time: Stop stealing our work

by Dan Kadar on Apr 7, 2010 9:40 PM EDT

This is a re-post from February, but still very much applicable. I DO NOT CARE WHAT SITE YOU WRITE FOR.

It has come to my attention that some sites have been stealing the content from here at Mocking the Draft. We put a lot of work into our very in-depth scouting reports. It is safe to say that you won't find scouting reports this detailed and free anywhere else.

As some of you know, we are doing a scouting report share this season with newerascouting.com, which is a site I previously helped run. So if you're taking content from here, you're taking content from there. This is not cool.

Although the works at our sites are free, it is not in the public domain. If sites continue to do this, there will be no hesitation to turn it into a legal matter. It does not matter if you're posting our work on your site or if a message board user is re-posting content in your message board. You will be held culpable.

If you are still too dumb to understand what I am saying, you can also find plenty about intellectual property law online.

If you are questioning yourself about this, you are probably doing something wrong. You should probably stop.

Readers: If you happen to notice someone running our content on another site, you can email me. You can also expose these pathetic fools in the comments here.

So, what does that mean? Basically, it means if you read it here, don't copy and paste it elsewhere. I don't care if you say where you got it. That does not mean it's right. Again, I don't care what site you're writing for – whether it's an SB Nation site or not.

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On the bright side, if so many sites are stealing your work, it is a testament to the popularity and quality of MTD

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by Jonathan Loesche on Apr 7, 2010 11:18 PM EDT reply actions

Indeed

However, lots of sites are posting entire scouting reports on their pages. As a general rule, that’s not good form. It provides no incentive for the readers to link back to the original site. If I took Peter King’s entire MMQB article and copy-pasted it onto this site (with a link back to SI), what is your incentive to link back there and read more? King and SI would have a problem with us doing that.

Thus, copying entire reports to a page is bad form. Bloggers shouldn’t do it. Copy a small slice of the report and ask readers to go to MtD to read the details.

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by Brad Wells on Apr 8, 2010 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Can we use the information...

…if we site it?

by Richard Hill on Apr 7, 2010 11:38 PM EDT reply actions

And by "site"...

…I mean “cite the site”?

by Richard Hill on Apr 7, 2010 11:43 PM EDT up reply actions

general rule of thumb

if you’re going to copy/paste something, NEVER copy/paste the whole thing, but quote only a short, relevant snippet, cite it, and link to it in order to drive traffic to the originating site.

by georgiablue on Apr 7, 2010 11:55 PM EDT up reply actions

THIS

Mocking the Draft: Talking NFL Draft all year.

by Dan Kadar on Apr 8, 2010 8:42 AM EDT up reply actions

What does site it mean?

It should be in a box with the author, title, and date at the very least. Otherwise just post the link with a few of your own words. I doubt he would care if you provided a link.

IMO

by Foilhat on Apr 8, 2010 12:21 AM EDT up reply actions

I guess what I mean

Is you shouldnt use quotes or a box, and then provide a link. Thats kinda bush league

IMO

by Foilhat on Apr 8, 2010 12:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Basically, it means if you read it here, don’t copy and paste it elsewhere. I don’t care if you say where you got it.

He is saying do not use it on your site at all. So…

Can we use the information… …if we site it?
And by “site”… …I mean "cite the site"?

No and…

if you’re going to copy/paste something, NEVER copy/paste the whole thing, but quote only a short, relevant snippet, cite it, and link to it in order to drive traffic to the originating site.

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by Talon Talent on Apr 8, 2010 8:28 AM EDT reply actions

See responses from BigBlueShoe and Mocking Dan above

The point is to drive traffic back to the original sites. Ergo, it’s perfectly acceptable to quote a snippet with a link back to the original source. What is not acceptable is copying such large portions such that there is no motivation to visit the original site. This is proper internet etiquette. So I will reiterate that the following IS acceptable:

if you’re going to copy/paste something, NEVER copy/paste the whole thing, but quote only a short, relevant snippet, cite it, and link to it in order to drive traffic to the originating site.

by georgiablue on Apr 8, 2010 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions