Quote from: giftculturewriting on December 22, 2013, 03:48:40 PM

I know there are people who search content for plagiarism, since right after I put this up http://devtome.com/doku.php?id=the_trap I got a PM about how I needed to take it down because it was also uploaded to Smashwords, which has a copyright notice. I explained that authors retain copyright at Smashwords and it was already licensed under CC BY-SA, so everything was fine.

One of the tasks I perform is to spot check articles and grammar, not to "catch" people like some sort of DevNazi, but to make sure the content is either original or belongs to the writer.

For example, I noticed one person's content was originally posted elsewhere. One solution: 1. On the Devtome page, identify the location of the original post. 2. Go to the location where it was first posted and add a statement "This article is also on Devtome." 3. Take a screenshot of that original post with the Devtome statement in case your Devtome article is ever reviewed or comes under scrutiny. You will now be prepared to give a defense for your Devtome entry. This is not a 100% rule, it's just one route to make sure that folks are using their own content and that the writer is ready to demonstrate it belongs to them.

If an article is clearly your own and it is easily identified that you are the owner with the source clearly pointing to the original material, it really shouldn't be a problem.

GCW, you make a good point about prior ownership of a piece. A few of my own articles are copyrighted and in print. I had to demonstrate that I owned the copyright, which, of course, wasn't difficult. But some people will get frenzied if they find duplicate material out there. If you own it, then just be prepared. On at least two occasions, people have fired off notes to UTB: "AAGGH. He's a plagiarist! His material is in print already." The funny thing is that the material I put up here is even more recent than the print material. And then they wanted proof that I'm the same Ethan Harris as the books. But once that is established with your admin, you do gain a level of trust and it becomes less of a burden if the issue comes up again. If you're a published author, even self-published, you know how long it takes to get a revision to process. On Devtome, you just edit the page. I like the idea that for people who are willing to search, a lot of my content is available open source. It's kind of like an Easter Egg for your audience. And once they are here, they tend to click around. Something like 10% of the people who pop on to my articles click through to other content.

And while I'm thinking about it, there are some writers here who I think should really think of bundling their material to promote Devtome by using Smashwords. Include a front-piece that says something like "This material is freely available on Devtome, the home of content covering a host of genres." Or something like that. My first step in creating accessible, carry-out versions of Devtome content is at the bottom of http://www.devtome.com/doku.php?id=custer_survivors_101_preface. I want people to take the content, send it to others, pass it around and always know that Devtome is where they got it. Everytime they open the article they should see Devtome as the source. So if anyone has ideas on how to help me track downloads, please let me know. I tried Google Analytics, but it doesn't like the page extensions.