This morning I found I had a pingback to one of my articles. When I checked the article source, it was on a Tax preparing company’s blog and my entire article “Adventures in Credit Repair” had been copied and pasted, including my title, and author attribution was given to another person. I commented asking them to attribute the article to me or to remove it, mentioning they are violating the Creative Commons License. We’ll see if they do the right thing. If they don’t, then I have legal recourse. I’m not sue happy, but since I journal online for non-profit enjoyment, I don’t think it’s right that a commercial site can use my words to make profit claiming them as their own.

It’s important to put a copyright or Creative Commons License on your blog or online journal. If you don’t, companies, and enterprising individuals can use your posts on their blog for financial gain, claim themselves as the author, and not give you any credit for your creative work. Mind you, this only happens in a long-shot situation, but like any form of insurance or legal license, you’ll be glad you have it when the time comes. Here is the link to build and get the code for the creative commons license that best suits you. Best of luck!