Copyscape - Your Best Friend in the Fight Against Content Thieves

Today, anybody can browse the web and, if they’re so inclined, copy content from a web page for their own use. Of course, this is plagiarism and illegal, but how do you stop it? Copyscape is an online service that was launched in 2004 by Indigo Stream Technologies Ltd. It is used to combat content theft and copyright violations. Content owners can check that their material is not illegally used by others on the internet by having Copyscape scan web pages for plagiarism. The program also checks for content fraud where old content is brushed up and passed off as new.

How to use Copyscape

Copyscape is simple to use. First, you feed it a URL holding the content you want to check up on. Then, the program scans the internet and returns a list of web pages containing identical or similar content. It highlights sections that perfectly match original content so it’s easy to see the extent of the breach. In some cases, there will be no attempt to rewrite content or mask copyright abuse. Content owners can place a banner on their web page to show would-be infringers that Copyscape is used. This acts as a warning to anyone intent on stealing content or who is unaware of copyright law. Many people are oblivious to the concept of intellectual property.

How Copyscape can help

Other than finding and preventing plagiarism, Copyscape also provides advice on the rights you have as a content owner and a guide on how to detect plagiarism. If you are a victim of content theft, it tells you how to contact offenders and get them to remove content from their web page. Copyscape can be used by individuals, companies or organizations who care about their content's uniqueness. It has been used in legal disputes over copyright laws. In the fight against plagiarism, it’s one of the best allies you can have.