Hello,

I had to end the public discussion of what to do about plagiarism because some things were said that I consider to be private stuff. Apologies.

I have appointed Ishilove (also an interim supermod) and HumbledByGrace to join Obinnau as moderators of this board. They will engage in private discussions about how to deal with the problem and come up with effective solutions. Please be patient with them as they deliberate.

Regards.

In addendum to what Seun has posted, the reason why certain users were banned is because their posts contravene the rules of this forum, specifically rules 2, 7, 8 and 19.

2. Don't abuse, bully, deliberately insult/provoke, fight, or wish harm to any Nairaland member.
7. Don't say or do anything that's detrimental to the security, success, or IMAGE of Nairaland.
8. Don't post false information on Nairaland.
19. Don't create a new account when banned for breaking a rule. If you do, make sure we don't find out.

Best Regards.

If your work is being plagiarised on Facebook, please follow these steps to report the offensive posts.

1) First things first, make sure you put a copyright notice at the beginning (starting point) of your work. If you have a story on Nairaland and you haven't put a copyright notice, it is advisable you do so immediately.

2) At the bottom of the facebook post plagiarising your work, you will see a 'report' button. Click on it

3) It will take you to a page with different options. Click on 'I don't think it should be on facebook'.

4) After clicking, you will be directed to another page with another set of options where you will be asked to describe the offensive post. Click on 'something else'.

5) The next page has more options. Click on 'I think it's an unauthorised use of my intellectual property'

6) The page you will be directed will give you the option of either sending an email to the plagiarist, or learning more about copyright infringement. You can choose whichever one suits you. However, if you don't have the time for niceties and diplomacy, click on 'Learn more about copyright infringement'.

7) The page that you will be directed to will give you a brief about trademark and copyright violations. Read through it and select your choice. Since we are writers here our complaint most times fall on under 'Copyright violations', so click on the 'Copyright Report' form.

You will be asked to fill a form asking you for details of your work, the offensive posts and other things. Please read through carefully and fill the form correctly.

9) Please note that Facebook will only act on the links which you have provided, NOTHING MORE. For example, if the plagiarist has posted five updates of your work, and you send facebook a link to three of those five updates, they will act on those three alone and leave the remaining two. So it it is advised you post every facebook link that you can find that has your work. Under that section you will see 'I want to report more URLs (that is if the textboxes provided are not enough). Click on it and more textboxes will appear where you can post the rest of the links to the offensive posts.

10) When you're done, click on 'Submit'. And you will be sent a success message in the mail you provided.

It is very easy and straight forward. Facebook will send you a message once your complaint has been dealt with,which should be less than a day. My own complaint was dealt with in about three hours, so there should be no fears about excessive delays in dealing with complaint.

Regards.

If your story is being plagiarised by any blog, please reach out to the Google legal team and file a complaint with them. You can google search their various help centers and reach out through that medium, or go through this channel : https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905?hl=en

Follow their instructions when filling out the form and leave the rest to google.

Please note that you have to be very careful and precise when filling the form as they will not attend to improperly filed complaints, and that includes the correct URLs (links) of both your story being plagiarised and the plagiarist's, straight to the point descriptions etc.

I have followed this channel, and although I am still waiting for a response, I believe it is a step in the right direction. Meanwhile let Nairaland writers not forget to include copyright notices at the beginning (starting point) of their stories.

The mods and the admin are still exploring various means at safeguarding the creative work of Nairaland writers, and will definitely keep you updated with changing developments.

Regards.