Competitor using our product descriptions

[ATShock]

Hi,

We have a competitor (with a higher DA) using some content from our product pages word for word on a few of their product pages. It's only a couple paragraphs per product page (including the main product description), not the entirety of the content on the page. It also appears they have scraped some content from another authoritative competitor (and even left their brand name mentioned on it!)

I've read mixed thoughts on whether plagiarized content will harm the original site, but am concerned since it is an authoritative site. Should I be concerned since it's only parts of our product page?

Thank you all!

[EGOL]

I am of the firm opinion that other people using your content will cause problems with your rankings and those problems can be severe.  We have found that one powerful competitor or a large number of pissants using your content can be deadly.

So, we have consulted with an attorney and are ready to respond in various ways.  These include:  informal infringement notice sent by me, formal notice sent by the attorney, DMCA complaint filed through Google's DMCA dashboard, DMCA complaint sent directly to the host, complaints of infringement sent to Adsense.  The complaint route(s) taken are determined by the severity of infringement, who is infringing, the success of first notice, and numerous other things.

We have sent complaints about infringement against hundreds of other domains.  The infringers have included, spammers of various kinds, law firms of all sizes (usually their SEO or webmaster is the culprit), retail competitors, information sites, a state supreme court, a police department, major ecommerce... its surprising who does the infringing and where it happens.

Most of the time infringment is innocent rather than criminal.  Upstanding businesses usually respond quickly to an informal notice of infringement with...  1) thank you for letting us know, 2) we are sorry that this happened, 3) we are educating the people involved, 4) this problem will be fixed promptly.  Weasels don't respond and we go straight to DMCA, hosting complaint and a complaint to their monetization source.

I suggest contacting an attorney who practices copyright law and meet to develop a plan.  From my experience, attorneys cost less than you fear and are more valuable than you expect.   We consulted with a few law firms and found one who matches our idea that most infringement is innocent and people will respond properly.

Once you have a plan in place and understand Fair Use, the strength of your position, and the goal that you desire, you are then in position that you can file several DMCAs to Google or send several informal notices by email in under one hour, or send a URL to the attorney and he will send standard or customized letter at a cost that is not damaging to your business.

None of the above constitutes legal advice and I am not an attorney.  The above is all of the comments that I am able to provide on this subject.