How to Deal With Copycats From Someone Who Has Sent Several Cease and Desists

I guess it’s a compliment that so many people want to copy my writing?!

But yes, unfortunately, I’ve dealt with several copycats as a website copywriter.

And not just a line or two taken as “inspiration” —that’s still NOT okay!!—but whole ass PAGES of my website copy/pasted. Even my fucking testimonials from MY CLIENTS.

This has happened so many times. Sometimes I do something about it, and sometimes I don’t.

But when it’s my entire website copied, verbatim? Yeah, I’m doing something.

I sort of feel bad for my copycats.

Imagine waking up to an email from me with the subject line “Copyright Infringement Notice [Immediate Action Required]” to kick off your day. That sucks.

…but, REALLY?

You’re gonna decide to steal someone’s content, and it’s gonna be MINE?

The girl who has a history of publicly calling out copycats and tagging them?

The girl who sends a cease-and-desist sub 20 minutes after finding out?

The girl from New England, who worked in law firms for six years, who doesn’t care how sorry you are?

Lol, I think NOT.

Whether you’re here for the tea, or you’re dealing with stolen content of your own, or you just want to know how to protect website content from copying, you’re gonna learn it from someone who’s dealt with it before and will probably deal with it again.

Why People Steal My Content

I will be honest with you, though, I really DO get it. I understand why people take my copy.

For starters, it’s good.

One of the copycats I discovered legit DMed me on Instagram and said “I just thought yours was good.” 

Like, yeah? I know? I’m a website copywriter? That’s the point? That doesn’t mean you can take it tho??? The fuck?

And, second, I rank pretty highly on Google for a lot of copywriting-related keywords.

I rank first for “website copywriting services,” and 4th for “copywriting services,” and 6th for “website copywriter,” and on page one for a bunch of others.

So, yeah, it makes sense. Maybe they think I’m a bigger brand than I am, and that I won’t notice?

Buuuut I do notice. I’m just a girl.

…who happens to have followers who are like fucking vigilantes for this shit, because they tell me every single time. I’ve never found a copycat on my own.

Love u for that.

But before I get into it…

I discovered Kellie, Nicole, and — the wildest one of them all, “Bianca” — in real time and uncovered all the ways they stole my website, email, and blog content.

But first:

I’m not upset or threatened. It’s very, very obvious (and VERY easy to prove) that the copy was stolen from me, and I don’t believe that I lost out on any clients or opportunities or money due to these specific instances of copyright infringement.

It was all resolved. All 3 copycats removed their content within 1 hour of me sending the cease-and-desist. This has been my experience every time, except the copywriter who took my newsletter because, obviously, she had already sent it out. But she did email her list and tell them “her assistant” stole it on her behalf later.

It’s easy to find out if someone’s copying your copy. There’s an entire website dedicated to helping you do it, actually. Try it.

Inspiration is not a reason to steal. You can be “inspired” by someone’s content without straight-up jacking it word for word. Copyright infringement is illegal.

Now, let me tell you what I do when someone takes my shit.

How to Protect Website Content From Copying

Now, obviously, I am not an attorney, so if you’re looking for actual legal advice, make sure you consult one. I recommend contacting Nina or Paige.

I also want to mention that this is what to do when you are positive the content is yours. Not a little bit inspired by you, not loosely mirrored off of your content, but straight up stolen from you and your brain, as Kellie, Nicole, and Bianca did from me.

Here’s what to do when someone copies you:

#1 — Take a Loom video / screen recording / screenshot

Do this for the entire website or whatever the stolen piece(s) of content are. You want actual proof that the content is copied and pasted from your website.

#2 — Make sure to check other potential copycat instances by them

See if there are other places they’re stealing content.

• Their blog
• Their newsletter
• Their opt-in copy
• Their Instagram
• Other social media accounts / guest posts
• THEIR CLIENT WORK! (If they’re stealing your copy, who’s to say they aren’t also stealing the copy you write for your clients?!)

#3 — Email them a copyright infringement notice.

Do your best to find their direct email. It’s usually in their footer or on their Contact page.

Do not post about them copying you before contacting them about the infringement first, because you’d be tipping them off about it and giving them a chance to change things before you get the chance to do something about it.

If they don’t respond within the timeframe you give them (I usually give 24 hours), you can take further legal action, like suing, requesting monetary compensation, etc.

NOTE: If your copycat is an Instagram / Pinterest situation, there’s a feature on those apps that lets you report it (by submitting evidence) so you can easily handle it yourself.

How to Protect Your Brand Legally

Have a solid contract. Any type of business you do should have a contract in place.

Add Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy to your website. T&Cs outline the rules users must follow when interacting with your website. Privacy policies explain how your website collects, stores, protects, and uses the information visitors provide while on your site. BOTH are 100% required.

Trademark your brand name, and the name of anything you want to sell that you plan to make considerable money from or want your intellectual property protected. You bet your ass Site Series Sprint® proudly boasts that little circled “R” because ain’t no WAYYYY someone is taking that from me, despite them trying.

And most importantly, if you don’t know how to properly market yourself…

Please, for the love of God, don’t take someone else’s content to combat that!

Figuring out how to write your website copy is not difficult.

Actually, I have made it my own personal mission to make it ridiculously EASY for you, with hundreds of blog posts about it, hundreds of newsletters about it, AND a website copy template that walks you through step-by-step, page-by-page, how to write your website.

And if you really want to learn how to write the best website copy — and also how to get the right people *to* your website using free, easy, organic marketing strategies — I’ve built an entire course (trusted by almost 200 students!) dedicated to teaching you how to do that.

The Copycat Tea (because I know that’s what you’re really here for)

Watch me react live to my copycats.