You Own What You Create
Your website including the images, text, audio and video recordings that were created by you belong to you from the moment that they were created / written until the moment you sign away those rights. When someone chooses to use any of that intellectual property without your permission, they have infringed upon your copyrights.
You may have recently heard this issue being discussed in Cathy Hanville’s post in my Facebook group Private Practice from the Inside Out w/ Tamara Suttle. Cathy voiced her concerns in that post about eTherapi’s unauthorized use of her professional image and content that was apparently lifted from another unrelated online directory listing. This type of unauthorized data mining is occurring more and more often.
Rob Reinhart wrote a timely blog post titled eTherapi Listing Therapists Without Permission? that offers a lot of helpful information and possible steps to take if you find that you are also one of the therapists whose information / images have been posted on eTherapi without your permission.
I don’t want to duplicate Rob’s post, but I do want to underscore why therapists need to be vigilant and responsive when your intellectual property is used without your permission. It’s important to understand that from the minute you create anything including audio, visual, software, and text, your work is protected by copyright laws in the United States and in 160 other countries, too. That means that in those countries no one is authorized to use your materials without first obtaining your permission to do so.
Theft of Your Intellectual Property is NOT “Free”
In the Facebook discussion referenced above, it was suggested that perhaps that this situation might be viewed by therapists as “free advertising” and “not such a big deal” but that’s not really the case. Taking your information from one directory listing without your informed consent and using it for some undisclosed purpose can actually put you and potential clients at risk.
According to Stacey Freedenthal, Ph.D., LCSW, eTherapi’s infringement implies that she (1) gave her permission for them to use her intellectual property when she did not, (2) asserts that she provides specific services which she does not, (3) indicates that prospective clients who are searching for her will be able to contact her through their site which they cannot, and (4) claims that she will be able to receive messages from those individuals through eTherapi which she cannot.
In a directory listing that you authorize, you are typically responsible for the content that you provide and can typically update your listing to accurately reflect what changes and information are current. That is not the case if you are totally unaware of a listing in the first place.
It’s also true that if you don’t know that your image and content is being used, you cannot monitor or evaluate the ethical and/or legal use of that information. Unauthorized use of information and images can and has been used in ways that might actually work against a therapist as evidenced by one therapist, Carol, who contacted me last year after her professional headshot was “scraped” from one directory listing (without her knowledge or permission) and posted on a pornographic website.
So, what’s a therapist to do? Here are some ways that you can be proactive and keep an eye out for the unauthorized use of your intellectual property.
Google Yourself
Google is the search engine that is most used in the world so that’s a great place to start. Search for every version of your name as well as your business name and see what comes up on the first three pages of your search. If you want to be extra thorough, you can follow up with searches using other popular search engines. Look for evidence of duplicate content online. And, do this on a regular basis.
Google Alert
Another way that you can monitor what is being said about you and how you and your business is being referenced online is to set up Google Alerts. (Here are other reasons you should also be using Google Alerts.) By using this (free) tool, you can receive emails from Google letting you know when and where new content (in this case, the name of you or your business) shows up anywhere online.
Proof of Copyright Infringement
Once you find information that you believe has been taken / used without your permission, you have several different tools that allow you to “prove” copyright infringement. The first is to capture proof by taking a screen shot of the duplicate material. Here is a video (below) that will show you how to take a screenshot on your Mac computer.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/89GA6a4lAn4[/youtube]
And, here is a video (below) that will show you how to take a screenshot on your computer in Windows.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/gGG-58qnsnk[/youtube]
A second way to produce that proof is by using the Way Back Machine which is a free internet archive. By simply entering the URL of a website and a specific date, you can recreate an exact replica of that particular website on that particular date.
A third way to discover if the content on your website has been stolen is to use Copyscape. There is both a free and a paid version for you to use. Both versions will search the web to show you other websites that have text (not images, audio, or video) that is at least partially identical to your own. The free version will pull up no more than 10 sites of duplicate content per search. However, if your free search is not showing at least 10 sites duplicating your work, then I see no reason for you to invest in the premium version for a fee.
Respond Quickly to Plagiarism
Once you determine that your work has been stolen, Copyscape lists specific steps to take when responding to plagiarism. And, here is a blog post detailing how to file a notice of infringement of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) specifically with Google that you may find to be useful.
Rob Reinhardt’s blog post noted above is an excellent example of the detective work that may be required in order for you to get the results you are after. WhoIs is a website that provides information about website domains that includes who the website is registered to, contact information for that individual, and where the website is hosted. Manta is one of several online small business directories that may prove useful in identifying the business behind the website and the owner’s actual name.
If you are a mental health professional who is practicing in the United States, you may also find it helpful to contact the Attorney General for the state in which an offending business is operating. It is the Attorney General that is the chief law enforcement officer – the highest single authority responsible for enforcing the laws of a state. You can find a list of the Attorneys General here.
Other places you may want to consider registering your complaint include professional and trade organizations related to the offending business, regulatory agencies (at the local, state, and federal levels), and both traditional and social media outlets.
My hope is that I’m providing information that you will never need. However, in the event that you do find that someone has stolen your work, I want you to bookmark this page so that you will have all the information you need ready and waiting for you to use.
You have a right and a responsibility to do whatever you need to do to protect your intellectual property, your clients, and your professional reputation. Your ability to build and sustain the trust of your clients, your referral sources, and the general public depends upon your ability to protect you and your private practice.
Whenever you get around to entering your own web address / URL into Copyscape, please do drop back in and let us know you turn up anything of significance and what you plan to do about it.
And, please do share this post with your colleagues, too!
And to add yet more to the mix: Counselors (ACA) have an ethical obligation to make a reasonable effort to correct erroneous information about them or the Counseling profession. eTherapi’s little move would definitely qualify.
“C.3.c. Statements by Others
When feasible, counselors make reasonable efforts to ensure that statements made by others about them or about the counseling profession are accurate.”
Oh, Roy! Thanks so much for taking the time to make this point! It’s true and love that about the American Counseling Association! They / we see the wisdom of functioning as a community who holds each other up with both compassion and accountability!
I wonder if Social Workers, Psychologists and Addictions Professionals also have similar standards in their own ethics codes . . . . Can anyone out there speak to this?
This was great and very timely. I am developing an online course and was speaking to an attorney just today about copyright issues. She suggested google alert as well. She also suggested that I get my course copyrighted through copyright.gov because theoretically if it isnt officially done someone else can steal the content, get it copyrighted then prevent me from using my own stuff. That’s pretty scarey. Thanks for a great article.
Hi, Christine! It’s so nice to find your voice here!
Actually, anything that you create is copyrighted the moment you create it. You do not need to go through copyright.gov, an attorney, or any other entity in order to have full ownership aka copyright of your material. (In fact, at least in the United States, you don’t even have to include the copyright symbol or written notice of your copyrights on the material even though it is a good practice to do so.) I wonder if there are other benefits that your attorney was alluding to or if her practice is focused on copyright law . . . .
The truth is that, of course, anyone can steal your work even if it is copyrighted. It’s just that you have rights to pursue legal action if and when it is stolen.
Wow, that’s good news. I didn’t realize that. I thought I would have to go through that long arduous process. Why do people choose to go through all that if they don’t have to? Just curious.
Some attorneys find it to be easy money, Christine. I am not saying that is true in your case with your attorney. I just know that if you run this by an objective attorney who doesn’t stand to gain anything, I believe this is what you will be told because it is consistently what I have been told. I’m not an attorney. Just repeating what I’ve learned from attorneys and others who have published books, produced music or art.
These copyright issues can get very confusing so I wanted to add more to this dialogue. I know what you mean about some attorneys, but this one was not interested in having me use her services she was actually recommending I do it myself through copyright.gov
She said that, yes, copyright protection is immediate, but if you dont complete formal copyright registration within 90 days of publishing your material, then you lose that protection when it comes time to take legal action. What are your thoughts on that? Im more than a little confused and quite frankly would like to not have to go through all that work if I dont have to.
Thank you for pushing this issue, Christine. It seems there’s more to this issue that I had initially understood.
Check this out 3.Copyright Myths and Copyrights and Wrongs.
And, here is a tutorial on how to register your own copyright.
Does this help?
Thanks so much Tamara. This was very helpful!
You’re so welcome!
Speaking of ethics…
Most psychotherapists do not know that terms like EMDR, FFT and DBT including their long form meanings like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing are TRADEMARKED. Even new hot selling forms of westernized Mindfulness therapies are trademarked.
Therapists using these terms in their advertising and even practice without written permission can open one to lawsuits from these copyright owners.
And these folks have and will sue you or your business.
Ive been a licensed provider for some 25 plus years and frankly this development in the field concerns me.
I am open to discussion and thougot in the matter.
Jon, thank you for making mention of this.
It’s not a topic that I have ever seen addressed with regard to therapists.
According to Nolo.com trademarked names can be used for “informational or editorial purposes to identify specific products and services, or if your use is part of an accurate comparative product statement.”
What I find to be even more egregious is therapists claiming they offer such techniques even though they are veering away from the protocols that actually define the techniques.
It’s not that I find those changes to necessarily be harmful; but, instead, it is the misrepresentation of what is being offered that concerns me.
For example, if a therapist is offering DBT to clients, then intersession phone coaching is, according to Marsha Linehan who developed this method, one of the most important pieces to be offered.
There is a difference between offering DBT and offering DBT-informed services and my understanding is that failing to distinguish between these is tantamount to an ethical and legal violation of false advertising.
Thanks for this post! This is something to which I will pay more attention.
Hi, Lauren! Welcome back! Hope you’ll pass this post on to your colleagues so that they, too, can pay attention to the risks and actions they can take related to this.
I was browsing the web this morning and saw a Blog about passive income for providers in private practice, and the suggestion was to create a workbook or e-book of activities or go to things that you often use with your clients. I really like the idea of this as it was something I have started putting together anyhow. My question is this, I know that I did not “invest” these ideas. I learned them somewhere, I read them somewhere in my 30 years of experience, but I have no idea where at this point to be able to go back and credit the exact author or creator or the initial idea. How do I create an authentic workbook and list myself as the author without being able to go back and identify where I gained that knowledge from.
Hi, Amy! I’m glad you like the idea of passive income and I appreciate you asking the question about attribution.
When I’m designing a workshop or a product or a service, I take the time to research the major concepts and pieces – attempting to do my due diligence in giving time to proper attribution of those ideas, exercises, and components.
For example, in graduate school, I was first exposed to a self-assessment tool that had me rank my reactions to various groups of people.
It was a life-altering exercise in self-awareness for me – but I was not provided with a name or history behind it.
Because it was so impactful to me personally, I have chosen to use it in various training events that I have facilitated.
In an attempt to identify and give credit, I initially described the tool and posted it on an email list for counselor educators and clinical supervisors (ACA’s email group for ACES).
Several professors were able to provide it’s name – The Riddle Scale – which in turn allowed me to then google to further research the tool.
I learned that psychologist Dorothy Riddle developed the scale.
When I am unable to identify the name, source, and history of something that is not common knowledge (contingent upon the audience), then I give attribution as best I can.
That might mean that I can only say
– “Licensed Professional Counselor Valerie Lemon of Boulder, Colorado was the woman who said to me ‘When People of Color tell you something, just believe them!'” or
– “It was Licensed Professional Counselor Barbara Sheehan-Zeidler who introduced me to the Butterfly Hug exercise as a means to bilateral stimulation” or
– “Founder and co-director of Mandala for Change Marc Weinblatt introduced me to Theatre of Oppression work . . . ” or
– “Andi O’Connor’s blog Burning Down the House offers useful tips for helping survivors of disasters.”
Amy, I think in our profession, it has become too common to just grab an exercise or a concept or idea and then integrate it into our work as “our own.”
I appreciate your honesty and integrity in wanting to own only what is yours and to also give credit to others who have prepared the path before us.