I always believe in 'doing the right thing'.  It amazes me how others don't.

How can someone blatantly steal content from the website of someone else?  Is it really that difficult to just create your own content?

I was reviewing the log files from a client just the other day and noticed a referral from a competitor.  I was curious that they would have a link on their site so I surfed my way over to their site.

I was stunned when I realized that it wasn't a link that they had on their site, however, it was a picture from my client's site.  Looking over the content around the picture, I realized that the competitor had copy and pasted directly from my client, including the picture.  The picture was loading from my client's server.

I sent a nice letter (because it was the right thing to do) explaining that the information was stolen from our site and we would like if they please removed that specific content.

I received a very nasty email back explaining that the information was not stolen and it was theirs.  If we didn't stop this harassment, they would report us to the better business bureau, Google, etc.

How to handle a stolen picture!!!! (Free advertising!)

I decided to take advantage of the opportunity.  (This is a good trick also for those stealing images on message boards, etc)  I renamed the picture and replaced the new picture on my client's site.  I then changed the picture (the one on the competitor's page) to a VERY LARGE banner ad.....(VERY LARGE!...it was impossible to miss), advertising my client's business.  The new picture included all of the benefits of my client and explained how the competitor stole content from our site.  We included the URL on the ad and asked that they use us rather than this competitor since we are honest and they are not.

Anyone going to the competitors site was greeted... on the home page... with this image!

I never heard from the competitor again, but our content was removed within a few days.