This column is for those of you who would like to protect your work against plagiarists .. I have compiled a few methods that I use myself which are very effective in protecting my work .. I hope they can be of use to you ..
Using Google Alerts to Fight Plagiarism:
Rather than painstakingly searching the web for plagiarists who may have stolen your poetry .. use google alerts .. it's free and easy to set up, but is time consuming, however it is worth it in the long run ..
What are google alerts? .. Google Alerts are emails automatically sent to you when there are new Google results for your search terms
Setting up these alerts is simple, but as I mentioned above time consuming .. here is a step by step guide to help you protect your work against plagiarism:
1. Go to set up your google alerts account .. go to www.google.com/alerts
2. You will need to set up an account .. use an email address that you check on a regular basis .. I use a yahoo mail address
3. Once you have created your account .. you can start adding search terms to be spidered on a regular basis .. it is important to verify your google account before you reach your tenth search term, otherwise it won't add anymore for you .. you only have to do this once!
4. It's impossible to place a whole poem into the search terms .. therefore you need to select bits and pieces of your poem .. I usually take parts from each stanza of a poem .. something that is unique .. I'll use Plath's poem 'Child' as an example
please note that when you add your search term you need to enclose the term within double quotes .. you will see the example below.. this tells google to search for the exact sequence of words, rather than jumbling the words, otherwise you'll get a million alerts in your email box 
Child by Sylvia Plath
Your clear eye is the one absolutely beautiful thing.
I want to fill it with color and ducks,
The zoo of the new
Whose name you meditate —
April snowdrop, Indian pipe,
Little
Stalk without wrinkle,
Pool in which images
Should be grand and classical
Not this troublous
Wringing of hands, this dark
Ceiling without a star.
okay now what you need to do if this were your poem or what Sylvia would do if she were alive today (bless her cotton pickins) .. is you would extract parts of the poem like this ..
"I want to fill it with color and ducks"
"The zoo of the new whose name you meditate"
"April snowdrop, Indian pipe"
"Stalk without wrinkle"
"Pool in which images should be grand and classical"
"this dark ceiling without a star"
That may seem over the top .. and you may only choose to put in the first couple, however I like to protect myself .. everyone is different .. and I would recommend taking your unique voice and the parts that no body else could have written in the world .. and place them as a search term .. plagiarists are sneaky .. and you need to be sneakier 
.. and you need to do this with every single poem you want to protect .. I have pages and pages of alerts in my account at google ..
You also need to set the little box next to the search term to 'Web' not 'News' .. otherwise google will only search news sites for your terms .. and you can then set the alert to how often you will be notified .. once a day, once a week or as it happens .. I have mine set to once a day ..
Then it's just a matter of waiting for the email alerts to roll in .. you'll find your own allpoetry pages are some of the first to come into your inbox .. this is a good sign .. and means that you've put the search terms in correctly ..
Other ways that I personally protect my work:
1. When I have completed a poem .. I always take a copy of it before posting it anywhere .. I place it in an envelope .. seal it up .. address it to myself, write the name of the poem on the back of the envelope .. stamp it and then I go put it in the mail ..
Why do I do this? .. because if my work is ever stolen by anyone .. I have proof .. a sealed envelope with a datemark on the front of it that contains my piece of work in my own handwriting safely inside .. just don't open it when it's delivered to you .. chances are, this will stand up in a court of law if you ever need it in future .. when you start posting things on the internet and submitting them willy nilly all over the place, it's always good to have a back up ..
2. I have a forum that is only viewable by myself .. I realise that not all of us have access to forums, but there are millions of free blog sites on the web that offer privacy options, where no one else can view your work .. I always add my pieces to my private forum before posting it out in the public eye .. this way I have a time stamp and date stamp on the piece that I have posted and you can generally easily prove that you'd posted it long before the plagiarist with this method ..
another good reason to use this method, is that if anything were to happen to your home computer, then you always have a safe place to find your work on the internet .. trust me, this method has saved my neck in the past
Final Note:
I hope this column helps those of you who would like to take the extra few steps to protect your work from plagiarists .. it truly is worth it ..
I just received this comment from Catz which I think is very helpful:
catz 7 minutes ago
the catz on the prowl .....again !!!!! 12034 critiques, 196 poems. (moderator) Currently online. said:
I think you've written a very useful column, antique. Even though as a moderator we often use the web search to varify plaegerism, and I've even found my own poetry on the web for the fun of it, (posted just under my own name, fortunatly, I guess no one fonds my poetry good enough to steal ...lol) I hadn't thought to use the web to protect my writings as you've suggested here. and since I have only a zillion things to do on a regular basis, I should get started on this right away
You also referred to using the mail to protect our work. I knew about this avenue but I was told a long time ago, by I don't remember who.... to take the stamped envelope with poetry inclosed directly to the clerk at the post office, have them put the Post Office cancellation in various places on the envelope, any place where it could be opened, like along the seams, etc. Then just keep it instead if actually mailing it. That way you have instant proof, you don't have to be worried about it being lost or damaged in the mail, and the cancellations are legal.
Again, very good article and I, along with the others, appreciate it very much.
Dee
Thanks Catz
to those of you who have left messages saying you have set up your google alerts from this piece .. I'm really glad I have helped in some way
Someone asked about what you do when you do find a person who has plagiarized your work .. I have personally had this happen to me and was able to deal with it myself .. I will write a follow up column on what to do over the next couple of days and send the link to those of you who are interested .. so please leave a message in the comments if you would like the link to that column once it is completed
Please note that the best way to protect your home mailed poem is to have a postal ink stamp put across the seal, that way if anything happens .. anyone can see the seal hasn't been tampered with ..
I will add things here as I think of them
Adding your comment:
the library of congress does a blank submittal form if you really want it protected...
...and I've already made the mistake of posting all of my poetry before doing the private posting in a blog or mailing it to myself...what would you reccomend in my situation? 
..
This was a fantastic column, one that I think should hopefully remain on the minds of all who have read it. Thank you for taking the time to help others out. I admire that, because there’s not many of us left in the world that do. 
.. you would type in "Johnny Depp" and the alerts would constantly email you every time a new piece of information on him were to arise on the internet, although you'd get swamped with emails if you did that 
i am so paranoid 
