You might be among the many podcasters who are wondering what Podcasts.com is all about. Maybe you noticed other podcasters asking questions about it online. Or, you could be among the podcasters who received an email from Podcasts.com that asked you to “get started today”.

When I visited their website, I discovered they had posted episodes of my podcast even though they never had permission to do so. Is your podcast there, too? You might want to check on that.

For me, this started when I got an email from Podcasts.com. Immediately, I was skeptical. The email address they sent it to is one I used for a podcast called Halfway Around the World, which is no longer in production. The final episode is titled “This is Goodbye”, and the show notes clearly state that we have decided to end the podcast, forever. It was very obvious that the show is over and done with.

Oddly enough, the email sent to me from Podcasts.com said “Hello Dawnforge Productions”. The Halfway Around the World podcast was one of many podcasts that are part of Dawnforge Productions. It seemed strange to me that the email didn’t specifically mention Halfway Around the World. The only way I knew that was the show they were referring to was by deducing what I’d connected that particular email address to.

I started taking a close look at Podcasts.com to see what this was all about. The email, and the website, both state that Podcasts.com offers 100% free podcast hosting. They also offer unlimited bandwith, unlimited storage space, and unlimited podcasts. Why on earth would they be offering this to what is, in reality, a “dead” podcast?

I was talking to my husband, Shawn, about this. (He is also a contributor here at Podcaster News). He discovered that Podcasts.com had the podcast that he and I do together on their website. Our show was originally called Hyper Nonsense, and it started in 2006. The show changed names a few times (to Gemini Dragon, and No Market Radio) before returning to its original name.

Podcasts.com has our show listed as “GeminiDragon.tv (formerly Hyper Nonsense)”. They stole the image from the Gemini Dragon website and posted it on their website. (Amusingly, the image is a screenshot from World of Warcraft.) Podcasts.com has our most recent episodes and episodes that go back to 2012.

The thing is, neither myself, nor Shawn, ever gave Podcasts.com permission to post our content there. Neither one of us has ever signed up to their website. Podcasts.com grabbed the content anyway. Their website does not link back to our website, either.

Obviously, I was irate. I had to do some digging, but it turns out that Podcasts.com is owned by Emerge Media. At the very bottom of the Podcasts.com website, there is a tiny link that says “Press”. Click it, and you can find an email address for Antonio Bumanglag, the Director of Marketing. (It’s Antonio at emergemedia.com).

I sent them an email and have very clearly stated that I want Podcasts.com to remove all of the content they have taken from our podcast. I pointed out that they never had permission to post our content on their website. It remains to be seen how soon I get a response from anyone at Emerge Media or Podcasts.com.

Is your podcast’s content at Podcasts.com? You might want to check and see.