Contrary to popular belief, Google does not penalize sites with duplicate content. Google typically identifies the original (oldest) content and ranks that page or website, ignoring the duplicate content. So it doesn’t penalize the originator or the copycats, but it only rewards or acknowledges a single (best) source. Since the methodology applies to title and meta descriptions, it is important to customize those code elements for every page on your website.
Contributors: Kent Lewis from Anvil Media Inc.