What I’m reading: The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor
What’s on the iPod: This End of the Telescope by Jakob Dylan
What a great Webinar! Thanks to everyone who participated. The discussions were great, and we had a great time.
I spent the weekend wondering if I should even post this. I’m more live-and-let-live than I let on, but there are some things I cannot stomach. I bring it up because it affects you all – someone has been lifting my ideas and putting their own spin on them. Worse, that someone has built a following, claiming these ideas as “original.” Well, they are. They’re original to me.
I’m not talking about ideas that we all share, like hatred of content farms, writing letters of introduction, or hosting online seminars. I’m talking about taking my original concepts – ones you’ve heard here first – and branding them as their own. And they’re stealing from other blogs, as well.
How it affects you – I was inches from putting password protection on this site. I don’t mind people blogging about the same things and mentioning this discussion on their blogs. I do that. It’s called attribution, and it’s the decent thing to do. We share ideas here and across the blogosphere, but that sharing doesn’t mean taking someone’s unique ideas and claiming them as one’s own. Nope. That’s theft.
Thankfully a friend talked me down or we’d all be logging in to view today. It creates a huge dilemma because now I’m reluctant to share like I’ve done all these years, knowing that the respect you all have shown (meaning everyone in the blogosphere) is now marred by someone who’s only thought is to build a career off the backs of everyone else.
I could confront. I could out the person. But that starts flame wars, and I’m not interested. Besides, we are a close-knit community, even the bad seeds, and I’d rather not divide over something personal. My best approach, in my opinion, is to go on working as though the blogger doesn’t exist. There will come a time – the right time – when this will be dealt with personally. Not here. Not right now. I need to calm down first.
I think the part that really irks me is that now this blogger is offering themselves up as the expert on all things writing-related. This from someone whose ideas are recycled from here and from gawd knows where else.
So I apologize if I go a little underground in my topics for a while. You may have noticed it already anyway. I pulled back a week ago when it became apparent. I hate that I felt the need to. You deserve better.
One thing is certain – my voice cannot be stolen or copied. That you’ll always have, like it or not. The accused has been noticed by lots of people, some of whom have alerted me in private. There seems to be an undercurrent of aversion to this particular blogger growing. I’ve heard about a lot, and it started last year, when my initial response was “Who? Never heard the name.” I can’t imagine how many other writers are upset that I’ve not heard about. I will say from what I’ve seen, my writing is a lot cleaner and a lot less sensationalistic. (Allow me that snarky moment, at least.)
In the end the posers will falter. They always do. Those who spend time building their careers organically – by working hard, learning as they go, and building credibility – will thrive. So I suspect this will sort out on its own sooner rather than later.
A lesson for all writers, new or veteran:
Be yourself. If the accused had any idea how many people have seen what’s happening, he/she may realize the damage already done. If you want to be original, be yourself. You have your own uniqueness. Share it – not someone else’s uniqueness.
Teach, but do so from your own experiences. You can’t stand behind statements made by others from their experiences. And trust me, even newbies see through it. If you don’t have the experience to teach anything new yet, give it time. Expand your business and take note of what you’ve discovered.
Stop exaggerating your importance. You are not an expert in say e-book writing because you’ve written one. You can’t call yourself an expert just because you want to be. Being an expert means understanding the topic from all angles and having the common sense to know that your approach isn’t the only way to get the job done. You may suffer being proven wrong – publicly – someday. We all learn as we go, even us veterans.
Respect your community. You’re surrounded by fantastic people who will support you like family. Don’t screw it up by stealing from them or making yourself out to be their superior. No one likes a show-off, especially one with little to back the boasts with.
Attribute. If you can’t understand the basic concepts of attributing your sources – all sources, including other bloggers – you have no business being a writer. Give credit and share ideas. Don’t claim what isn’t yours, or your audience, when they discover it, will abandon you. As will your community.
Don’t be a blowhard. Don’t offer unwanted advice. Don’t brag incessantly. Don’t put yourself above the rest of your writing community or you’ll soon find yourself an outcast wondering how you got there.
Now let’s see how long before this is copied.
Have you witnessed or been victim of theft or copyright infringement?
26 responses to “Thievery, Deceit, and Copyright Stomping”
How disgusting! How did you find out? I hope you do call them out.
I read this and got really angry, so I can only begin to imagine how you must feel.
I find this appalling and while it may not help you, I strongly believe in karma, what goes around comes around and someone this amoral will eventually come unstuck.
Chin up, we value what you write because it comes from the heart.
This rotten person obviously reads your blog so my advice to them is GET A LIFE!
This is definitely a downside of the Internet, and it really sucks. Big time. You've been such an invaluable resource for writers trying to make this freelance thing happen – I for one have you to thank for the information you've always so generously shared.
Interestingly you're the third writer within the past 7 days that has publicly revealed that they are dealing with this very issue. One writer has been going back and forth for months with the exhausting task of confronting the culprit. I hate to hear that you're dealing with this.
I'm feeling you on the potential mess that could come from outing this thief. It probably isn't even worth it. I'm glad that others are noticing what's happening. I'm a BIG believer in karma.
Maybe we can form a posse and leave comments like Hey, you know I think I've read this exact post somewhere else-wait, I know I have. Why are you stealing someone's work?
I joke, but there is nothing funny about it.
Cathy, I've been wondering for a while, but it was when others alerted me that I took it seriously. I don't mind at all someone using the same ideas as long as they say where they got them. I had some time last week to cruise around the blogs and I got curious. The angry part came after I stewed over it.
The weird part? I'm not the only one being stolen from. Some of the stuff I read was echoing other bloggers, too.
Fiona, I'm totally with you. Karma is the best approach.
I think the reason I posted was so I could send a message. And too, even the stuff we hate the most creates lessons we can learn from.
Kim, I wonder if they're suffering at the hands of the same person?
What sucks is that it has to be dealt with at all. This shouldn't exist. But again, learning from it means I learn to ignore it or face it head on. I opt to ignore for the moment for a few reasons – I do NOT want this person getting any mileage out of it. If there's a tiff, it should stay offline as much as possible. I know I can keep that privacy, but I suspect it wouldn't be reciprocated.
LOL! Cathy, that's funny. I needed the laugh. 🙂
First, I'm glad to hear the webinar went well, and I'm sorry I couldn't check it out. It was an "away" weekend. 🙁
As for the content mooching, I'm sorry you had to deal with that. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in business that's utter BS. I've been there, so I know the feeling — from people seeing an announcement that I'll post something and rushing to do it first to someone blatantly playing on my trademarked business name and using copy pulled directly from my site and the sites of a few colleagues. In the latter case I even knew the writer fairly well, so it was doubly offensive. I addressed it privately, got the domain from them and they changed the site material.
In general I find these folks are uncertain of their own voice. Either they'll find it eventually (and hopefully before they completely destroy their reputation) or they'll flop and move on to something else. I know it's not much to take solace in, but it's something.
Cathy, I like your idea. I'd leave a comment like that. If someone will point me to the stolen ideas, I'll do it.
I agree about giving unwanted advice, and here's what you should do …
It is a problem–actually, it's always been a problem, and because of the interwebs we get to see all of it instead of just the times we stumble upon a printed page that has our words on it (I had to track down a newspaper in Canada once for stealing–cough, sorry, "reprinting" my work).
A friend in town who does a well-respected city-happenings blog was complaining that someone contacted him to get information for a new website; basically asking him for permission to steal his content, and my friend's reaction was "Well, there's nothing I can do, information is free." Not MY bloody information, it's not!
The good thing is you know about it. The bad thing is you know about it. There are services like Tracer and Copyscape that let you search out your content … but don't you have enough to do? I've resorted to a firm email or three when it really pisses me off, particularly if it's an ad-based website, but usually I pity the poor kid (mentally or chronologically) and move on.
Wow, Lori. This is terrible. I don't read enough writing blogs to have any idea who you're talking about, but whoever it is is behaving shamefully.
I'm a little more confrontational than you, in part because there's a concept in the law called waiver or that if you allow breaches to go unchallenged, you may waive your right to assert your rights later.
So if I saw enough examples of my work being ripped off, I'd blog about it, linking to my posts and the ones I thought were unlawfully similar. I'd couch it in enough "maybe I'm wrongs" and other hedging phrases to insulate myself from liability, but I'd still do it.
It's essentially the same situation as the Cook's Whatever magazine editor. A public shaming not only stopped her but educated a whole lot of other people on the rights of writers to their own material.
I say go for it. You must protect your work.
Jenn, you really have had similar situations. In fact, your content seems to be echoed right alongside mine on the blog in question.
I don't mind people taking an idea and putting their own spin on it. I think that's fantastic, actually. I DO mind people taking posts and repeating it like little parrots, right down to subheads in some cases. It's pathetic.
You're right – they don't have a voice of their own (and maybe never will). As Joseph says, pity them and move on.
It's posts like "Market when you're busy!" that clearly came from here (complete with nearly-verbatim lists of where to look for work) that piss me off (I'm beyond the word "ticked" I'm afraid).
Joseph, I've never been one to put a copyright notice on my site because frankly, writers should know better. But that may be my future method of operation. I'm with you – it's MY ideas (almost to the outline of the posts) and I don't enjoy helping someone write their blogs without my knowledge. It's too "content farm-y" in nature. "Just revise what's already written? Wow! I can do this!"
Yes, and you can lose your reputation, just like all those content farmers who are doing the same damn thing.
Gabriella, it IS similar to that magazine, isn't it?
See my note to Kim on why I don't want to say anything. I'm pretty sure it would become a public thing from the other person's perspective.
forgive me for channeling e.e. cummings, but my shift key isn't working. might have something to do with a tiny bit of tea i spilled on it friday. keyboard shopping is underway.
about three seconds in to reading your post i knew exactly who you were referring to. the problem is this offender simply won't realize they're the one being discussed. i wouldn't be surprised if he/she didn't comment here about all the thousands of people who've violated his/her copyright. to me the scariest part is this person claims to be a mentor and coach – lord knows what bad habits are being taught to gullible newbies.
i love cathy's idea, but reuse to add even one more page view to the offender's blog.
my experience with copyright infringement dates back to a scholarly paper i wrote in college. the topic was emily dickinson's poems that focused on her obsession with the moment of death. it was published in the dickinson studies journal. maybe years ago a major publisher twice purchased one-time repub rights to include it in two anthologies. at some point, they sold their copyright to those anthologies to two separate websites that charge people – mostly students – to read the articles online. i've written to all parities. the websites refuse to remove my essay because they were assured the rights were owned by the anthology publisher. the publisher blew me off. i later learned they'd settled a class action copyright infringement case and i was late to the party. i still badger them from time to time, hoping someone with a conscience has been hired in their rights and clearances department.
Fair point, Lori. I see why you don't want to give him publicity.
Seriously? *facepalm*
I agree with Jenn, that he'll eventually self-immolate; and with Kimberly that karma will eventually have out. But if you reconsider Cathy's comment posse idea, I'll ride shotgun.
rats. my comment didn't show up. it was great, too, i tell you. great. i'd add an exclamation point, but my shift key is broken.
short version – i immediately knew who lori was talking about. the problem is the offender won't recognize they are the one being discussed here. i wouldn't be surprised if the offender posted a comment commiserating with lori and offering a link to their blog that – coincidentally – just happens to be on the exact same topic. scary part is this person claims to be a mentor and coach, so the mind reels at what gullible newbies are being taught by him/her.
i like cathy's idea but don't want to give the offender's blog any more page views. that would only feed their ego.
then i mentioned my experience with copyright infringement…which i probably mentioned here before, anyway.
LOL! Jake, I'm glad you're in my posse. 🙂 No, I'm not into beating up on the oblivious. I'd much rather let them know personally – and in the right time. I should be flattered, but it's tough when there's an entire audience out there thinking this person is the originator of everyone else's hard work.
Karma's a bitch, so I'm sure it's coming.
Paula, you probably do know who it is. You may have brought it up to me in the first place.
Well, if you don't want to for the posse with Jake riding shotgun, we could just use words like his self-immolate in their comments and have them scrambling for a way to use it their next post.
PS-Paula-I laughed out loud & you are soooo right on. 🙂
I like when you said:
“My Voice cannot be stolen or copied.” (Loving that quote, Lori.)
You’re right. You have a unique voice. A person can put their name on your work, try to change a few words, but YOUR voice will still come through. People are not stupid, they do figure those things out. When they do, they’ll feel cheated and leave. The blogger in question, will bite themselves in the butt, without any flame wars or accusations on your part.
I’ve seen things like this in motivational blogs. People become Ex-Spurts by adopting the exact same expressions and views of other motivational bloggers. Credit is given to themselves instead of where it’s really deserved. The consistency isn’t there anymore, because they’re not using their own voice.
ex-spurts – i love it, wendy. i think you hit the nail on the head.
This really makes me mad. I haven't read everyone else's comments yet, so forgive me if I'm repeating, but I do think that that kind of action will come back to bite that writer. Call it karma or what you will, but those kind of people rarely learn until they get caught. But they will get caught because who can keep up that facade forever? And you're exactly right — readers notice! Keep up the good ORIGINAL work, Lori. You're really an inspiration for many of us 🙂 And you've got a great attitude about this.
OK I'm done. Going to read the rest of the comments. *grumble grumple*
Lori, good on you for not reacting impulsively! What seems important is that people are recognizing the situation even without you having to take any action! You've got a lot of people on your side! =) Hope it makes you feel warm and fuzzy (to counteract the ickiness)!
Sam
Lori,
I'm so sorry this is happening to you. But as you and others have said, thieves may be able to copy your words, but they can't copy your unique voice.
Cathy, both you and Jake in a posse is a sure-fire winner. 🙂
Wendy, maybe that's where the practice became rampant. I've seen it, too.
Not that ideas are all fresh, but the spins put on them sure are.
Ashley, I suspect karma has already started to work its magic, judging from what I've heard over the past year. 🙂
Sam, it does make me feel good. I knew you guys were great support, and I appreciate you all for it. 🙂 That said, the nameless one will remain so. I saw the writing community nearly ripped apart not long ago over one particular disagreement (and it wasn't even someone doing anything close to this). I won't be the cause of it.
Thanks, Lillie! I'm so glad to see you. 🙂
Found your comment in the Spam folder, Paula! You've been saved. 🙂
first i was spammed, then i was saved. thank you – being surrounded by spam is only good if it's in the middle of a monty python skit.
LOL! I agree. 🙂