Imitation is sincerest form of flattery?
I’m not sure what to do about this. I stumbled across this blog and noticed that she copied one of my posts word for word and is passing it off as her own (at least there is no reference to me anywhere).
Compare for yourself:
Her post
I’m feeling a little creeped out by this. Should I do something? If so, what?
Filed under: Blog — Childsplayx2, Copyright (c) 2005-12 @ 8:32 pm Comments (13)
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Hmm. It looks like your’s is not the first that has been borrowed… Her post about “Swiffering” was taken from Ramblings of a SAHM.
Comment by Aunt Liz — November 15, 2005 @ 10:23 pm
you should go make a comment & explain the niceties of nicking stuff (it’s generally ok if credited).
She may not know what or how to do it.
Or at least you can feel vindicated by linking to yourself in her comments so future readers know.
Comment by Mrs Aginoth — November 16, 2005 @ 1:58 am
I like Mrs A’s suggestion of linking in the comments. I’d be curious to know if she let it stand or if she’d remove it.
What she’s done isn’t “flattery”, of couse, it’s “plagiarism”. Of you and SAHM, and who knows who else, if this is her pattern? How cheesy and lazy! On something copywrited, that would be illegal, but I guess blogs are public property?
I’m wondering: since yours is a private blog, can you actually get copywrite for what’s in here? How does that work, anyway?
Do you want us all to go over and tell her off?
Comment by Mary — November 16, 2005 @ 4:26 am
p.s. I checked for an email. She doesn’t show one. Otherwise I was going to suggest a private email to her, asking her either to credit you or remove it; noting that you know she’s done it to other people, and it’s illegal.
Oh! And my husband suggests that if she won’t do that, you contact her regular commenters (assuming she has any) and provide a link to your post and SAHM’s plagiarized posts, and suggest they stop reading her because what she’s doing is wrong. I rather like that one.
Comment by Mary — November 16, 2005 @ 4:31 am
Dude – that’s just wrong. If I were a mean-spirited person (which I’m not by the way, contrary to anything you may or may not have heard….damn rumors) I’d flame her site. It would be one thing had she just gotten inspiration from your post, but to out-and-out lift it? Man, I’ve had days when I just had nothing or had hit that road-block, but I’ve never considered copying and pasting from someone I read.
I think I just might leave a comment. We’ll see.
Comment by Mr. Big Dubya — November 16, 2005 @ 6:02 am
Borderline psychotic and just plain weird. Want to know the truth? I don’t think she even has any kids! That photo of her baby looked eerily familiar. I think it came with a picture frame I bought recently.
But really, I think the easiest and most time-effective strategy for you is to contact Blogger. Inform them of the plagiarism being propagated on their hosting site and request that they shut down the woman’s blog. I think that’s the easiest way.
Let us know how it turns out. By the way, how’d you find that creepo?
Comment by MetroDad — November 16, 2005 @ 6:21 am
Gosh, this sounds eerily familiar, but slightly different. I very recently went through similar issue with my site being copied on Greatest Journal. Someone had built a site using my name and it was just pulling in the full text from my RSS feeds and displaying ads. It comes down to the principal of the situation. My content is my content. Certainly we all love to share, but explicitly state where you are getting your inspiration or information from. Bottom line? After changing me feed, so that every post had a footer that said “Greatest Journal is stealing this content” and a cease and desist letter, the blog was removed. Good luck!
Comment by The Parental Olympian — November 16, 2005 @ 6:40 am
Want me to leave a comment letting her know hoe much I enjoyed her post…the first time…on your blog? hee,hee. I know Dooce has had this problem, and she contacts the person asking them to take it down.
Comment by amy — November 16, 2005 @ 6:42 am
You wanta we go over-a there-a and take-a care of her? We have our ways…
Comment by Busy Mom — November 16, 2005 @ 7:07 am
Whatever you post is automatically copywrited. (Unless you have a Creative Commons license, which then gives specific situations where it is okay to post something without permission.)
Comment on her blog with a link to your post, demanding that she remove it, and noting that you know that the “Swiffering” post was also plagerized.
If you like, the rest of us can also comment on that entry calling her out.
I seem to remember finding her blog once, but now I don’t know in what context. Hmmmm.
Comment by Kari — November 16, 2005 @ 7:44 am
She has at least two of my posts on her site (the Swiffer and Daylight Savings Time). I can’t believe someone would actually do this. Thanks for the heads up, I’m not sure where to go from here with it.
Comment by Katie — November 16, 2005 @ 7:47 am
Strange lady. Seeing as she’s done it over and over again is just pathetic.
Funny that you mentioned this b/c I had something on a much smaller scale happen to me. I posted a video clip to my blog recently that another reader lifted and posted to their blog without referencing me. It could be just a coincidence but it was such a unique clip and the person posted it to their site the day after I posted mine so it just felt like too much of a coincidence. I love it when people think something on my blog is interesting enough to post to their blog, which I consider borrowing, but to just take it and take full credit for it is stealing. There is such a thing as blog etiquette.
Comment by Rose — November 16, 2005 @ 8:26 am
This woman has never had an angry Mexican mother on her ass. I’m getting my shoes on RIGHT NOW!!
Comment by Grandmother — November 16, 2005 @ 4:16 pm