I used to worry about other people stealing my work. I make a lot of different kinds of stuff, so there’s a lot to steal. In 35 years of being in business, I have produced many exceptional photos, illustrations, graphic design, advertisements, websites, print collateral, logos, music, and writing to name just a few. And of course I also have a lot of clients for all my competition to try and rip me off too. This is normal. If you’re talented in any way, or in business of any kind, people steal from you.
What about copyright laws? Unless you want to waste a lot of money hiring a lawyer to go after all the thieves and take them to court only to get a judgment against you that they will probably never pay, what’s the point? And that is if you are lucky. Most of the time, in Internet rape cases, the person responsible can never be located, let alone convicted of the crime. But it’s not money I’m after. If it was, why on earth would you be writing articles for internet article directories that don’t pay for the use of your articles? I write for such sites to get the benefit of links for my website and blog. What are back links? They are a vital component of SEO (search engine optimization), as links to my website from popular and highly ranked websites, helping me get first page search results for my own website when searching for the words suitable key in Google. It’s complicated but it works.
I was recently looking for some javascript code that I could use to do something clever on my website. When I found what I wanted to adapt, I checked what the terms of use were. The code writer humbly asked for just $5 if he wanted to remove his name from the invisible credits that would only appear where other code finders would see it. Otherwise it was free. How can you not respect a request like that? I happily left his name despite the fact that I had to spend many hours modifying the code to make it work for my situation, but I did feel a certain affinity with this skilled individual who engendered the utmost admiration and obedience. I treat others as I would like to be treated myself.
It was certainly upsetting when I first realized that my articles were being used inappropriately and posted as if they had been written by someone on the website where I found them. I checked the usage policies of the article websites I had submitted my articles to, which stated that articles were required to be published with a signature line (i.e., the author’s name) along with a link to the website of the author.
After reading that, I thought, “Oh great! Maybe they’ll help me enforce their policies.” But after reading more I quickly learned that it was me responsibility to do any police work, notifying criminals of what they had so innocently overlooked. Once such violations come to light, these well-meaning publishers will be eager to correct their ways. Say oh! That’s a laugh!
Not only do these offending websites have no way of contacting anyone, they are shrouded in secrecy by unknown hosts who ironically invite you to “report abuse”, only to let you know that they cannot accept responsibility for the offenses of individual blog publishers. . If you want to try to post a comment to report the infringement, you usually have to register and log in, revealing all your personal information, so your comment will eventually be picked up by Google associated with a disreputable website in some future search that will follow you up. your grave (Is this where we’re headed, as members of this Google-dominated culture we live in?)
While searching for the title of my article, which is how I discovered stolen uses, I saw something else that made me realize the tangled web we weave on the Internet. One instance of my article used my title verbatim, but what followed in the body of the article was what appeared to be a horrible translation from another language, riddled with errors, in broken English, suggesting that this article had come full circle. I imagined someone posting my article in English, let’s say Chinese for example, and someone translating it back to English for use on the website where I found it. Let’s just say I wasn’t a bit unhappy with the lack of attribution in this situation!
But this is sad… very sad state of affairs, don’t you agree? Or isn’t it more like, “Wake up and smell the coffee! This is reality, so get over it”? Hence my resignation. For starters, as a person with shaky self-esteem, I accept someone hacking my work to call it theirs the same way I accept someone cutting me off in traffic or cutting me in line at the grocery store. It has become so common that what else can you do but just shrug it off? Sure, you could make a scene but, ironically, in today’s society, you’d risk arrest for disturbing the peace and instigating public disturbances. That would be a perfect example of justice today. No, thanks. I’d rather look the other way and be glad I’m not considered the real criminal for posting interesting articles that tempt others to steal them.
But… wait a minute! Isn’t that a website that has actually listed my name as an author? And did you include a link to my image and website too? good now. It’s not so nice of someone, to be so nice! Funny how abiding by the rules we’re all supposed to follow is the new supernatural, worthy of reverence usually reserved for the divine or the immortal.
Are we so jaded that simply obeying the law of the land has been elevated to an act of sanctity and worthy of the grand prize awarded only to superhumans? I guess it follows that telling the truth, showing respect, offering help, and being fair are also beyond the expectations of normal people, and anyone displaying such behavior should be honored with recognition as one of today’s superheroes. Never mind that many religions teach “Thou shalt not steal”; in fact, raised Catholic, I was taught not even to “covet” my neighbor’s goods, much less steal them. It was a mistake to even “covet” them, to use a term made famous (or was it “infamous”?) by Jimmy Carter in a 1976 Playboy interview. But this is more than that. It is not only taking it, but also getting glory from it! And in some cases, it even earns revenue due to the advertising that appears as a result of its sellability and magnetic appeal, thus generating internet traffic to fulfill the promised ad audience. That should fall into a more serious category and worthy of even greater punishment.
And if I wanted to contact a copyright attorney, they would inform me of my many rights in such a case. I would also be informed that I would be responsible for payment to the attorney representing me, whether or not I am successful in apprehending the guilty party. Another case of divine justice gone wrong. My rights are violated and I pay as a result. No pain, no gain, right? The pain is my shock and amazement at having been so blatantly scammed; my outrage at having someone else pose as the perpetrator; and my disgust at having to pay a lawyer to defend my rights. The profit? Obviously all in the thief’s court, so to speak.