I recently opened an email promoting an event that is clearly spending a lot of money on advertising right now in our space – and was shocked to come face to face with a shit load of my own copy, ripped off word-for-word.
So, what SHOULD you do when people rip off your stuff? Do you let it go or do you confront them?
Of course, the problem with confronting people is that when backed into a corner, people lie.
I recently confronted a woman who had ripped off my UVP format and regurgitated it (badly) in an article I also appeared in. When I confronted her about it, she flat out lied – it came from someone else, she said. Uh huh. I know, for a fact, that my UVP format is completely unique in the market – I put it together, alone, in the spare room of my 2 bedroom flat in Footscray at 2am one morning when I had 10 of 15 UVPs (then, USPs) left to write for members in a program I was part of. It didn’t come off the internet, it didn’t come from a book, it came from sitting in front of the computer, actually working through writing the things.
Further, this same woman had signed up and accessed on several occasions the recording where I explain the process (I loves my CRM – it gives me all kinds of useful information).
But what can you do?
I suppose I could sue – but that would cost me a lot of time and money and the outcome would likely not be financial because I’d have to prove that it had cost me clients and money.
So, inevitably when I have this conversation what happens is that someone is all like …
“Waaa – there’s no such thing as an original idea!”
Well, firstly, I COMPLETELY disagree – and I think you should be highly suspicious of anyone who says as much – odds are, with that attitude, they’ll be the next person to rip off your stuff.
But okay, let’s just say for a moment that you’re right (you’re not – but let’s pretend that you are) – here’s some basic IP law for the uninitiated.
You can’t copy protect an “idea”. For instance, I use the concept of having a Unique Value Proposition. I didn’t invent the UVP – that theory has been around for decades. And concepts can’t be copy protected – so I don’t need to reference where I learned it, just like people who learned it from me don’t need to reference that they learned it from me. HOWEVER – if I write an original process and content about the UVP, that content IS protectable and if you’re going to cut and paste it (even if you change a few words) and NOT reference me, then you’ve broken the law.
Basically: concepts okay, content not okay.
Does this mean you should just ignore people ripping off the content you’ve worked your arse off to produce?
I don’t think THAT is the answer either – I understand people who say,
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
Typically, they’ve never produced something that’s been ripped off. It’s extremely frustrating to watch people waltz up and take credit for your hard work. And Leela being Leela, I don’t take too kindly to being messed with like that. Besides, if someone walked into your house and took your computer, would you be like,
“Oh, you should be flattered that they want what you have!”
Okay, go for it – want what I have. But that doesn’t give you the right to just take it. That, my friends, is called THEFT – and you are, in my eyes, the same as a car thief or a computer thief if you copy and paste someone else’s content. If you think what you’re doing isn’t hurting anyone, think again. You have a serious entitlement mentality that needs to be rectified if you want to ever actually be successful.
So, what SHOULD you do?
I guess that’s something you need to decide personally on a case by case basis. If you’re annoyed enough, often the best thing to do is to privately send a Cease and Desist letter – and if you feel it’s worth taking further, talk to your lawyer about the next steps. Most people, when they realise you’re watching, will back down. Some won’t. And you’ve got to decide how much of your headspace you’re going to give that – it may actually be worth giving it quite a bit. Or it may not. That’s going to be an intensely personal decision.
What did I do about the guys who are ripping my stuff off right now?
Nothing.
We’re in the middle of our annual Roadshow push – we’ve got 2 and a half months until the event. I’ve already got a frivolous law suit I’m dealing with from a person in the “I don’t understand why I haven’t made any money in my “business” when I’ve done no work and made lots of excuses” mob. While I’m pissed – I simply don’t have the time or the free headspace to deal with these people … I do find it amusing that they’re teaching content creation and I do wonder if they’ll tell everyone just to go online and copy and paste, using a “creative commons” license (I think there’s a few people who need to read what a creative commons license actually is – it DOESN’T give you permission to steal anything you find on Google. Just FYI.).
I hope my copy is very successful for them. And if they ever grow a conscience, I’ll happily accept a royalty cheque.
I recently had another photographer BLATANTLY rip off guides I’d created for my clients and then deny it to me. She had gone so far as to post them on her website with identical wording and copied the images I’d created so perfectly. Then had the gall to deny it to me, “oh I’ve never seen your stuff”, “I came up with this on my own”.
I think she will have to wake up with herself every morning knowing that she is a thief and a liar and that someone looking at her website decided to contact me to tell me she’d stolen my work.
Some people just aren’t worth you valuable breath Leela. xx
It’s funny, isn’t it? It’s one thing to be a thief – it’s another thing to also be a liar! I think THAT annoys me more. If you’re going to do something, have the GUTS to back yourself and be honest about what you’re doing.
Well-said Leela!
I had something similar happen when a ‘colleague’ decided to rip off much of the content from my website – mistakenly leaving my business name in her terms & conditions of registration which gave her away. Like you, I didn’t have the time to do much about it, but I am a big believer in ‘what you put out there, you will get back’ – so I know she will reap the results of thieving my material, just as your thief will too.
I agree with your thoughts at that crappy statement about imitation being flattery – flatter me with money for my work instead I say!
Cheers,
Clare
What galls me is the “coaches” who then tell you to be flattered and happy while getting stolen from because they read in a book once that being enlightened means being a doormat – seriously?
I’ve always wanted to make an offshore wall of shame website.
Put up their name and face. Only two ways to learn sometimes.. Shame and PAIN.
Then again… I’ve been doing ANTI-SEO since before it was cool
Copyscape their shit and hang the dirty laundry for all to see.
Anonymously of course.
Doesn’t surprise me that they lie, that’s what people do when they’re put on the spot, because they’re a bit too dim to see how stupid it is. I call it the “hit and run” mentality or, alternatively, the “cheating husband” mentality. (c) Jenna Cosgrove 2012 all rights reserved you may never ever use those terms without my written consent.
I know how it feels when someone plagiarises your information that you have sweated blood and tears to create, and regurgitates it as their own – it has happened to me too. Yet your point about how much time, head space and energy you allow it to take up is dead on. The emotional cost can far exceed the financial one. If it ruins your day – you never get the time back, or the energy that could have gone somewhere productive. Confronting the situation in a way that motivates the perpetrator to make a different choice, while unpleasant, is sometimes necessary. Don’t let the bastards get you down!