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Stealing is Bad — When Did We Forget That?

A grim reminder in case you’re compelled by thievery

By EmariPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
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Source: Freepik

This happens to online creators all the time. Our content gets stolen by some indolent miscreant, who then dares to pass it off as their own — word for word — without even taking the time to give it their unique and individual spin.

Their travesty is at once infuriating and also laughable. I mean, are you really that big of a dolt?

This has happened to me in various ways. One time a local print magazine published one of my photographs without my permission or any attribution. An Etsy seller once copied my digital template and sold it in their shops. What can you do? Such is the nature of doing business and sharing your work on the internet. You have to ask yourself, how much is it worth to send your lawyer after each and every imbecile that dares to steal from you?

The latest theft of my intellectual property comes in the manner of an eBook that’s being sold on Amazon. This eBook is an exact copy of a blog post I wrote. Can you believe the audacity?

The blog post is available for free on my website, but someone is selling it and making money from it. This eBook even has a 5-star rating on Amazon! Where is my 5-star rating, dammit? Those are my words, my hard work, my time, stolen from me just like that.

What’s worse, I wouldn’t even have known someone was stealing and profiting off my content unless a kind reader and subscriber reached out to me and told me that this was happening.

So, I did the only thing I could do — I reported this eBook to Amazon for copyright infringement.

Anyway, this experience has left me with an absolute conviction that people need to be reeducated regarding what is considered theft. We teach our kids not to steal money or other tangible possessions. But content on the internet is just as valuable, if not often more so. Value aside, we should not be taking something — tangible or not and valuable or not — from someone else. Period.

However, given the abundance of content that often overlaps with one another and the volatility of licensing that comes with intellectual or creative, intangible, digital properties, I feel some common-sense guidelines are in order.

I mean, I thought it was common sense that you’re not supposed to take someone’s blog post, put your own name to it, and then sell it on Amazon. But hey, we live in a time where people do not want to get vaccinated because “it’s their choice” or “they’ve great immune strength.” The bar is obviously not where I thought it was. So, here goes a simple set of guidelines (and crucial reminders) if you feel compelled to put your name on someone else’s content.

First, just don’t

Better be safer than sorry. Better be cautious than stupid. Better be good than bad.

So, you’ve found something great online? Leave it alone! You may learn from it, derive information, knowledge, or even pleasure from it (depending on the type of content you’re consuming), but do not, and I repeat, DO NOT copy that work and share on another platform — yours or someone else’s. Regardless of whether you’re profiting from it or not — that doesn’t matter.

Not yours? Leave it be!

As simple as that.

When you want to write about a topic someone else has written already

Believe me, I know the pressure that comes with creating “unique,” “original,” and “authentic” content. As a blogger who often writes about digital marketing, SEO, content creation, side hustles, etc., nothing I come up with is truly original. Moreover, I often learn stuff from other bloggers and then write my own blog posts.

You see, there’s a vast distance between research and theft.

I do the former, not the latter.

And there’s no scenario where you can justify taking someone else’s written words and then passing it off as your own.

Do the research, and then write your own version of whatever it is you’re writing. In fact, I dare you to go the extra mile — create something better than everyone else you’re learning from. If you wish to be a content creator, that’s the only way to make it in this often saturated and complex information market.

Don’t be lazy

I’ve encountered word-for-word plagiarism. But there’s another type of plagiarism where you take all of the content from someone else and only tweak the bare minimum — switch a word here and there, change the order in which some headlines or chapters appear, omit a sentence in the conclusion, rewrite the introduction.

I know common sense is becoming a thing of the past, but still, unless you’re either a complete narcissist or pure evil, you know that’s not enough to pass off a body of work as your own.

DO THE FRIGGIN' WORK!

It’s one thing to quote a sentence or two (with attribution) and another to basically re-writing what someone else has already written.

You know the difference. I bet you do! And if you do, you should also know what you’re doing — you’re STEALING!

What would your mother say if she saw you stealing your neighbor’s wallet?

Yeah…

Catch yourself when you’re about to steal

Better be caught by yourself than someone else, right? Forget legal consequences. Imagine the shame! Surely, no sane and proper human will want to be shamed for stealing someone else’s work!

You’re not a starving kid who has lost their senses out of hunger and desperation. There’s no excuse for your theft when you obviously have the resources to steal someone else’s blog post, convert it into a special format for Kindle, etc.

So, you’re drooling over someone else’s content, and you suddenly have this insatiable urge to pass it off as your own?

Please don’t!

Stop yourself.

You’re strong; I believe in you!

You can do it!

Read Austin Kleon’s “Steal Like an Artist”

I know the title sounds controversial and clickbaity. In fact, if the title is all you’re reading, you may feel compelled to justify theft.

Don’t fall for it. Austin Kleon’s book “Steal Like an Artist” is actually a great book that teaches creators to distinguish between plagiarism and inspiration. Give that book a read — I bet you’ll learn a thing or two.

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And finally, please, people, DO NOT take someone’s sweat and tears. Do the work. Earn your keep. It’s better than trying to make a quick buck off someone else’s back.

humanity
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About the Creator

Emari

Writer/blogger among other things. I'm multi-passionate and enjoy writing about all that attract my attention and interest.

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