Plagiarism
<< The article below is reprinted with permission:
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Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 19:21:49 EST
From: rozmw@aol.com
Subject: e-book information: If someone plagiarizes your work, it's my fault.
If someone plagiarizes your work, it's my fault.
We are all interconnected in this vast ocean of life. We are all responsible for each other.
How many times have I heard words like the above, silently agreed with them and then went on with my daily life as a singular person with my individual problems that had nothing to do with anyone else's? That was my frame of mind . . . until someone plagiarized my work.
It all started on September 5th. On September 5, 2000 several people who had read my e-book, e-mailed me and told me that someone was selling a book that was exactly the book that I had written and promoted for the past two years. The plagiarized version of my e-book was being sold ALONGSIDE my book at Booklocker.com (unbeknownst to them, of course) as well as the plagiarizer's website.
I contacted both the plagiarizer and the owner of Booklocker.com and told them my findings and asked them to please explain. Angela (the owner of Booklocker.com) read both e-books and said that "YES" they were the same book and took them both down from her website until further explanations were available. The plagiarizer e-mailed me, Angela and the various accusers saying she had never seen my book, didn't know anything about me or my book and "how ironic" that we were had similar material.
I replied (to everyone) that it was indeed "ironic" since I had receipts that proved that she had indeed purchased my book and from the existence of the plagiarized copy, read the book. The receipt is dated May 5, 2000 - 8:41:18PM Pacific Time. Clickbank (the credit card processor that I used at the time)confirmed that the plagiarizer did indeed purchase the e-book from me at the stated time.
That was all that Angela (the owner of Booklocker.com) and myself needed as evidence. The owner of Booklocker.com, reinstated my e-book, took the plagiarizer's books down and banned her from Booklocker.com.
Citing copyright infringement, I immediately called my attorney. After much research, both my attorney and I found that not only was the plagiarizer SELLING my work, she copied information verbatim from my website [Job Listings] that took me hours to research, saying she had researched and found them. She then used this stolen information as a promotional tool to get more hits to her site. She also used passages from my e-book verbatim in her free e-zine with no credit, reference or mention of me or my e-book. She used my exact words as if she had written them.
My attorney wrote a cease and desist letter demanding that she erase all the information on my books from all her storage devices, send my attorney all copies of my materials that she held and to no longer use any of my information in her free e-zine, website or anywhere else.
She complied and sent my attorney a letter of apology. In that letter she said that she did not have anything to send us, and that all material had been erased.
My attorney wanted to continue with legal proceedings, but I thought (like a fool) that she had learned her lesson and this was a "life lesson learned." Looking back, I was just being lazy I suppose. I really didn't want to get into the whole litigation process . . . it would take too much time . . . it would take too much money . . . it would be too stressful. There were a number of convincing reasons to accept the apology and just go on. But of all those reasons, laziness was the most prominent. So I accepted the apology and moved on . . . or so I thought.
Five months later, I found that she was still using my job listing that I compiled at her free website . . . "http://freejobs.hypermart.net" along with other listings from other telecommuting websites. There is still no credit or identification of where she got the information.
She is using a "re-worded" version of the first few paragraphs of my e-book STILL on her website as an introduction to herself.
But the real kicker -- just a two days ago, someone I do not know, e-mailed me telling me that she just spent $49.99 at the plagiarizers new website for a package of e-books. Lo and behold what was within that package? The plagiarized work of course!
Note, that this is the work that the plagiarizer PROMISED she had erased for all storage devices. This purchaser who contacted me about this second bout of plagiarism said she would immediately ask for a refund because she had purchased my e-book long ago and recognized it immediately. The purchaser provided evidence of her purchase with receipts and an actual copy of the plagiarized book (which she should not have had had the plagiarizer TRULY destroyed all copies as she promised).
So now, because of me and my laziness, YOU are all in danger. You are in danger of having your work plagiarized, repackaged and sold with another person's name on it. All because I took my "responsibility" lightly . . . all because I just didn't feel like going through the trouble of litigation.
The frightening part of this whole story is that "the plagiarizer" has begun a "new project" in which she is offering a website to advertise other writer's e-books. To gain a space within her website an e-book author would pay her up to $120 to have their e-book listed. Not only will she charge the e-book author/publisher but also there is a danger that she will continue her plagiarism with new material, given to her by unsuspecting authors.
Now you understand, why I say with conviction, "We are responsible for each other."
I am responsible for YOUR success. And if someone plagiarizes your work, I am responsible for that too. I'm ready for the hate mail. I'm ready for the "how irresponsible can you be?" mail. I am ready for your disappointment.
I should have realized when plagiarism first happened, that it was selfish to just take an apology and go on with life. The injustice of plagiarism wasn't just an injustice to me; it was an injustice to my COMMUNITY (the world of e-writers and e-books). I should have realized that I was putting my whole, entire community in danger. Please forgive me.
Copyright (c) 2001 Rosalind Mays. All Rights Reserved. Rosalind Mays is the author of "The Real Deal on Telecommuting," (the plagiarized work). You may purchase the REAL book at the author's website [http://telejobs.cjb.net], at Sienna Publishing's website [http://www.siennapublishing.com], or at Booklocker.com [http://www.booklocker.com/bookpages/rosalindmays01.html] If you wish more information on this incident or wish to know the identity of the plagiarizer, contact Rosalind Mays at RozMW@aol.com.
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