7 Easy Ways Parents Can Sneak in Date Night
8 Tips to Help You Get Through a Breakup
Beyond Dinner and a Movie: 12 Unique Valentine's Day Date Ideas
Relationship Experts Share the 10 Most Common Issues in a Marriage
Survey Reveals Who Women Are More Likely to Have an Affair With
10 Things I Learned About Love the Second Time Around
5 Reasons Why I Will Never Fall in Love with My Son's Sperm Donor
Getting Out of the Date-Night Rut
My Husband Is the Head of Our Household
14 Things I Learned in a Decade of Marriage
I Was Accidentally Manipulating My Husband
I'm a "Cheesy" Guy, and Proud of It
Why Every Mom Needs a Non-Mom BFF
I'm So Glad We Stayed Married "For the Kids"
12 Little Things My Husband Does That Make Me Smile
Why Dating Yourself Can Strengthen Your Marriage
12 Pieces of Dating Advice I Wish I'd Followed
16 Love Lessons I Have Learned from My Children
7 Ways Marriage Has Helped Boost My Self-Esteem
Why My Love Is Like Gold
Let’s be honest here… in my little blog bubble, I live with mostly other bloggers. Of course we all have people stop by who don’t write, and follow us, and become parts of our lives. But the lion’s share of people who stop by here have a URL to leave in the comments section. And that’s ok. That’s how it is. Always has been. Probably always will be. But what it means is that the majority of us here understand what it means to publish online. And for those of you who don’t actually do it yourselves, I firmly believe my readers are smart enough to figure it out.
And so it is that it positively sickens me when some of the most basic rules of online etiquette are breached. I recognize that I make my words public. That the thoughts and feelings here are out there for anyone to read. And I’m good with that. That’s why I do it. And I understand that doing that also comes with certain risks.
But I guarantee you, no one who does this does it with the assumption that their words will be ripped off. What we share here may be public, but it’s also personal. And even if you manage to overlook the basic decency of that fact, there is a copyright right there at the bottom of every single page of this site.
So back to being sickened. This week I found out that I and several other bloggers who I respect a great deal, have been plagiarized. I will not be including a link to the site where this was found. There is not a shred of original content. It is our personal feelings, our stories, our lives, stolen and reproduced word for word as someone else’s. And if that’s not bad enough, this person had the utter gall to also place a copyright at the bottom of that page. As if they had the right to claim exclusive rights to our work.
I know this person has at least read this blog once. So let me tell you all something and hope they find it too. We are all also subject to Terms of Service of the hosts and services we use to publish these blogs. All of us, paid and unpaid. And all of those terms include copyright infringement as grounds to terminate your account without warning. So you may think it’s slick to rip off someone’s work and life that way, but your host may not necessarily agree. And you better believe I, and the other folks who were violated here, will take the two minutes to report it. It’s not hard to prove. It doesn’t take lawyers or court. It’s a simple online form and it’s obvious by the dates and words who is original and who is a petty thief.
My main takeaway is that copyright infringement may cost you your site. But secondary, understand that the violation runs deeper. That person reprinted some entries that were extremely personal to me. They were hard to write. They said a lot of things out loud that I may not always want to say. In one case, I cried over that entry. It is not only a legal violation but a personal one. And it was petty, unoriginal, and rather disgusting by the person who did it.
I will continue to post here. I will continue to share. And I will continue to hope that the trust I put in my readers is well placed. But this week I lost a little bit more of my faith in humanity. And I also reported someone for copyright infringement. I seriously hope you rot.
8 Tips to Help You Get Through a Breakup
Beyond Dinner and a Movie: 12 Unique Valentine's Day Date Ideas
Relationship Experts Share the 10 Most Common Issues in a Marriage
Survey Reveals Who Women Are More Likely to Have an Affair With
10 Things I Learned About Love the Second Time Around
5 Reasons Why I Will Never Fall in Love with My Son's Sperm Donor
Getting Out of the Date-Night Rut
My Husband Is the Head of Our Household
14 Things I Learned in a Decade of Marriage
I Was Accidentally Manipulating My Husband
I'm a "Cheesy" Guy, and Proud of It
Why Every Mom Needs a Non-Mom BFF
I'm So Glad We Stayed Married "For the Kids"
12 Little Things My Husband Does That Make Me Smile
Why Dating Yourself Can Strengthen Your Marriage
12 Pieces of Dating Advice I Wish I'd Followed
16 Love Lessons I Have Learned from My Children
7 Ways Marriage Has Helped Boost My Self-Esteem
Why My Love Is Like Gold
Let’s be honest here… in my little blog bubble, I live with mostly other bloggers. Of course we all have people stop by who don’t write, and follow us, and become parts of our lives. But the lion’s share of people who stop by here have a URL to leave in the comments section. And that’s ok. That’s how it is. Always has been. Probably always will be. But what it means is that the majority of us here understand what it means to publish online. And for those of you who don’t actually do it yourselves, I firmly believe my readers are smart enough to figure it out.
And so it is that it positively sickens me when some of the most basic rules of online etiquette are breached. I recognize that I make my words public. That the thoughts and feelings here are out there for anyone to read. And I’m good with that. That’s why I do it. And I understand that doing that also comes with certain risks.
But I guarantee you, no one who does this does it with the assumption that their words will be ripped off. What we share here may be public, but it’s also personal. And even if you manage to overlook the basic decency of that fact, there is a copyright right there at the bottom of every single page of this site.
So back to being sickened. This week I found out that I and several other bloggers who I respect a great deal, have been plagiarized. I will not be including a link to the site where this was found. There is not a shred of original content. It is our personal feelings, our stories, our lives, stolen and reproduced word for word as someone else’s. And if that’s not bad enough, this person had the utter gall to also place a copyright at the bottom of that page. As if they had the right to claim exclusive rights to our work.
I know this person has at least read this blog once. So let me tell you all something and hope they find it too. We are all also subject to Terms of Service of the hosts and services we use to publish these blogs. All of us, paid and unpaid. And all of those terms include copyright infringement as grounds to terminate your account without warning. So you may think it’s slick to rip off someone’s work and life that way, but your host may not necessarily agree. And you better believe I, and the other folks who were violated here, will take the two minutes to report it. It’s not hard to prove. It doesn’t take lawyers or court. It’s a simple online form and it’s obvious by the dates and words who is original and who is a petty thief.
My main takeaway is that copyright infringement may cost you your site. But secondary, understand that the violation runs deeper. That person reprinted some entries that were extremely personal to me. They were hard to write. They said a lot of things out loud that I may not always want to say. In one case, I cried over that entry. It is not only a legal violation but a personal one. And it was petty, unoriginal, and rather disgusting by the person who did it.
I will continue to post here. I will continue to share. And I will continue to hope that the trust I put in my readers is well placed. But this week I lost a little bit more of my faith in humanity. And I also reported someone for copyright infringement. I seriously hope you rot.