Copying Content is Plagiarism and Theft
Recently, I stumbled upon someone using verbiage from my invitation website verbatim. The had literally copied and pasted text to their site. This is happening a lot in the wedding industry right now and it really confuses me. I don’t get steamed with a lot of stuff. I tend to have a pretty even-tempered feeling on this. There isn’t a lot of space or time in my life for anger and vindication.
I’m mostly just puzzled…
Why would someone do this? Do they lack originality? Are they insecure? Do they not know how to write very well? Are they lazy? I really don’t know why this happens. I also wonder how they think they can get away with it. It’s not like being in high school and using someone’s term paper from another school. This is 2010, age of the internet. ALL things are SEARCHABLE, GOOGLE-ABLE, TRACEABLE.
Is it plagiarism?
A few months ago, I did a post on “When Not To Worry About Copycats“. There are plenty of times that people are NOT copying. If I do a trend post on turquoise blue on Monday and my competitor does one on Tuesday, chances are that this was coincidental. HELLO – isn’t turquoise the Pantone trend of 2010? We are all writing about this in our industry. It’s editorial. LA Times & NY Times cover the same news.
What I’m talking about today is legitimate plagiarizing. Plagiarizing is “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own; use another’s production without crediting the source”. It happens in every segment of our business: photographers who use other photographers’ images without credit, invitation designers who use other people’s designs, planners who copy/paste other planners’ packages, bloggers who use other people’s writing. This is beyond using Jackson Pollock as inspiration for your piece. This is photocopying an image of his artwork and printing it onto a wedding invite.
Please don’t steal…
I struggled with whether I should address this post to people out there who may read my blog (or stumble on this article) and be guilty of this. I wondered if the type of person who steals would actually be educating themselves on the business of weddings. I doubt it. But, in the off chance that you find yourself here, my message is short and sweet:
- Inspiration and theft are two different things. Make sure you know the difference.
- Your business deserves better.
- Differentiation is the best way to market yourself.
- Find your voice.
- Be You.
Tomorrow, I’ll give my tips on how to protect yourself from plagiarism. On Wednesday, we’ll talk about what to do if your content has been used illegally.
Great post. It is something that needs to be talked about especially with the number of new blogs that pop up daily. I look forward to your Wednesday post!
Thank you for this! Sadly, I’ve experienced this in a few different ways recently – but thankfully, most of the fantastic blogs out there are quick to update their posts when they realize that the source is missing.
I’ve had it happen to me several times. Once, someone stole a chunk of my bio – that’s my LIFE! I’m glad you’re addressing it, even if the guilty parties aren’t reading (and I hope they are).
As always; great advice. This is becoming an increasing problem and yes, you’re right: many vision boards, color palettes, and even “wedding Wednesday” or “fun find Friday” posts that so many bloggers post might be similar. We read similar posts on blogs/sites all the time and in this industry, coincidence is easy to happen upon.
What’s not okay is copying. We’ve experienced this with our text and packages on several occasion. We decided to remove some of this information from our site and provide it only by request. It’s unfortunate; we’re in an industry of creativity and if you aren’t able to tap into your own creative thoughts, perhaps you should consider another field.
Way to speak out, Michelle!
Aleah + Nick
It’s so tough when somebody steals your creativity. On the one hand, I love sharing new awesome ideas with my peers. However, when somebody takes your ideas and gives you no credit/no love, it’s sad for everyone. Over the weekend we saw another videographer’s video that used the exact shot/sequence we thought up 2 weeks before. Could be a coincidence but more likely they were inspired. I’d love it if they had just commented on our work. I appreciate this post–I think in this industry it is hard to draw a line between sharing ideas and stealing ideas. Thank you for bringing up an important issue.
Thanks so much for posting this. This really is running rampant in our industry and I find it so sad. In such a creative environment why copy? I have a competitor that is more like a stalker copying everything I say, post, or friend. I look forward to your next post!
You hit the nail on the head and I always like seeing your posts. Wish we lived closer!
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Thanks,Michelle, for this series of posts! It is very sad, and is running rampant. I’ve dealt with it twice already in 2010, and several times last year.
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