Take it as a compliment or..?

[Miss*Bijou]

So I was just checking out the profiles on the Montreal Eros page because I'm planning to get mine back up, and I started checking out one of the sites.. I started reading a bit and thought some of it sounded close to what I have written on my site, but didn't think too much of it because that's happened quite a few times and sometimes there are certain things we all seem to include and that sound very similar. Now, it's been said many times... I write a lot. So the same goes for the text on my site. It's descriptive and it's actually written by me So when I clicked on the etiquette page, I knew right away ALL OF IT is taken word for word from mine (text and links), minus some of the links that were added more recently! (Don't look for it on my site, I removed mine a few weeks ago but still have it saved as a word doc!).
http://www.sultrymoramore.com/etiq.htm

WTF?

I always get kind of annoyed when I come across some text that is pretty obviously plagiarized from something I wrote myself, but I just brush it off. What are you going to do?!
But this is like a whole freakin' page!!!!

So I'm telling myself it's not worth getting upset over, maybe I should just take it as a compliment..? But I gotta tell you, I still think it's annoying as hell and feel that if you're going to take that amount of text (or even less), you should at least ask the person who wrote it, if not quote them!

Going ahead, using it without asking and pretending it is your own is NOT COOL IMO.

Bleh. She even took my FAQ and copied my own answers too!
http://www.sultrymoramore.com/faq.htm
http://bijou.rare-companion.com/faq.php

I don't know if there is any more, I stopped reading, but Am I overreacting, or what?

Isn't there a way I can get rights over stuff I write, or something?


I am not impressed. Not one bit.

 

[IJReilly]

Definitely not cool, but the question is: What can you do about it?

Technically, copyright always vests with the original author. Presumably it would be easy to show your material was "published" before hers. But copyright is only enforcable in court, which involves time, money and lawyers. So which of the former two would you rather spend dealing with the latter?

I think you could ask her to take the material down. Perhaps she will listen to reason. Short of going the whole 9 yards, there isn't much more you can do.

 

[CODe333]

If you wrote the copy and she's using it with little or no changes without your permission, then you have every right to be angry. I'd be spitting nails if someone stole my writing, especailly if it reflected in anyway the unique brand or styling I'd created for myself as a professional. Copyright probably doesn't apply (but you'd have to check with your lawyer for that info) but it's just wrong for anyone to take what you created and use it unacknowledged. I'd certainly let her know that you know and ask her to take action to correct this, or at least acknowledge you in some way as the source (not sure that would help in this instance). She may not have intended to do you harm but it's your material and it's how you present yourself to your customers, you should have control of it. Maybe things are more informal in your biz than I'm aware of, but it seems like you're losing something and getting nothing in return. Yah, I'd be pissed, not flattered.



CODe333

 

[Thais]

I've seen several similar discussions in other places. From what I observed, I believe you can write her, asking to take down your text and giving her a timeframe to respond.

If she ignores it, you should write to her web hosting company, showing your copyrights and her text, as well as evidence that you contacted her. I've heard that in several cases, a web hosting company actually suspended the site until the information was removed.
Once again, give them a timeline.

If the above produces no results, a letter from a lawyer can help, sent both to the lady and her hosting company. Whether or not you actually have the case you can win, sometimes the very fact that you employed a lawyer could be intimidating enough to convince them to remove the text. Alternatively, you could start with the letter from a lawyer.

In most cases, once the other person realizes you are serious, intelligent, and are willing to pursue the matter, they would back down and avoid escalating the confrontation.

 

[shuffle]

If it truly bothers you, then Thais has nicely laid out the path for you. If it doesn't then is there really a point to pursuing it? It is pretty standard business to research the market, gather the stuff you like for the product you are considering creating and make your spin on it. In this case they basically just said Bijou's pretty classy, use hers. Not very ethical, but you will drive yourself crazy trying to chase all the copiers. Keep your site such that it reflects who you are. Being geniune comes across well and the copiers will not over time.

 

[dipitydoo]

I love the music on her site!

And she's damn sexy. I did not read a word... too busy looking at her pics hahaha