Plagiarism vs. Homage
3Dec2003 Filed under: Word MercenaryImitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but plagiarism is not: the best things in life are free. That’s a link to a blogger who’s posted “The Inspirers” as her own, changing a few dates and details here and there.
sigh
Here was the best way I could think to respond to the blogger in question, a young woman named Jen:
I tried emailing, and you didn’t respond. I tried leaving a comment, and you deleted it. But please, please listen: as I said before, if you want to use my essay as a launch point for your own writing, that’s cool…it’s flattering that you relate so deeply with the experience. Homages kick ass, but plagiarizing someone’s writing doesn’t…so please give credit where it’s due. We creatives have to stick together, and not crediting one other’s work isn’t an especially good way to foster artistic camradarie.
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17 Responses to “Plagiarism vs. Homage”
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Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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philippe
December 4th, 2003 at 2:06 am
Ouch, that’s a bad start if I ever saw one. Short of inspiration for her 2nd post !
db
December 4th, 2003 at 3:18 am
Hehe- right? How did you end up rnning across this?
jodi
December 4th, 2003 at 6:03 am
I think every one who reads this should post a comment for our dear, sweet Jen. It’ll be hard to ignore all of Ariel’s friends. Somebody needs to set this girl straight, and it’ll be harder to ignore ALL of Ariel’s readers.
(That’s the great thing about being the one with real talent here, Ariel. You’ve earned loyal fans with your writings.)
Brian
December 4th, 2003 at 6:06 am
Agreed! Plagarism Sucks!
Annie J.
December 4th, 2003 at 6:15 am
Isn’t there someone you can report this to?
That’s the only problem I’ve found with the internet…plagarism is so easy to get away with. And unless you accidentally stumble upon it, or actively seek it out, you’d never know if someone was trying to pass your writing off as their own.
I’d contact her host a zillion times. And I’d send all my readers on over!
From my referrers, I found a site that had copied my entire site, layout, words, images, everything, and put it up. They didn’t even change the base links, so everything linked back to my real site. I couldn’t believe it. Were they just wanting that current layout I had? All they had to do was ask…
gulshan
December 4th, 2003 at 6:49 am
i just want to say how impressed i am with your response to her. You could have easily taken a “you stole my stuff, bitch!” approach with her which im sure would instinctively be the first response of 95% of people. But you kept it positive and included her as “a creative” even after she had done something completely undeserving of the title.
Not the same Jen
December 4th, 2003 at 8:20 am
I can’t believe the nerve of some people. Someone must be punsihed, severely!
justin
December 4th, 2003 at 8:32 am
i’m impressed with your response too! i just started reading your blog… i like it!
donut
December 4th, 2003 at 9:04 am
I agree with the above - good job on keeping a cool head. But I wouldn’t worry yourself too much… if she can’t come up with her own stuff, there’s only so long she can last.
donut
December 4th, 2003 at 9:08 am
Maybe she doesn’t understand plagiarism because of the aspergers… those people are a bit weird. It’s sometimes hard for them to understand that other people are real, and have their own thoughts and feelings.
rebecca
December 4th, 2003 at 10:27 am
Wow!!! Some people just have no clue at all. Poor pathetic little girl.
heidi janet
December 4th, 2003 at 12:39 pm
she’s going to have a tough time deleted the onslaught of comments from irritated folks like us, eh?
how silly of her. doesn’t that defeat the purpose of maintaining a site, that you write from your persepctive?
freak.
Amanda
December 4th, 2003 at 4:36 pm
I noticed the asbergers thing that donut mentioned. Wierd isn’t the right word, we’re ALL wierd. But, it is a condition similar to autism that makes some social interactions hard for the inflicted. All the more reason for Ariel to have taken such a respectful approach to someone disrespecting her intellectual property.
db
December 4th, 2003 at 10:18 pm
Props to your uber-aware friend for finding it…yeah- it would have been easy to go the mad-bitch route- you resonded with class, without lowering your standards or grace- and THAT is to be admired. Man, did SHE pick the wrong person to steal from
Maggie
December 6th, 2003 at 7:53 am
Strangely enough, people are commenting both on the post in question AND the other post on Jen’s site, dated 5.11.03. I just realized that I posted my own response there. So while she may have taken your own comments down, Ariel, there are PLENTY more from others defending your honor. What a coward she is!
kim
December 12th, 2003 at 8:59 pm
“It’s important to remember that the person with AS perceives the world very differently. Therefore, many behaviors that seem odd or unusual are due to those neurological differences and not the result of intentional rudeness or bad behavior, and most certainly not the result of “improper parenting”.”
not that i believe in traditional psychology, per se, but..
kim
December 12th, 2003 at 9:00 pm
(that’s from a link from the description of asperger’s on her site)