Don't be Discouraged by Plagiarists

Recently, a friend pointed out that an individual had taken one of my cheat sheets, superimposed his own logo and URL on it, and published it as his own work. This is certainly not the first time I've been plagiarized, nor will it be the last, I suspect. I called out the individual on Twitter, and I'm very gratefully for the many people who helped me compel him to remove the illegitimate content. Eventually.

I wanted to write a quick post sharing my thoughts on this incident for the benefit of everyone who has expressed interest in starting their own blog or web site. I've heard plenty of people comment over the years to the effect of, "Why bother starting a blog if someone's just going to harvest the RSS feed and re-publish it on their own site to make a few bucks?" Indeed, this has always been a concern among producers of both free and paid content.

I wish I could tell you that plagiarism isn't that big a deal, or that it won't happen to you. But the truth is plagiarism is a huge problem in our industry (and across the Internet in general), and if you produce public content you will inevitably have to deal with it.

If you're in the business of content creation (that is, if you charge people directly for your product) then there are obvious legal avenues through which you can take action. A sternly-worded cease-and-desist letter with a law firm's letterhead will be enough to deter most offenders. But if you're just an independent blogger making your content available for free, with no direct income to protect and no lawyer on retainer, your options are limited. Issuing a DCMA takedown request to the hosting provider is a popular option, but realistically this often results in the offending content simply being moved elsewhere.

Regarding plagiarism, it's important to realize three things about generating free content:

1. You will probably be plagiarized. On a long enough time line, it's virtually guaranteed. Better to recognize and accept early on that it can happen, so you're not discouraged when and if it does occur.

2. Plagiarism means your content is popular. I believe that only a very small portion of professionals in our industry would ever resort to plagiarism. If your content has managed to find its way to one of these few people, that means it's also reaching many, many others. And should those many other people also encounter the plagiarized content, most will be able to immediately discern between it and the original.

3. Plagiarism means your content is good. As Charles Caleb Colton said, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." No one would claim your content as their own if it wasn't impressive. You should consider plagiarism as an indication that you're producing high caliber content, and strive to maintain that level of quality.

Ultimately, stellar content will overcome attempts at imitation because it tends to find a larger audience. If you're considering starting a blog or other project, don't be discouraged by the possibility of intellectual theft. Just work hard to create the best content you can, and you'll find that the professional community does a very good job of protecting original content.