How to Fight Back when Your Words, Photos, Art, or Videos Are Stolen: Copyright Infringement & Plagiarism Strike Again

A few weeks ago I learned that I was plagiarized for the 11^th time in two years. It's very real and happens more than you think. A real buzz-kill for me to see my words in print, with someone else's name attached to them. This happens a heck of a lot more than you think. Without cutting and pasting your own articles into search browsers like Google or Bing, you may never know that your work has been actually been recycled without your permission. It happens to everyone, authors, writers, content producers, bloggers, web designers, artists, or people making videos often called V-loggers.

Those morons who copy part, or some of your work, or steal your original idea pawning it off as their own are indeed in breach of one or both of the following:

a) Copyright Infringement - unauthorized use of materials that belong to someone else

b) Plagiarism - quite simply to steal another's thoughts, ideas, or works and passing it off as your own. To use something and not credit its original aka proper source. To present an idea as new when it belongs to an existing source. To quite simply put, commit literary theft.

Since I have some expertise in the subject, I thought I would share this with you so we'll cover everything from your photography being stolen to your video clips, to your articles and your art.

Some may take it as a compliment when having their work stolen, but I associate it with the screeching sound of fingers on a chalkboard. I pour my heart and soul into writing an article-just like artists do into their work. I can speak on both accounts, since I do both things in life. People don't realize the amount of blood, sweat and tears that go into making your article or my up cycled art piece just right. I pride myself on writing about eco friendly things, recycling, promoting reclaiming of goods, making junk art, or buying vintage goods as it is something I believe in. Imagine my shock when I realized it was my words being recycled and up cycled on a new greenie site. I felt downright violated.

How It Happened

Holly from the wonderful Haute Country Vintage had discovered that my original article about her store published here on March 15, 2009 entitled Funky Junque Chronicles #4 Featuring HAUTE COUNTRY VINTAGE: An Upscale Vintage Boutique had been cut and pasted into a new blog called "Modern" onto a new greenie eco site (which shall remain nameless.) The "contributor" didn't change any words, just dubbed it his own creation, "Vintage Fashion Accessories". This was posted on November 17, 2009 into a free blog where he clearly credited to himself as unknown plagiarist user name darrylaguilar1989. (Note the user name contains the word liar-how ironic- herein we shall refer to him for short, as Liar.) I should also mention a new picture was added (probably also hacked without permission from some unknowing hard working photographer.)

Where there's fire, there are flames. Associated Content's very own R. Ann Siper who originally wrote an article on April 9, 2006 entitled Top Three Vintage Clothing Stores in Portland Oregon , here on our very own Associated Content, had been made top o' the page! Of course, this was newly dubbed "Vintage Dress Accessories" as one of Liar's very own writing (not.) Quite honestly, my husband's reaction was "No freakin' way can someone be that dumb!"

Had someone come to me and asked me, "Hey Ira, there's a great new site called (nameless) which promotes green living, can I use your article?" I would have checked to see if it was here as display only or non-exclusive and most likely agreed if I were given full credit as the author. Otherwise I could have joined and wrote something myself along the lines of green living, etc. Did the Liar know what he was doing? Oh yes, why else would he change the titles, credit the work to himself, and add new photographs? Just like an essay in school, thinking you can copy it from "Cliff Notes" and change only a few words, doesn't quite work when you stare flat at your "F".

So what to do, what to do when this happens to you? Here's everything you need to know.

Associated Content Articles:

First and foremost, if your article appears on Associated Content and is Exclusive, you can go to their Copyright Infringement section of the Help area and get their assistance with this fight. Keep in mind sometimes your work is re-published to an approved partnering sites, which you can check easily by a) making sure your name has been attributed to it and b) checking to see if it says "Provided by Associated Content."

If you work is Display Only, or Non-Exclusive, you can still check out the advice under the Copyright Infringement section of Associated Content, but will most likely have to take matters into your own hands.

Elsewhere Plagiarized Online:

First take a deep breath. Know that your work is protected, and the dates and open publication of your work is proof positive that it EXISTED prior to some moron stealing it. Feel solace in knowing that if only part of your original article has been copied, or things changed, that the original idea was still yours and justice will prevail! Your best ammunition is that your work is in print somewhere, and dated so rest assured, you own that work. Even better if you have been paid for the work or wrote the article exclusively whether it be this site, or another, you can usually get them involved and they will take care of it. So first, grab a fresh cup and coffee, sit back, and prepare for battle.

Know that in my opinion your last option should be going to a lawyer unless you absolutely have to. Take it from me, I'm 11 and 0 so far with no lawyers involved. If a "cease and desist letter" is needed, this is normally something that you can do yourself. Your main goal is to get the work removed and contributor called out (Liar!).

You don't want to end up financing a big fat legal bill though your very expensive but wonderful attorney (sorry David...) because let's face the facts. What are you going to get from someone that doesn't even own their own ideas? I'll tell you ---a big fat zero on a settlement. Most larger sites will have also put in fine print that tells the Liar that they are submitting only their own work and that the larger site will not accept liability if indeed plagiarism occurs. I'm not saying you can't win this type of case, I'm just saying you should not have to go that far.

So in actually your main goals are the following:

Scenario A: If your article or works appear as a blog or entry on behalf of a contributor on a bigger site, it's best to get your article removed off the site and have the said Liar shut down and banned from the site being called out on their issue. Hopefully this will demoralize and traumatize them enough to not want to take the chance of doing it again, but don't get your hopes up. Most web owners would gladly do this upon investigating, as they don't promote nor condone such conduct. If the website offers to rerun your content giving you proper credit, you can negotiate this if you so choose.

Scenario B: If your article has been added to the LIAR's personal website or ideas stolen and blogged as the LIAR's own your main goal is to get the article removed at once. Chances are they never thought they would get caught, and may be swift to remove the content if you threaten legal actions. (After all they know they did it.) If not, then chances are you will need to move to a cease and desist letter.

In My Case:

So when this happened to me this one cold morning, I was having a bittersweet moment. I was happy to see that another greenie eco website had emerged but sad that my content was staring me in the face with Liar's name on it. I immediately figured that the website owner had not known anything about this being my work, or that a so-called contributor of her site had done this. Why would she know and how could she know? She was busy launching the site and hoping to gain participants to talk and blog on her site. She was promoting recycling and green living, she had a good heart and a good idea and probably no time to moderate each and every blog that pops up. Benefit of the doubt would say that any smart web owner or entrepreneur does not want or welcome plagiarized work on their site. Why would they set themselves up for failure? They wouldn't. Crap happens. Liars like this plagiarizer, exist.

So I immediately looked around for contact info, which was hard to come by as some parts of the site were still in progress and unfinished. The contributor's name and information was off limits except for the Liar's user name. So to find out the web owner I had to do a little sleuthing. I noticed there was a small LLC name at the bottom of the site (details of which you can normally find in fine print). I then stuck it into Google to cross reference and obtain her personal information.

I called and explained the situation (not realizing she was three hours before me and I probably woke her up ) talking on her machine and asking for immediate removal of my work and demanded that this contributor be banned. I then followed up with emails, and took it a step further as I was double-ticked off that the other Content Producer was also victim. I then joined the greenie site, and posted all over it about what had happened and cut and paste my original examples of both myself and the other author's A/C work.

My issue was resolved within a few hours, the user was banned and my work was removed as was the other Content Producer's. Just as I had thought the web owner was unaware of the situation and was more than apologetic. Sadly, I feel that this Liar will most likely pick another website, blog, or forum and continue stealing other's ideas as it is obvious I was not the only victim. Look out folks, it could be you next!

Back to You..

Hopefully you will have an easier job at finding the site owner's information. You can go to the "About", "Help", or "Contact Us" section. If that doesn't work, you can find a Site Moderator or Administrator. These are the liaisons so to speak. Sometimes you must join the site to have access to this information which was what I had to do. You may have great fun in doing so, alerting everyone on the payroll what happened to you.

If you can't make any headway, keep in mind there are sites online where you can locate who the domain itself is registered to. Keep that in mind in the future for your battles!

If all else fails, your next step is to move to the certified cease and desist letter for infringing upon your rights or plagiarizing your content , making sure to keep your original postal receipts. Again, I believe that the site owner will be swift in correcting the issue with proper examples and documentation.

To find out more about these letters Associated Content suggests use of a site called Chilling Effects (dot) Org. It seems to tell a lot about the cease and desist letters. They say on their website, "The website offers background material and explanations of the law for people whose websites deal with topics such as Fan Fiction, Copyright, Domain Names and Trademarks, Anonymous Speech, and Defamation. " A great one stop shop!

Much information and free education can also be obtained by search the web for the never ending help sites on being a victim to this and what you can do. It happens every day!

Last option would be to consult and retain an attorney. They can advise you further on what actions to take, or if a local organization can help you, or if you will have to file papers or a suit. Sometimes it won't go that far - a quick legal letter is drafted and something about the imprinted fancy letterhead that indicates it's from an attorney stops everything. (On average, my wonderful attorney charges up to several hundred bucks, which is why you should try to resolve this yourself.) This is why it's so important to keep proof of what you are doing to get the problem fixed. Sometimes they will sue both the site for not responding to your requests, and also the individual Liar of the content. They can sue for your time, trouble, and legal fees, but chances are you will just get your work removed, at a huge cost to you.

If Your Video or Pictures Were Stolen: (Example)

I was just watching a video blog (commonly called VLogs) posted by mixed media artist Suzi Blu. She's a girl from Jersey who catapulted herself into success by offering to share her wonderfully awesome painting and drawing techniques to others. Suzi's work in mixed media journals, artwork and assemblages has a style all her own and has been subject of many books, podcasts, interviews, and websites. She has single handedly obtained over 5000 followers on her SuziBluTube channel on YouTube.

Not so long ago she posted a video talking about how another artist was using her artwork in a video without her permission and without crediting her for the work. (I mean how stupid can you be, first you steal the work of a famous artist, then post it up for the world to see? ) Suzi explained to the world in a lengthy video why it just isn't right to do such a thing.

Needless to say Suzi is 101% right, that it's not only unethical, but downright illegal. Let me break it down for you who don't understand what I'm saying: It's just plain dumb to think you can do such a thing and not get into trouble. Dumb, dumb, dumb!

If you wanted to use Suzi Blu's work in a video, you would first write her and ask permission to use it. Chances are any artist would be thrilled for added exposure and ask for proper credit and maybe be so helpful as to provide images for you to use. So to prevent such a fiasco, in the video a caption could have said, "Used with permission these wonderful art images by artist Suzi Blu." Or perhaps if in the narrating the user could have said, "Here we have some examples of Suzi Blu's work that I am using for this project...blah blah blah." The user did not do that, and was in fact pawning off the art as her own creations. Pulllleeeassseee, another Liar walking amongst us.

To make matters even worse there was another YouTuber who was currently using some footage that Suzi flimed with her own camera. This user was then taking that footage and making videos about Suzi and her artwork without her permission and labeling the videos with Suzi's name. Needless to say that video is gone also.

So what can Suzi or you do if this happens to you? Any reputable video site has precautions in place to assist in removal of unauthorized content. In this case if it is You Tube, you can sign into your account, (or you must open one if you don't have one) and click on FLAG for flagging inappropriate content. One of the choices under the many in their flagging is, "It infringes my rights." This is what you would click because this is what they are doing by stealing your rightfully owned things!

Then I suggest repeating the actions above, for contacting the administration, or site owner for immediate removal of your work and beg that the user who has done such a thing be banned or reprimanded. Save copies of emails or any certified letters you need to send.

Since Suzi Blu is so popular (and a great artist) I'm so sorry to say this won't be the first or last time her work will be stolen. Let's remember she's a person just like the rest of us, she lives, she breathes, and it hurts her feelings when you copyright infringe upon her work. So stop doing it!

Someone Stole Your Art, your Prints, or Your Photography work:

Lots of art that you create or perhaps photographs that you take are also being reproduced without your permission. On image hosting sites such as Flickr, one can easily go in without being a member, right click and copy the image to their own computer. Sadly it happens all the time.

Here you have two scenarios:

Scenario A: Someone is just using your images or photograph of your art on their site without your permission. They have taken a photograph of yours and made it into a web banner. They may be crediting the images or drawing as their own. They may have drawn the exact same drawing you had and have it on their site for display. In this case, you would simply follow the same steps we've been talking about. If it were my work, I'd allow them to use the imagery or painting provided they attributed the style to me and were not going to sell it. For instance, under their sculpture replica they would say, "Art Sculpture Inspired by Ira Mency." Or "Tribute to Ira Mency."

Scenario B: The alternative scenario is when someone is using your artwork or images and making money off them. This is where it will become very complicated. Issues that are easy to prove would include your original drawing or painting made into prints without your permission. Or, a photograph you uploaded in 2002 is now being sold on t-shirts without your consent. As there is money involved I strongly suggest in this case dropping everything and consulting an attorney first before doing anything else. You may need to have that site up and running as proof of the crime. (Also you should learn to do a print screen image and get a lot of good shots, printing them out to retain for examples in case in the meantime the site goes down.)

I've heard of an artist who sold a painting at a craft show in Virginia. Years later she found the item being sold on a website including t-shirts, prints and babies' "onesies" with a Florida address. This must have gone on for years. The website in Florida was pretty successful, and was trying to get the work into a national chain store. (Imagine your shock if you walked into Walmart and saw your art being sold as a print! I think I would have a heart attack.) The original artist in Virginia was not so successful; she was just a struggling crafter who sold art on the side for extra money. She almost died but sat back quietly after retaining a lawyer. This lawyer ended up subpoenaing all online records from the Florida entrepreneur for the past five years. Not only did they win all the earnings and legal fees, but also a stipend for craft shows and flea market sales they could not prove based on the mere unethical nature of the THIEF thanks to the ruling of the judge. After all, the artist sold her painting not the rights to reproduce it!

There's a huge grey area in the art world, and I want to stress that it gets a little tricky when you talk overall style or technique. Two artists may make a very similar style sculpture, and use similar components without ever knowing one another. Two painters may have a certain style for making their dogs on canvas, and could have learned their techniques from the same instructor or book thereby turning out two very similar looking paintings unbeknownst to one another. Two metal smiths may create the same sterling silver ring at the same time, with very similar design. It happens, sometimes these are pure coincidences. There are always fake inspired watches based off the real thing, or fake purses off the real thing.

In this case you have a huge grey area and items that are strikingly similar of course can be challenged if you item was patented or copyrighted. Many people think that they will win if their copyright or patent was applied for or granted first before the other person, but that is not always true. It is most likely based on when can prove the item was first used in commerce, or in business. So folks, keep records! People may be able to alter a style or design somewhat and copyright it as their own making only minor modifications. So choose your battles wisely.

Here is where it gets tricky: People can use a style or technique that they have taken or learned from another artist and apply it to your own works without getting into trouble.

Let's go back to Suzi Blu, the awesome mixed media artist who has decided to teach others and share her gift and style. We'll use her in this example that there is always a fine line between stealing the idea and applying what you have learned. For those of you wondering, I ran it by her first, obtaining her permission to talk about her and use her information!

If you feel someone has stolen your art, you must also understand that technique and similarities creates a whole wave a grey. To better understand let's use Suzi again as an example:

By going to Suzi's website entitled A Lovely Dream, you can pay for a workshop class to learn her adorable little drawing doll styles and shabby background techniques. After paying for the workshop of your choice, you will then be invited to join her Les Petit Academy.....where a plethora of information is available to you such as networking with other like minded artists, watching Suzi's cool videos for inspiration or signing up for future classes. With your courses come templates to help you and aid you in the creative learning process.

Suzi specifically says that you may sell your art that is created in the class with the following exception: that you are not taking her compositions exactly, and you are notusing her templates when doing so. In fact, Suzi downright encourages her students to become artists and sell their work and be creative in their own right.

For instance, in her "Rodeo Girl" class Suzi allows you to print out a template of the doll-the template is something she drew for you to trace and practice with. To sell that would be copyright infringement!

What you can't do: If you use her exact template and put this in a painting, and try to sell it, you would be copyright infringing and stealing her work as it's her template, her drawing, and you are cutting and pasting it into something else and pawning it off as your own. This is unacceptable and if it happens to you, follows the steps I gave you.

What you can do: If you train on this same Suzi Blu doll template, learn it, and get it down pat, then go off to create your own dolls that would be okay. Though they may be similar in likeness and style, you are not using her template and you are simply using the skills and techniques that you have learned, and creating your own work. Sell away!

Success Rate in Clearing Up A Problem:

My work to exonerate myself of being victim to plagiarism is as follows. I had to send emails, make phone calls to swiftly resolve 10 of 11 cases, the longest timeframe taking 72 hours. In only one case, (or less than one- tenth of the instances) I actually went to the level of sending a cease and desist letter, and this took approximately ten days to resolve. (If only cancelling my Gold's Gym membership was as simple...) My time wasted however, on all of this, was priceless.

When in doubt, most General Practice lawyers offer free consultations. Educate and exonerate, and keep on truckin'.