Hands off my stuff

I’m a little ticked. Seems that the work I did for the baby crib article got lifted. Not whole cloth, mind you. Just the entire idea for what I wanted to convey. The worst part was that it was done by another Helium writer and in the same title as my crib article. What’s even worse, is that at least two more people that wrote in that category decided to help themselves too. But the one that pissed me off the most has done it a lot. From what I could tell from her profile, she does it almost every time she writes a piece.

Plagiarism.org says:

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to “plagiarize” means

1. to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own
2. to use (another’s production) without crediting the source
3. to commit literary theft
4. to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else’s work and lying about it afterward.

I sent a letter to Helium. We’ll see what happens. I doubt very seriously that anything will happen. Looks like the thief is going to get some free page hits from my reporting as well as take second place in that title. I’d link, but I don’t want to increase her revenue.

I was under the impression that these publishers preferred original content. I had no idea that I would publish something and then see sentences I’d created appearing on someone else’s page. I used examples such as “Your child could get stuck” (not an exact quote) and “make sure there is plastic covering to prevent splinters”. Sure enough. These “talented writers” (ha!) helped themselves to that too.

I have decided that if this particular site doesn’t take my complaint seriously I will only publish work there that won’t be published elsewhere. Since I’ve made a total of $1 for 5 articles, I’m going to assume I won’t be losing any revenue by not submitting my best work there. I certainly don’t want to click on an article that’s been published on the same site as mine and see my flippin’ work. It’s disgusting. Really.