Bloggers - Plagiarism Can Happen to YOU

Well, it has finally happened. I would be flattered if I wasn't so angry. I've come across a newspaper article which lifted text from my cheesemaker profiles VERBATIM. Not just a few phrases, but whole paragraphs from several of my posts. I'm going to keep the details to myself for now and see what sort of response I get from the parties concerned. Obviously, this reflects poorly on the publication as well as the author.

But I post this as a public service warning to all of you out there...be careful, it could happen to you, too.

Comments

[ExtraMSG]

Consider it a compliment. (But stick it to them.)

It's happened to me a couple timees now, though just small bits here and there. I have a friend at dallasfood.org, though, that had entire paragraphs of his stuff "borrowed". It's bad enough when they use you as a source and don't acknowledge you, which happens way too often and first happened to me before I was even blogging (via Chowhound and eGullet). However, I've had my stuff "borrowed" much more by fellow bloggers without recognition than I have actual journalists, which bugs me to no end. Just because it's the interweb doesn't mean you should cite where you got something.

btw, the funniest misappropriation of my words, though, was in this online article:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3289/is_2_174/ai_n11839066

Half of what I supposedly said was made up, the other half was embellished. And Chef Zukin? Um, I'm just a lowly IT dude. I wish it was in print, though, so I could frame it. HI-LARIOUS!

[RM]

You're not alone. Here's an article I read just the other day about the Associated Press lifting from blogs and failing to credit them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandrovna/msm-plagiarism-strikes-ag_b_17873.html

I agree with Nick, at the least contact the omsbudsman/public editor.

roy

[PNWCheese]

Oh yes, I've contacted the publisher and the editor AND the author (who was a freelancer). They will be hearing a lot more from me.

And upon further investigation, it turns out that this is not the first time this author has been accused of plagiarism. This is an author who has written a cookbook as well....makes you wonder.

[Michael]

...stole from a lawyer...oops!

[Penny]

Hi, Tami! Good for you for going after the offending author and publication. I'm always appalled when someone plagiarises, and I used to work hard to get the message across to my students that it is NOT OK to take credit for someone else's hard work.

Hope you are well. You website continues to delight me, and many others I see! Keep up the great work.

Penny

[farmgirl]

Hi,
Jack at Fork & Bottle just sent me this link. I've spent the entire day dealing with what I now realize is a fake blog and fake blogger who stole and republished an entire article and recipe from my site--the only word they changed was calling the soup "Traci's" instead of "Susan's" (my name).

If you or anyone else reading this is interested, you can read more about it on the post I put up on Food Blog S'Cool:
http://foodblogscool.blogspot.com/2006/04/stolen-blog-content-unscrupulous.html

This wasn't a newspaper at least, but plagiarism is plagiarism, and you're right--it can happen to you. There is a lot of nasty stuff going on out there. This person I've been dealing with had some nerve (and, I believe, a sick sense of humor).

Looking forward to delving into your site. I love cheese! : )

[visitor]

That's so unfortunate that they lifted your work and passed it off as their own. I hope you stick it to them good (because it sounds like this may not be a new thing).

Anyway, I cross-posted (is that the right term?) your blog over at blueoregon.com. . .since you do such a wonderful job--those folks at that watercooler should know about you!

http://www.blueoregon.com/2006/04/buy_local_dammi.html#c15983673

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