+ * + PLAGIARIZING PROVIDER ADS, AUTOMATED MESSAGES, ETC + * +

Good Afternoon Folks:

I am a bit irked because in the one year I have been in this hobby, I have noticed that 3 ladies have literally copied and pasted the exact text from my advertisements or automated messages. Now, they say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, however, I find myself annoyed and upset by the occurence when I know I should just suck it up and deal with it. Have any of you men or women encountered this in business, personal life or schooling?

I know this is beyond a coincidence because one year ago, a reputable lady in San Antonio had copied a few lines from my advertisement which were a.) unique to my vocabulary and style b.) something that this lady would probably never articulate c.) with every new post I advertised, she'd either copy the exact language from my ad and paste it into her ad and well, I just felt violated a bit. This also happened in Austin by another woman who had the audacity to tell my clients that we shared that it was her "mission" to copy my ads.

So a few months ago, a client notified me that a lady on P411 had adoped a similar name to mine in Austin with "Angel" in the root of the provider name and an e-mail address similar to mine. I shrugged my shoulders and didn't care. Well, a few weeks ago, the very provider who adoped a similar name to mine decided to contact me for a reference of a client I had seen while I was touring in San Antonio and I gave my client glowing reference. When I gave her a reference, my "automated e-mail response" was sent to her directly within minutes. Two weeks later, I needed a reference from her on a client who is wanting to see me and had seen her in the past and guess what, she totally plagiarized my automated response which reads: "Thank you for your interest in securing an appointment with me..I am currently swamped with dozens of emails and am trying my best to get back to everyone." I created this automatic response back in Novemeber of 2009, and coincidentally, she creates the same exact automated response after seeing mine....with the same exact symbols of " * * *" and everything. So, I decided to respond to her automated message (which was literrally a copy and paste of mine) and informed her that I thought it was very "cute" that she adopted my same exact automated message. A client had informed me that he had seen her and is aware that her "manager" is doing her advertising since she doesn't do it herself. Maybe I should be upset at her manager? I am a one-woman army. I do all of my advertising, all of my marketing without the help of anyone. All of my ads are written by me.

Should I be offended/violated by the obvious plagiarism or should I be flattered? Why can't some girls formulate their own ideas? They just have to steal, steal, steal.....

Angelina

I don't think you should take it personal. Regardless of what you do she will either get bored and stop or continue her attempt imitate you but one thing is for certain she will NEVER be you! It just shows the class of person they are. If they're not bright enough to come up with their own slogans, ads, or names chances are they'll be doing this for a long time. I'm sure her clients will come to the realization one day that whats in her text doesn't match her persona. Furthermore if her manager is doing this, then it shows she is not self reliant, which means when her manager gets caught, quits, or whatever then that's the end of her career.

Your intellectual level is amazing focus on yourself, your success, your goals and disregard people like her. . . . . . . . . or we could skip all that and go throw a brick at her car window with a message saying " WARNING!! You better stop copying my shit bitch!" either method works. . . I'm just sayin

:nopit y::nop ity:

Do a search. This is an oft discussed topic. You are not alone or unique in your circumstance.

The short answer is you can send cease and desist letters (that have little teeth to them...its not like you will actually sue them...). If they are members/advertisers on common boards (like this one) you can ask board management to sanction them.

But all of this takes time so you have to ask yourself is it worth it to persue? Is this really having a negative impact on your business or just merely frustrating. If it is the latter many would suggest pouring a nice stiff beverage, pouring a bath, putting on a little music and forgetting about it

I would send them a PM and creatively ask them to use there own brain instead of yours. I'm not sure if you can comment on provider ads but I would be tempted to post a link to your original ad. I'm sure that would discourage them.

An automated email message? Really? It bothers you that much? Ladies in the biz get ideas from other ladies all the time. I might see a pose in a photo that I want to try, or I might see something in a signature that I think I should add to my signature, or maybe a lady mentions that she advertises on a different site that I didn't know about and so I put an ad up there too. Who cares? Can you honestly say that you have never gotten an idea or even copied one little thing after looking at another lady's website or profile? Youve never used any tactics other than the ones you invented completely by yourself? Maybe this girl saw your automated response and thought, "hey that's a good idea. I need to set up one of those because I'm a little swamped." I doubt she said "ha, I'll steal that bitch's automated response and her business will go straight down the toilet!"

Unless someone is using your pictures and/or exact name, let it go. It won't affect your business in the slightest.

Plus you have to keep in mind--not everyone can be genius like you and I and come up with their own witty material. We have to cut 'em some slack sometimes

You wouldn't believe the number of ladies who have taken the paragraphs on my "about" page on my website (which I also use in some of my ads -- Eros, for example) and used them as their own. You'd think they'd be afraid to try to live up to that claim of making terrible puns with its distinctive semicolon, but it gets stolen left and right. One current thief is using it in her ECCIE showcase -- I'm working with the staff trying to get it removed. If you notice someone on this site copy & pasting your stuff, politely request to the lady herself (or her manager/assistant, or whomever posts her stuff for her) remove it, and then contact the mods and give them a clear but concise description of what's happening.

So, what can you do if the perp isn't on ECCIE, or another site with powers that be? Jenny de Milo wrote a fantastic blog entry about what to do when someone steals your photos/text here:
http://jennydemilo.com/?p=883

I'm not sure how ads or automated messages fit into the DMCA though -- while my website content is clearly copyrighted, I don't put a notice on any of the ads I write (or my mooing email autoresponder, when I'm away from my email, though I don't know why anyone would want to use an automated response that moos at people... that's just weird).

:nopit y::nop ity:

Do a search. This is an oft discussed topic. You are not alone or unique in your circumstance.

The short answer is you can send cease and desist letters (that have little teeth to them...its not like you will actually sue them...). If they are members/advertisers on common boards (like this one) you can ask board management to sanction them.

But all of this takes time so you have to ask yourself is it worth it to persue? Is this really having a negative impact on your business or just merely frustrating. If it is the latter many would suggest pouring a nice stiff beverage, pouring a bath, putting on a little music and forgetting about it Originally Posted by atlcomedy

An automated email message? Really? It bothers you that much? Ladies in the biz get ideas from other ladies all the time. I might see a pose in a photo that I want to try, or I might see something in a signature that I think I should add to my signature, or maybe a lady mentions that she advertises on a different site that I didn't know about and so I put an ad up there too. Who cares? Can you honestly say that you have never gotten an idea or even copied one little thing after looking at another lady's website or profile? Youve never used any tactics other than the ones you invented completely by yourself? Maybe this girl saw your automated response and thought, "hey that's a good idea. I need to set up one of those because I'm a little swamped." I doubt she said "ha, I'll steal that bitch's automated response and her business will go straight down the toilet!"

Unless someone is using your pictures and/or exact name, let it go. It won't affect your business in the slightest.

Plus you have to keep in mind--not everyone can be genius like you and I and come up with their own witty material. We have to cut 'em some slack sometimes Originally Posted by Blond_Lily

I think the OP was bothered by the fact that this happens repetitiously by the same culprit. Don't think she was whining about it. I'm also sure she wasn't asking for pity but rather your opinions.

I think the OP was bothered by the fact that this happens repetitiously by the same culprit. Don't think she was whining about it. I'm also sure she wasn't asking for pity but rather your opinions. Originally Posted by mojojo213

I'm glad you know the OP so well you feel you can speak for her and know for "sure" what her intention was

as for the it wasn't meant as pity, but in the context of playing the same tired song over and over...

Great idea! I did send them a discrete message stating that I thought it was "cute" that they were interested in copying/pasting the same exact literature.

I would send them a PM and creatively ask them to use there own brain instead of yours. I'm not sure if you can comment on provider ads but I would be tempted to post a link to your original ad. I'm sure that would discourage them. Originally Posted by anova444

I have never borrowed signature or text idea's. As for poses, maybe subconscious. I don't mind having my poses copied because all bodies are different. I would not like it id my ad, showcase or website was plagiarized.

Carrie,

I am very sorry to hear that you are not the only who has experienced this. Ideas are one thing, but blatant copying and pasting of another's advertisement/crafty automated message seems so low. I am glad that you and I can relate to this misappropriation/abuse/theft of text. Plagiarism is not tolerated in school, so why should we treat it any less in business?

All great insights Ms. Hillcrest. I will review the blog and glance at the advice.

Warm Regards,

Angelina

You wouldn't believe the number of ladies who have taken the paragraphs on my "about" page on my website (which I also use in some of my ads -- Eros, for example) and used them as their own. You'd think they'd be afraid to try to live up to that claim of making terrible puns with its distinctive semicolon, but it gets stolen left and right. One current thief is using it in her ECCIE showcase -- I'm working with the staff trying to get it removed. If you notice someone on this site copy & pasting your stuff, politely request to the lady herself (or her manager/assistant, or whomever posts her stuff for her) remove it, and then contact the mods and give them a clear but concise description of what's happening.

So, what can you do if the perp isn't on ECCIE, or another site with powers that be? Jenny de Milo wrote a fantastic blog entry about what to do when someone steals your photos/text here:
http://jennydemilo.com/?p=883

I'm not sure how ads or automated messages fit into the DMCA though -- while my website content is clearly copyrighted, I don't put a notice on any of the ads I write (or my mooing email autoresponder, when I'm away from my email, though I don't know why anyone would want to use an automated response that moos at people... that's just weird). Originally Posted by Carrie Hillcrest

Mojojo213,

Hope all is well.

Yes, you stand correct. I am annoyed, irked and feel a bit violated because this is a repititous effort by the same culprit(s) and a classic case of plagiarism. If a writer is trying to get a literary work published and copies and pastes the exact content of another writer and attributes it as their own, there is a major problem. Same goes with high school and college. How is this any different. It is one thing if a provider is saying that she is a "a, b, c, d.... provider". Okay, great...fine. BUT, when a ladie copies direct sentences and tries to choose a name that is almost identitcal to yours, then it becomes a problem when it confuses clients into believing she is me or vice-versa.

I am sure if it happened to other providers frequently and they caught it, they too would be annoyed. It's not like the text in my advertisements were general/vague assertions, but rather unique language that no other lady has used in her advertisements/automated message. It could confuse gentlemen into thinking that the other lady is me or vice-versa.

I certainly don't want to ruffle feathers, I am just upset. That's all.

Angelina

I think the OP was bothered by the fact that this happens repetitiously by the same culprit. Don't think she was whining about it. I'm also sure she wasn't asking for pity but rather your opinions. Originally Posted by mojojo213

ATL,

I don't think it is worth pursuing, but rather an annoyance that never goes away. The same 3 girls have done this over and over again and I should probably let it go and be flattered!?

I just despise plagiarisim, that's all. Lol.

Angelina

:nopit y::nop ity:

Do a search. This is an oft discussed topic. You are not alone or unique in your circumstance.

The short answer is you can send cease and desist letters (that have little teeth to them...its not like you will actually sue them...). If they are members/advertisers on common boards (like this one) you can ask board management to sanction them.

But all of this takes time so you have to ask yourself is it worth it to persue? Is this really having a negative impact on your business or just merely frustrating. If it is the latter many would suggest pouring a nice stiff beverage, pouring a bath, putting on a little music and forgetting about it Originally Posted by atlcomedy

Carrie Hillcrest

Hope you do not mind I quote you from this thread to another. She had photos used on a ad board.

Plagiarism is not tolerated in school, so why should we treat it any less in business? Originally Posted by Angelina Adams

I just despise plagiarisim, that's all. Lol.

Angelina Originally Posted by Angelina Adams

I agree, plagiarism is not tolerated in school or academic settings (such as scholarly papers, etc.).

OTOH, plagiarism is rampant in business and other areas. It is rampant because it is successful, and why re-invent the wheel? Lawyers copy briefs all the time (would you rather have your lawyer use something that has a proven success, or try something new that may or may not work---and charge you more for the original work). Doctors use well established lists developed by others to perform surgeries. Pilots use the same kind of lists to perform pre-flight checks.