That time a client copied my blog post word for word and called it a press release

I called her out on it and she said I should be flattered she liked my writing enough to reuse it, has anyone else dealt with a client who just doesn't get that plagiarism applies to freelancers too?

3 comments

3 Comments

brooke4486d ago

Okay but is this really worth getting worked up over? Unless she's selling your work and making money off it directly, you're still getting your name out there as the original source. Isn't it kind of a compliment if someone thinks your writing is good enough to steal?

adam1866d ago

Kind of a compliment if someone thinks your writing is good enough to steal" - yeah, I've heard that one before. Funny how nobody ever says that when you lift their grandmother's secret cookie recipe and sell it as your own at the bake sale. Guess I should be flattered my grocery list is apparently press-release worthy material now too.

paige_bell815d ago

I saw this article online about a poet who had her whole collection ripped off by a big name author. She said the same thing, people told her she should be flattered. But she had to cancel her book tour because nobody wanted to buy her work since the other version was already out there. It's not about ego or getting credit on some random forum. It's about your time and effort being taken and sold by someone else. That grocery list thing you said, that's exactly it. Nobody would say "be flattered" if someone stole your actual physical property, but somehow digital work is different? Its not.