[stylist] A peculiar copyright infringement

Tue Jan 18 18:56:15 UTC 2011

Hi,

It's a very interesting article. Someone did plagiarize your words from how 
it sounds, and I think your article about it is the right thing to do. Bad 
publicity for the place that published it and other legal procedures may 
also be in order. Excellent writing. Anita

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 1:44 PM
Subject: [stylist] A peculiar copyright infringement

> Hi Friends,
> The following is the most rudamentary draft of an article I'm working on 
> regarding something which just happened to me. I was more interested in 
> sharing the content with you than asking for help on this, but any 
> suggestions are always appreciated.
> Donna
>
> ***
>
> A Most Peculiar Form of Plagerism
>
>
> When I was pursuing my songwriting career, I occasionally indulged in the 
> fantasy that someone would steal one of my songs. They would become 
> famous, and I would successfully sue them based on my copyright. I would 
> use my PR skills to get publicity for the trial -- Famous musician rips 
> off blind lady's song. I would ride to stardom and my other songs would 
> finally get their day.
>
> Now that my writing involves only words, however, copyright infringement 
> has taken on a different tone. It's happened, and it's not what I thought 
> it would be. I won't be sueing anybody or riding to glory on the event. 
> I'm not outraged or hurt -- well, maybe disgusted a little. Mostly, I'm 
> mystified.
>
> As a writer on blindness issues and an activist trying to spread the word 
> about the challenges facing blind Americans, I publish articles on the 
> Braille literacy crisis and related subjects to online article directories 
> like EzineArticles and American Chronicle. I don't get paid a cent, but 
> the sites don't demand exclusivity, so I can publish the same article in 
> multiple locations. Furthermore, other sites can go to these "ezine 
> directories" for free web content and republish my articles to their 
> hearts' content.
>
> To see where my articles end up, I subscribe to Google Alerts for "blind, 
> blindness and Braille." On my 61^st birthday, I was catching up on that 
> week's Google Alerts, when I noticed a familiar title. I went to the site. 
> When I started reading the article, I thought that I must have been 
> mistaken; maybe it was another article with the same title. Then, I began 
> to realize that the article was rather poorly written. In fact, I 
> struggled to understand it at all. It slowly dawned on me that it 
> contained the same information as mine. On closer examination, I realized 
> that someone had re written my article, published it and thankfully not 
> embarrassed either themselves or me by crediting it to anyone.
>
> The rewrite reminds me of what might happen if someone translated my work 
> from English to Chinese and back again with only the most rudimentary 
> knowledge of either language. I wrote to the site requesting that the 
> article be taken down and inviting them to use the real one for free. No 
> reply.
>
> Here is the first two paragraphs of my original article (August 6, 2010), 
> followed by the "equivalent" of the butchered version.
>
> From American Chronicle:
>
> 5 Shocks Braille Gave a Visually Impaired Audio Book Reader
>
> http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/174754
>
> Block quote
>
> At age three, before learning to read, I heard my parents talk about the 
> family who lived next to us in our cookie-cutter suburban development in 
> Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. I thought they were our "next store" 
> neighbors. As I learned the alphabet and meanings of words, I asked my 
> mother what the neighbor's sold at their store. I learned that I had, of 
> course, misheard.
>
> That wasn't the last time my ears let me down in the spelling department. 
> Reading, however, is supposed to clue us in about those words that aren't 
> spelled the way our ears think they should be.
>
> Block quote end
>
> From Best Special Education
>
> http://www.suite101.com/pages/article_list.cfm
>
> Block quote
>
> At grow older some, before finding out study, My spouse and i heard this 
> mothers and fathers discuss a family who resided close to people inside 
> our cookie-cutter suburban growth throughout Pennsylvania's Lehigh Pit. I 
> thought we were looking at each of our "next store" friends and neighbors. 
> When i figured out your alphabet along with descriptions associated with 
> phrases, Gurus our mummy what are the neighbor's bought in its shop. I 
> found that I had put together, naturally, misheard.
>
> That weren't one more occasion the ears ok , i'll all the way down inside 
> the punctuational department. Examining, on the other hand, should really 
> hint you throughout about people words which are not wrote how our own 
> hearing believe they should be.
>
> Block quote end
>
>
> -- 
> Read Donna's articles on
> Suite 101:
> www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
> Ezine Articles:
> http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=D._W._Hill
> American Chronicle:
> www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885
>
> Connect with Donna on
> Twitter:
> www.twitter.com/dewhill
> LinkedIn:
> www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
> FaceBook:
> www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill.
>
> Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
> cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
> Apple I-Tunes
> phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374
>
> Check out the "Sound in Sight" CD project
> Donna is Head of Media Relations for the nonprofit
> Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind:
> www.padnfb.org
>
>
>
>
>
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> _______________________________________________
> Writers Division web site:
> http://www.nfb-writers-division.org <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>
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