[stylist] A peculiar copyright infringement

Tue Jan 18 19:22:19 UTC 2011

For what it's worth, the plagerist did a lousy job of copying you.  Your 
words made sense, but the other guy's required more thought than one might 
devote to one article.  Judith
----- 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
>
>
>
>
>
> E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (7.0.0.514)
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> _______________________________________________
> Writers Division web site:
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