June 18, 2013

Blogduggery: Where Are You on the Plagiarism Spectrum?




So tell me my friends---what do you do when your articles are 'lifted' and the author didn't even bother adding your name, not even in the footnotes? You recognize your voice, yet there's no link to your article or your website, not even a shred of evidence you authored the article---and yet. And YET, their plagiarized article shoots up google rankings while your work can't be found with an Orion Starblast Astro Reflector Telescope! Oh the agony! Oh the humiliation when someone builds on your ideas with words you composed and metaphors you messed up, and patches together a better article than the wordy one you should have edited but couldn't 'cuz you were suffering ptsd; i.e.: long on words; short on memory. 

I don't write for money so why would it matter if someone put their name on my work if they reached more people than myself? Why would their BlogDuggery sneak under my skin like a subDermal earwig, only to be exorcised with a review of my Mission "to help people". Helping People is the way my family rolls all the way back to great-grandparents who said life was about serving others and they lived by their beliefs. By now, my ancestral patterned behavior is so deeply ingrained that nothing short of a narcissism overdose could change the course of my life. That's okay. The world needs more caretakers, not fewer and that wisdom comes from a woman who's read a library of books about people pleasing and nice girls and the trap of codependency. And notwithstanding my grandparent's altruistic mentality, my desire to alleviate other people's suffering stems from receiving help when I was an awful mess myself---before learning about mental illness, family systems, personality disorders and half-price Sara Lee pound cake at the day-old bake store. I'm still a mess. But I'm an educated chubby mess.

What is BlogDuggery? 
"BlogDuggery creates the appearance of authorship through intentional or unintentional appropriation of other people's ideas, words, and oftentimes crappy metaphors. Similar to  skullduggery, blogduggery insinuates trickery, dishonesty and deceitful behavior.
A caveat to the definition of BlogDuggery as a "failure of conscience", is the degree to which a suspect is suffering traumatic stress, thus interfering with prefontal executive brain functioning and the normal restraint of an unimpaired and healthy super-ego." ~excerpted from "How to Keep Your Blogging Friends as Allies" by CZBZ
The first time my work was plagiarized, it was a compliment because it meant something I had written was worthy of copy-and-paste. Recognition of my audacious attempts to write would have been lovely but when it didn't happen, I thought, "As long as the site helps people, what does my name matter?" I wasn't alarmed because I know how overwhelming it is when our lives become unmanageable and we search the Internet for answers. We find meaningful passages here and insightful excerpts there and copy people's quotes without attributions or links. I get it. I do. I have disorganized notes like that myself. So when a blogger omits my name, I contact the blogger via email and ask him or her to give me a little credit please and we can have coffee if ever they're in my city. I don't make a fuss because I have a keen eye for broad horizons, measuring situations by their relative irrelevance in the galactic scheme of everything temporal. If someone's traumatic experience was lessened by something I'd written, who cared if they remembered my name? I suppose it doesn't matter really. But for someone whose generosity was taken advantage of by an opportunistic narcissist well, this schmuck feels sad about blogging peers doing the same thing as rat bazturds. Why anyone who'd been abused, maligned, and mistreated, would feel entitled and justified to help themselves to other people's work, without even a thank you, baffles me.

I Am Guilty, Too 

A few weeks ago, I posted about an image I had copied from a cooking blog. (You can read about it Here and also a little bit Here.) I'm on the spectrum. The difference between my BlogDuggery and pathological BlogDuggery is in the credits, though. I added a link to her blog and her name which in my perspective, was free advertisement. She didn't see it that way and since the photograph was her property, not mine, I deleted it without argument. So far, all of my websites/blogs are educative, not for profit or business but that's still spurious justification for copying articles. So yea, I have copy-and-pasted articles; however, I have never lifted whole portions of anyone's work, pretending to have written the article myself. And I don't like the "sleight of hand" some sites are doing now, cherry-picking people's quotes off forums and blogs, expecting that person to feel guilty asking for recognition and so these "quotable" people don't receive validation while the site or blog or book gets credit (and even financial compensation). Maybe people who've been in narcissistic relationships are extra-sensitive to being 'used' but I can tell you that it sure makes me feel pissy and I'm an easy-going personality.

Somewhere in our desire to contribute to the good of the whole, caring and compassionate folks are being taken advantage of---all in the name of altruism.

Still, 'anonymous quote collections' and copy-and-pasted articles-with-attribution are not as worrisome as Patchwork Plagiarism, a fairly new phenomenon in our Information Age. This is happening in our blogging community and it's dangerous because of the effect it has on non-professional bloggers who might silence themselves rather than have their talents and creativity appropriated AGAIN. Everyone loses when one person chooses to disrespect a peer's hard work.
"In her poem, "A Time of Bold Action," Edna St. Vincent Millay evokes an image of the overwhelming amount of data to which we are exposed every day, " . . . facts . . .lie unquestioned/Uncombined." Information is ". . . daily spun, but there exists no loom/To weave it into fabric" (Todd 2004)."
"In this Information Age, students produce research projects by piecing together passages quoted verbatim and stitched together with a few introductory or transitional words. They assemble research as patchwork quilts rather than weaving a fabric of new knowledge." ~Patchwork Plagiarism 
Being Falsely Accused of Plagiarism

The truth is: I have been falsely charged of stealing intellectual property; i.e.: plagiarism. A shocking accusation to say the least since the allegations came from a woman considered to be a close friend and collaborator. After writing articles and sharing my ideas for our new website, she accused me of plagiarism, threatened me with a lawsuit, and proceeded to malign my character. Ever since then, I have shied away from writing poetry, fairy-tales, or any creative works she could even remotely perceive as her ideas (despite having written my 'stuff' on other websites before we even met). Her very scary and threatening emails insisted I had stolen her intellectual property and would be subject to legal reprimand if I dared write about Hansel and Gretel again. (The Brothers Grimm and Anderson might file a suit against fairy tale corruptions like my stories but I never heard from any of those guys or their publishers). The whole thing came down several years ago, maybe 2006-7 and it scared the bejeebers out of me.

I considered sending my dear friend a tin foil hat but decided against it 'cuz people would most likely believe her version of the truth, not mine. Some people are convincing story tellers. I'm uncomfortably realistic about my level of charisma, of which there is some but not enough to convince people I'm innocent, if that's NOT what they want to believe. And so our friendship tragedy continued, an intractable situation between accuser and schmuck played out over several years. She in her corner of cyberspace and me in the other, never writing anything that could in any conceivable way encroach on her designated turf and she never coming to her senses or contacting me again. Because we had a good-sized group of mutual friends, some believed me and some believed her and she got a lot of mileage out of calling me a plagiarist. (I also learned am learning that it's better to work with your wounded ego than engage in a she-said/she-said popularity charisma contest. She's not around anymore, which allows me to feel safe enough to write about about what happened.)

My experience being falsely accused of plagiarism, my recent encounter with the cooking blog image (guilty as charged), being threatened by a particular psychologist when her article was filed in our forum's resource section, and finding my work in an article stitched like a patchwork quilt, has heightened my awareness of the complexity of intellectual property, copyright law and plagiarism. However, with friends---with our blogging allies, plagiarism doesn't seem that complicated. Be Kind. Show Respect. Don't steal from your friends.

Yesterday, I was googling for articles about 'The Smear Campaign' since once again, your friendly schmuck is experiencing another round in the chicken coop because I can't get it through my thick-as-a-brick head, that some people enjoy destroying a good person's reputation. While I was reading a well-ranked article about the Distortion and Smear Campaign, certain passages sounded familiar. Sure enough, entire portions of my Chickens in Oz article had been lifted without attribution or credit. What really fowled up my mood was that the 'funny stuff', the personally odd and quirky stuff, is what was lifted...picking through my metaphors adding levity to an otherwise serious article. I am not in the least bit interested in legal action, nor would I send a bully threat the likes of which I've received. Still, it's my responsibility to stand up for the integrity of my work even if I was writing about barnyards. How hard would it be to add quotations marks and a link?

Keep our Community Healthy and Open

What disturbs me is that excellent writers have so much to offer other people in our efforts to educate the public about pathology. But when people steal their work and claim it as their own, people are naturally reluctant to share. Appropriating someone else's work without due respect, diminishes the quality of our community, potentially reducing the numbers of non-professional articles people like myself are willing to write. It's one thing to read a psychologist's psychoanalytic paper on the etiology of NPD and those articles are not only necessary but fundamental to understanding pathology; but for the majority of autodidacts (a fancy word for "self-taught"), we want REAL experiences. The Real Deal. The nitty-gritty down-and-hideous dysfunctional grind detailing sociopathic parents, pathological siblings, narcissistic bosses, and rat bazturd x-husbands.

 How Can I Stop Myself From Committing BlogDuggery?

1) Inform yourself about plagiarism. There's no excuse for ignorance: A Primer on Plagiarism

2) If you want to use an article, ask the blogger first. Post his or her article, quote, or excerpt later

2) Include the author's name and when available: a link to their site, books, and/or biography

3) Use quotation marks when posting cut-and-paste phrases or paragraphs in your article

4) Add a Resource section to your blog and list your sources 

5) If using a peer's ideas extensively, add a link to their blog on your sidebar. Don't feign innocence by pretending you've never heard of them when obviously, you have

6) SEE your fellow bloggers. Honor them. They care enough to make your life better

7) Acknowledge your fellow bloggers for trusting YOU enough to freely share their work

8) Plagiarism silences people who've been taken for granted. Restore their belief in a trustworthy world. Don't Steal Their Work

9) If your work was lifted, be kind when first contacting the "suspect". If they ignore your requests or refuse to remove your work from their site, then you might use a legal dictionary and write a nasty letter. Most of the time, people are extremely apologetic so don't go overboard punishing them

10) Never assume you know a co-collaborator you haven't met face-to-face  ;-P



A Educational Video by TED.com:



Resources & Notes


Autodidact is a word my good friend Caliban's Sister taught me. She's always teaching me words with three syllable or more. She's a conscientious credit-giver and she knows how it feels to be plagiarized. 

Plagiarism Is Not a Big Moral Deal by Stanley Fish. The New York Times. "Very young children do not distinguish between themselves and the world; they assume that everything belongs to them; only in time and through the conditioning of experience do they learn the distinction between mine and thine and so come to acquire the concept of stealing. The concept of plagiarism, however,  is learned in  more specialized contexts of practice entered into only by a  few; it’s hard to get from the notion that you shouldn’t appropriate your neighbor’s car to the notion that you should not repeat his words without citing him."

Wikipedia: Plagiarism "the use of the Latin word plagiarius (literally kidnapper), to denote someone stealing someone else's work, was pioneered by Roman poet Martial, who complained that another poet had "kidnapped his verses." This use of the word was introduced into English in 1601 by dramatist Ben Jonson, to describe as a plagiary someone guilty of literary theft."




36 comments:

  1. Morning CZ, hurting hands and first cup of coffee, but this is a stunningly well-written post. Direct and ruthlessly honest, yet still big-hearted and generous in spirit. What happened to you most recently that triggered this post? if you want, email me. You KNOW how invested I am in this topic! love CS

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  2. ps bloggduggery--brilliant. Blogiarism works too.

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  3. For heaven's sake CZ, I just noticed you "cited" me for the word "autodidact"!! There was NO NEED to do that a) it's in the public domain and even if you didn't know the word before it's still not in any way a word or concept even remotely original to me! And b) you were overly conscientious about feeling like you needed to mention me, due to my own experience with being plagarized. While I truly APPRECIATE your scrupulousness here, my blog isn't a reference for learning about plagiarism, so it doesn't need to be listed under resources. In fact, I DEMAND that you uncite me immediately! (Truly, I think it's out of place, the link to me being there in this context. but thank you thank you for thinking I'd be sensitive about it. Remove the link to me, and we'll always have Paris (or at least, this comment). Besides, you've been plagiarized before, and this in an instance in which there is no ethical, moral need for me to be there as a reference or a resource. You really just wanted to give me a shout out here because you are my friend. See--I'm as conscientious about when I DON'T need to be cited as when I feel I do!! LOVE CS

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    1. Hi CS! I am teasing you a little with the "autodidact" reference but it still serves as an example. I would hope we wouldn't have to " credit" every little word a blogging buddy wrote, for fear of ticking them off! Those sensitive folks (such as my brief reference to a former friend) are not the kind of people we can joke with or tease. If we must keep track of "who said what and when" for fear of offending someone, or triggering their litigious defenses, it's not a healthy healing relationship! We need to feel accepted, valued, appreciated. So it's a little tricky establishing "trust" to the point we can be light- hearted and challenge our fears of being rejected or even misunderstood.

      I had minor surgery on my foot yesterday, so I'm stuck with this iPad instead of my keyboard. I had no idea a little tiny toe could lay me up in bed like this. Hopefully I'll be walking again tomorrow!

      Love,
      CZ

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    2. Oh NO, your TINY TOE.....perchance a...bunion? It's ok if you keep it up or take it down, teasing is always fun between friends. I just wanted to be sure you knew that I knew that you knew that I knew that I don't regard the topic of plagiarism as mine. How IRONIC is that. in a sick kind of way. You poor thing, I hope your household family is helping with the chores.....tease back. When you are up and back at your regular computer, fill me in on who stole text from you. uncredited. The noive of these people. love CS

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    3. It was a small mole that was a bit suspicious and since skin cancer is on both my maternal and paternal side, the dermatologist removed it. I CANNOT believe how painful the wound is but she said it was in a tough spot and toes are hard to heal! I hope it doesn't lay me up for long cuz I have lots of things to do this week. Maybe I can catch up on people's blogs now. That's the silver lining.

      As far as having my stuff copied- and-pasted without credit...well this has gone on for awhile. I'm not sure having a cavalier attitude about it is a healthy thing. It just struck me the other day that by not protecting our creative work, we are replicating our behavior in the narcissistic relationship. Thoughts like:

      "Yea, my stuff isn't important enough to defend. Who do I think I am???"

      Or running after the golden crumbs someone throws our way when they steal our without recognizing our value, our work! I just got to wondering if there were an unhealthy residual from a pathological relationship that people like myself should challenge? More thoughts on that later.

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    4. If you want my opinion, I think you should be protecting all of your posts with copyright, because one day, mark my words, you will want to collect the best of (which is hundreds) and publish them in book form. Then you might regret letting others lift your work without crediting you. Remember, with me, my work was already in print and copyrighted by my publishers before she lifted ideas. You do not owe it to the world to put your great writing and way with words, not to mention life's experiences, out here only to have them blogiarized.

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    5. CZ, I second what CS said. xx

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  4. ROTF!!! Oh, both of you! LOL~ Recently, CS called me an autodictact, and I had to look up the word. LOL! I be stupid sometimes.

    This happened to me about 6 years ago, first time. I actually felt fattered then, now I wouldn't be. I do write poetry and stories and noveels for money!!! LOL~ and this man in UK stole a story and a poem from a website (ERWA) that I was posting on. The legal department of ERWA went after him....and his excuse? "I just liked the poetry." LOL! He took it down.

    About a year ago, I was contacted by a site owner asking me if I was the author of "The River". Yes I was. On her poetry site, one I had never heard about, a woman had taken "The River" and signed her name to it. Worse, much worse, she had added a stanza that was TERRIBLE! Trite, bad, unpoetical. LOL! Her excuse? She was 'inspired' and 'liked it.' She got bounced out of that site.

    Good. "The River" had been published in my first book, and had won an poetry award (my first one of those...not many later, either! LOL!) The balls of her!

    However, very recently, a spam email said that they 'would be taking from my posts for their own posts, and also would be putting a poem or two on their site.' No attributing to me, nothing like this. I think some people do this just to get your attention. I deleted the spam. I saw what would happen. It was a blog about Air Jordans and I couldn't figure out how he would use my stuff.

    People who steal other's poetry, writing, etc...are depleted of talent and originality. My NM did this to me, but then again....she's a narcissist! But I think this brazenness out there in the ether is incubating many more (outed) narcissists.

    I have posted some pictures from the internet that corresponded to my chapters, and haven't had the sense to remember where I got them, but usually, I now just post my own (bad) photos and paintings. LOL!

    The issue is this: anyone who steals is a thief of intellectual property. But more, they show how empty they are of originality and talent. That should be enough to condemn them for all time, but they keep doing it. It's probably pathological with some of them.

    I am sorry for those who have had to walk this troubling path, in trying to regain their own intellectual property...fancy word for their own inspiration.

    Major Bummer.

    Lady Nyo

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    1. Hi LadyNyo,

      You actually write "real" poetry that resonates in people's hearts and minds. My poetry was basically awful but it made people laugh and shake off some of the trauma blues. I might stick one or two poems on my blog now that I know more about plagiarism, intellectual property, and copyright.

      Speaking of territorial complexities, the Supreme Court's recent decision against patenting human genes, was a relief! How far and how deep and how insane can 'individual ownership' go?

      I was hoping someone like yourself would show up on this post because if I have been accused and stolen from, then a lot of other people have also! The natural reaction people in the "blogging" world seem to have is to shut down, to remove their work, to write a commercial book in order to protect their work. This is such a loss to our recovery community because let's be honest---how many people would someone like me reach if the only people who could read my story, were those who paid for it? I am no Anne Lamott, that's for sure.

      I've witnessed more reluctance to " share" on the Internet over the past decade. What used to be open-source, has become an entrepreneurial endeavor. Now psychiatrists and therapists are filling the blogosphere. I wonder if people will have more respect (or more fear) about plagiarizing psychologists' writings than they do for non-professionals like me? That doesn't say anything very nice about people who plagiarize if they think "we" don't matter.

      I also think some people aren't mentally healthy and may not see other people as having rights of their own. If someone "likes" your work, then they feel entitled to use your work because you aren't a separate person from them. There are many reasons why people intentionally plagiarize other people's work, I suppose.

      Taking your poetry and stories and putting their name on it is beyond "my" understanding! They can't possibly be of sound mind but even so, you must stand up for yourself. You must believe your work and your creativity has value and deserves to be protected from abuse!

      Love
      CZ

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    2. CZ, I know I'm interrupting LadyN's reply to this (sorry my friend), but your writing is stronger, better, has more style, bite and wit than Brene Brown's. I've read two of her books and a hundred of your posts, and you are by far the better writer. Do not let residual insecurity from narc ex of anyone else who has clubbed you get in the way of SEEING what body of work this blog represents. I mean it. I know what I see when I read good writing. This isn't CS your friend speaking,this is CS, who has twenty five years of bona-fides to assess.

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    3. You are so good for my confidence, CS. I love having healthy cyber-friends who freely compliment and support one another so we can be our best without DIMINISHING anyone else!

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  5. Hey Educated Chubby Mess! ROTF! with that one. Went back and more carefully read your good writing. You are so compassionate, kind, can I adopt you? Can I rub up next to you?? Perhaps some of your 'good' will rub off on me!?!

    About this Chubby Mess? Well, I have to crow. I am diabetic, 65, and chubby, too. A mess, yes. Educated? well, I'm this autodictactor CS is talking about...LOL! Heinz style.

    But! I have been doing 'green smoothies' for now 7 weeks! I love them. I make them pretty much the same....handfulls of kale/one orange (sometimes with the skins) 1/2 lemon/ piece of ginger when I have it..../ two tablespoons of metamucil...just to keep the kale moving/ water or a little juice (any kind) and about 1/2 cup or more of blueberries. Blend. Don't Juice. BLEND Drink it two or three times a day. Each what you want for dinner. I also keep a bag of York Peppermint patties in the freezer.

    I don't know how much I have lost in 7 weeks, but my face is much thinner....my shoulders have less...bulk....and my waist is a bit smaller. I have so much energy I could cut down a forest, and last week tried with a gumboy. LOL!

    Of course, my shit is dark green, but I atribute this to the kale which I buy in bags....always hated kale but now??? I live on it.

    Let the plagerizers copy this! LOL!...

    Just wanted to tell my 'secret' for losing weight and I don't feel deprived at all. Those York patties help, but I actually found that I'm not stuffing them in my piehole like I was.

    Perhaps there is no more room in my intestines for that....kale is taking up all the room. For some reason, the green smoothies feed me, calm me and satisfy just about all the things I need...except a new car.

    Love,
    Lady Nyo..sipping on sweet iced tea, but lots of lemon. Perhaps the lemon neutralizes the sugar? LOL!

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    1. I LOVE KALE. My daughter made Kale Wraps for dinner tonight. Kale smoothies I'm not so sure of, though. :-P But if you say so, they must be good. I promise to try one and tell you all about it. We've been following the DASH Diet and we love love love it. It's basically a plant-based diet so now we're roasting vegetables in the oven and other recipes we've never tried before.

      Time to get healthy. I wish I had known about DASH ten years ago. This past decade has done a serious number on my health.

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    2. Yeah...ever notice how you knowingly sacrifice your own health just when you need it the most? to go into battle,etc..

      well, try the kale smoothies, but be sure to add an orange and blueberries. with a 1/4 of lemon and some ginger, makes the difference.

      I will look up again the DASH diet..

      Thanks, sweetie.

      Love,
      Lady Nyo

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  6. The bottom line is that copying and pasting someone's work without crediting it is stealing/cheating. I used to be friends with a girl in high school who, every time we had an exam, would say: "you go and study so I can copy your answers". She would say it like she was only joking, but I didn't think it was funny. With writing is no different. Why should someone take credit for work they HAVEN'T done? Really, at the end of the day, if they can copy and paste entire paragraphs surely they can copy and paste the link of where they got the info from. Is not hard, is it?

    Love,
    Kara xx

    P.S.
    Sorry to hear about your operation. I hope your recovery from surgery is going well.

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    1. Hello Kara! Thanks for chiming in!

      When I take a look at some of the Patchwork Plagiarism out there, I wonder why ANYONE would spend THAT much time picking-and-choosing other people's words. Wouldn't it be easier to write the damn thing yourself?????????

      p.s. My little toe is so much better today, it's amazing. I couldn't sleep for a couple of days it throbbed so much. I'm a little cripplie walking but I can make it to the FRIG for hummus and the pantry for Stacey's Pita Chips. ;-)

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  7. Dear CZ,

    As you know I am not a writer so I hope I can adequately convey what I wish to express. I agree with the previous comments with regards to protecting your work with the copyright laws available. This doesn't mean you have to turn into a badass,nor does it mean that it would diminish your altruism as learned/passed on through your ancestry. Here's where my thoughts lead me as I've been pondering your blog since I read it yesterday. I keep coming back to "how does it feel to be plagiarized"? How are you left feeling? I strongly believe those feelings need to be honored,respected and protected. Here's an ugly term, but I liken the experience to (and,please, I hope nobody goes over the deep end over this) rape. This is my own projection. This isn't about ego. When someone who is a victim of crime, be it robbery, theft, vandalism, domestic abuse, etc...the victim feels violated. I learned the term, emotional rape, in the aftermath of the N. I had no monetary losses, no physical scarring, absolutely nothing that could legally hold the N accountable. Yet, I suffered greatly as I had been violated. I am not saying that plagiarism causes the same emotional effects. What I am saying is that you should not discount whatever feelings you may have when you are violated through acts of plagiarism. Again, it isn't about ego. Yes, to a certain degree. But, whatever hurt the ego sustains, it is minute by comparison to the grand scheme of our emotional, mental being when having been violated. What I learned in the aftermath is that nobody could do the job of taking care of me. There are resources out there, but it is I who must utilize the resources. I learned that I must respect, honor, love myself enough to protect/take care of myself against being violated in the future. It's nobody's job, but my own. I think the whole point of my rambling here is that I think you are worthy of being respected and honored and ought not minimize the effects of plagiarism. You're right, you're not losing money(that's not your motivation), you're not in it for fame, etc..Only you can determine the value of your body of work and, whether or not, being violated is acceptable to you.

    Violating others is not acceptable, no matter the form, to me. And I disagree with the silencing of one's self as being the outcome. Not only is that punishing one's self, it punishes others. With regards to violations of any kind against others, have we not learned how damaging "silencing" can be? Why would anyone partake in that as a form of self-protection?

    I understand not all writers have the monetary resources to pursue legal avenues. I would hope that people do not silence themselves,but continue to use their voices to speak out and against this issue as you have done here. Your blog is a step in the right direction.

    Sincerely,
    Lisa

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    1. I agree with Lisa here CZ. Plagiarism does FEEL like a violation. BEcause it is. Of your personal boundaries. You work hard coming up with your writing and ideas. No one has the right to step and just take them. I wish you'd expose the person who did it to you, here on your blog. You don't have to "sue," but sometimes shaming them a little is enough (although it didn't work in my case!! :-)
      I'd like to know who took your post and reproduced it, especially since it was a really good one, the Chickens in Oz post. At least out the plagiarizer over where we're talking about that other business, maybe?

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    2. CS,

      This has gone on for awhile and usually, people aren't intentional plagiarists (as I explained in my post).

      Recently, a book was published with random quotes culled from the Internet. There was a Book of Quotes that was published by Femfree and Vaknin several years ago which upset a lot of people at the time. I wasn't upset back then but I had some pretty shitty boundaries if you know what I mean. At this point, I finally understand why people were angry seeing their quotes collected in a book. (no attribution to anyone)

      Now there's another book on the market and the quote on the right sidebar of my blog is included in their collection. A forum member brought this to my attention and then by chance, I stumbled on an article that excerpted entire passages from my blog without any attribution. I'd like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt of course; however, what he has done is Wrong. It's especially WRONG when it's done by a victim claiming to have been objectified and used by a narcissist. Ya know? Makes yer head spin.

      We have been talking about this on the forum. You can read the thread here:

      http://www.webofnarcissism.com/forums/index.php?topic=11623.0

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    3. Hi CZ, what I've just seen, over at WoN, is intentional plagiarism. Knowing, deliberate, and way too much trespassing. I know you hate to be the one confronting, but I hope you at least contact him privately.

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    4. Dear Lisa,

      I have listened to your counsel and will not ignore his blatant plagiarism. There is no room for doubt when comparing our articles side-by-side.

      I know of people who've withdrawn their work from the Web because of plagiarism. It's not so much that they believe their words are literary masterpieces. It's the emotional rape as you described. That what they have written (which really comes from our hearts, doesn't it?) is stolen by other people who feel entitled to take wahtever they want without consideration for our feelings. That my work was copied onto a website about ABUSE, is doubly ironic.

      I am contacting the author this afternoon. We'll see how he responds. ;-)

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  8. I do not want people to get upset over what's happened. I especially don't want a big cyberspace brouhaha. I will contact the owner of the website and express my dismay at his plagiarism (there is no doubt my articles were plagiarized!!) and see how he responds.

    So many people WANT to contribute that they copy-and-paste in order to create a website. It's not easy coming up with hundreds of articles, ya know. ;-P People generally have a limit to how much they can say about narcissism. I seem to be an endless fount of blessings...my well never runs dry. Can't you just imagine that my X RUES THE DAY he met me?

    He probably says, "I had no idea she could spell, much less talk."

    What probably blows his mind is that I didn't even know how to use a computer until after he left. He's probably thinking to himself, "Wow. I coulda made some money off her technical talents but she didn't SHARE THEM WITH ME! She is SO SELFISH!"

    I will handle this situation with the owner of that website. And I'll let y'all know if he 'fesses' up or not.

    Love,
    CZ

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    1. Please please contact him. And let him know that OTHER readers of your blog found the plagiarism and alerted you to it. It's obviously deliberate. "You will be treated like a pariah without any credible evidence whatsoever. Even by your so-called friends"?? There are way too many of these lifted passages reproduced without any mention of you. Your blog is not even in his side list of resources. This is preposterous and outrageous and he cannot be let to get away with it. Please please let him know you know, that your readers know, that his post has been copied and compared by yourself and by others, and that he'd sure as hell better post links to your relevant posts on N-Continuum or you will go after him. Do NOT be "nice" about this. It's a CRIME he's committing.

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    2. ps. There's nothing to "confess." It's there in black and white (pixels). Tell him that four of your friends have copied his post, and have it on their computers. It's insufficient for him to just take it down as if he'd never plagiarized. He must cite you, cross-reference you, and list your blog.

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    3. Maybe at least post a link here, in the post above, to his blogpost that steals your work without crediting you, so your MANY readers can see it?

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    4. I will be adding a full copy of his article on a new post today, CS. Then I'll highlight direct passages stolen from the N-Continuum. He may have done the same thing with other articles or other writers, guess we'll see.

      I can be such a chicken because my heart is big and I hope people's lives are better because they've learned about pathology. But in this circumstance, it's been wrong for me to ignore such obvious plagiarism.

      Thank you everyone for your input.

      Love,
      CZ

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    5. I printed out his essay from his website. Other good friends have taken screen shots. You do not wanna mess with pissy women who've been scorned, ignored, dismissed and treated like disposable Tupperware.

      Apparently, he has 'plagiarized' more writers than myself. People are turning up all kinds of cut-and-pastes on his site. Now I feel better about "outing" him because obviously, this guy knows what he's doing.

      I may need to remind him that "God is Watching" and he'd better not mess around with that guy.

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  9. Jesu~! I've been thinking of this issue of plagiarism after reading more of these excellent posts.

    (this is not about plagiarism below, but this discussion made me think of this...and it still hurts)

    I remember something that still sticks with me 30 years ago. My ex-husband who was my mother with a d___k, when I won a landmark (at least here) case against a psychologist for sexual misconduct and won a 25,000.00 which I had to split with the lawyers, said to me: " I didn't know you could make money from that lawsuit. I wouldn't have left you (hah! he was using my credit card to get bjs prostitutes in MY car!!!)if I had known there was still money in this. You need to give me a slice." I already had been divorced from him for 2 years and he still thought of me as a cash cow. Mostly cow, but cash when he could get it. He didn't work for the last 9 years of our marriage, he expected me to support him. He was a 'political revolutionary.' Hah!

    Part of the issue of plagiarism comes from us not enforcing our boundaries...not believing our work is good enough to protect, etc. I put a lot on the line to go after that bastard psychologist,(who was serial in this behavior...) including my own mother saying that she would stand up and tell the world that I was a whore. As I said, I threw in a lot of risk to do this. It was the first sexual malpractice case in the state of Ga.

    It was bound hand and glove with the idea that we are basically worthless and so is our work. Bah.

    In so many cases, we are too wrapped up with the notion that we don't want to be seen as harpies, etc....but we get taken advantage of by these people out there who have no respect for us or our boundaries. We need to go to war with them, drop the 'nicities' of our persons and tear them a new one.

    The bottom line is this: for whatever reason we can come up with...they are STEALING and in some countries their hands are chopped off. Bit of a bother typing with only one hand, don't you think?

    The THOUGHT that the recovery community, or whatever you call it is to be given over to the 'professionals' makes my skin crawl. There are good ones, and frankly, there are bad and bloodless men and women who are writing books about narcissism, recovery, etc. and they in many cases don't have the 'reach out' that I have found here on CZ's blog and others...I would abandon this field if all we had to read were those book-writing and profiting professionals.

    Finally, CZ, don't put your poetry down...there are enough people around who will do that for you. Especially other 'poets'. They can be very vicious people, but their insecurities should not let us curtail our creativity.

    With love,

    Lady Nyo

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    1. Dear Lady Nyo,

      I don't even know your whole story with your X. He sounds like a real rat bazturd though. When we were divorcing, my X insisted adding a clause that would allow him to 'sue me' for money should I ever make a dime. Guess he wanted to make sure he got every drop out of me he could."You need to give me a slice??!!!" Pretty typical of these entitled folks.

      "my own mother saying that she would stand up and tell the world that I was a whore."

      Was she worried about public scorn?? Why wouldn't she want you to defend yourself and sue an unethical professional??? I would be shocked by her comment except I've been listening to people's stories for over a decade now and everytime you think you've heard THE WORST, someone else writes about their N-Mother.

      "we get taken advantage of by these people out there who have no respect for us or our boundaries."

      Now I want you and everyone to know that I have listened and I have acted accordingly, I hope. It is very true that I don't value my work OR my time which is pretty typical of stay-at-home-moms in my generation. So your comment pushed me over the edge and I THANK everyone here who reassured me that what I write has merit. Gosh, I might get weepy on you....this has been an emotional day for me.

      Love to all,
      CZ

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    2. Well, Sweetheart! If we have pushed you over the edge, we all will be there to catch you, too!

      You already know how much I adore you AND your writing. You make plain and truthful what many years of different therapists didn't on this narcissism issue. You were really instrumental for me in this clarity...sort of ripping off the veils of a lot of psycho babble.

      My mother? Huh. She is a Malignant Narcissist and they aren't worried about anything except how they are preceived. Of course, AFTER I won my long case, she reversed herself and said (one of the few times in my life:) Good for you.

      Then she promptly forgot about it all. Ever notice how NMs had such a short attention span? I think it is the burned out wiring. LOL!

      Yeah, stay at home moms...and those of us of a particular age: we get no respect!!! We have to step up our game on this, and start slinging.

      About 10 years ago, I was involved with the police and DEA/GBI here in investigating the drug trade in my neighborhood. The head of the operation, (who was in my front bedroom for 2 weeks) was a real bastard. He of all those officers was arrogant and looked down on me because I was 'just a housewife'. Well, apparently he got demoted from narcotics to investigating street crime.Two days ago he called for information about our robbery and he was rather embarrassed that he was now doing 'this'. Haha. His arrogance apparently caught up with him. I gave him short shift.

      Karma has a way sometimes of reversing fortunes. This guy who has been stealing your marvelous work will get it in the end. Some way he will be outted, exposed and shamed. Best that people don't trust him anymore. It's hard to come back after that.

      You, however, my dear CZ...I trust explicitly. You are a marvelous and heartfelt writer. I would follow you anywhere and listen to your wisdom. That isn't easy for me at this time of my life after all the betrayals, but you are golden.

      Love,

      Lady Nyo

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    3. Didn't you read my last comment about being "weepy"?

      I don't even know why I started writing about narcissism. It wasn't one of my career choices in high school. Or in college. I preferred well-paying careers like Ceramics, Pottery, Sculpture, Homemaking. ;-P

      I think creative people can venture into various modes of expression, even writing. Some artists are more skilled than others and I'm not being modest--I'm realistic about my writing. The point to me is 'connection' and helping people understand the complicated psycho-babble you mentioned.

      So to all my friends who worry my self-esteem is low and that's why I don't take myself that seriously...no. I'm realistic. There comes a point when we're willing to accept average and ordinary as being "Good ENOUGH". Enough of that striving for success and excellence CRAP! Therapy helped me work through that line of thinking, thank God.

      If I'm sixty years old, my kids are happy and I haven't killed my sister, my life has been a success.

      Now back to your mother. I laughed at your comment: "burned out wiring". ha! Maybe you're onto something---the split between who they are and who they believe themselves to be, short-circuits the anterior cingulate cortex weakening the orbitofrontal cortex resulting in inappropriate and inexplicable behaviors. Jest kiddin' with ya; however, I read an article in Science Daily about "altered brain structures" in people with NPD. No Kiddin!

      There may be a day when you'll be vindicated, Lady Nyo, for having been raised by a mother with an "altered brain structure." Maybe then society will have sympathy for "victims" who've been telling scientists and doctors and psychologists for years, that there was something WRONG with the narcissist. Instead, we're told to LOOK at OURSELVES and stop being critical! Well la-de-dah. Won't it be something when a brain scan PROVES narcissists lack compassion!

      And let me tell you (which of course you already know!) nothing demands a compassionate heart MORE (and brain evidently) than raising children. A mother without compassion is a potential Nurse Ratchet. YIKES

      Let me add a clip from the article in Science Daily because I think you'll be very interested in this study:

      http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130619101434.htm

      "Our data shows that the amount of empathy is directly correlated to the volume of gray brain matter of the corresponding cortical representation in the insular region, and that the patients with narcissism exhibit a structural deficit in exactly this area," states Dr. Röpke, commenting on the findings. "Building on this initial structural data, we are currently attempting to use functional imaging (fMRI) to understand better how the brains of patients with narcissistic personality disorder work."

      It shouldn't be this way but it is: Until there's physical proof that someone lacks empathy, people won't believe it. Maybe one day we'll be able to scan an offender's brain and say, "Yup. This here's an asshole, all right." LOL

      You also wrote and I appreciate the struggle you've had in being a "housewife": "He of all those officers was arrogant and looked down on me because I was 'just a housewife'."

      We could swap stories for days, nights and maybe the rest of our lives on that topic!

      Love you back,
      CZ

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  10. I just wanted to say this here: it's not apropo to the discussion, thread, but no one really knows this pain or believes it. Perhaps people here do.

    When I was 43, we adopted our son. He was three. My mother didn't see him until a few months later. She came into the airport (Atlanta) just screaming about the flight, etc...as my son edged behind my skirts. She looked at him and said: "I'm not making the best impression on him." No, mother, you are scaring the hell out of him...though I didn't dare say so.

    I brought her home and within an hour I heard him howl up in the bathroom. He was sitting on the floor, she was standing over him, and he was sobbing. She had slapped him across he face. His cheek was marked by her hand.

    Why? "He spit at me." He was 3 years old, scared of this vicious stranger obviously, and she was in her 70's.

    Her tossed off apology? None. Just that 'he is over stimulated." There was more, but I just wanted someone to know this. I don't think I ever hated her more than that moment. No, not true, there were too many moments that deserved my hatred of this foul woman.

    Many years ago, but Jesus Christ. When I brought it up to the flying monkeys in my family, they chose not to believe me, even though their own children suffered abuse from this NM.

    Another cousin told me that "nice people don't say such things about their mothers, even if they are suffering."

    That is why, CZ and others here, it is of such importance that these blogs remain on the internet. I think that had I not found help from these blogs, I would have killed myself, feeling totally incompetent as a mother, etc. That was what I was trained as. No expectations at all from her. Just constant supply line junk.

    When a Mother's Day came around, I called her and wished her "Happy Mother's Day". She said "Well, Happy Mother's Day back but then you really aren't a mother." I never forgot that.

    When she is dead (at 93 how long Jesus???) I will find the Earth a better place and great relief. I never thought this possible, was afraid to think this, even. But I know now that how we handle these people after death is our own decision. They will be gone with all their cruelties and madness, but we will start to heal.

    Lady Nyo

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    1. There's nothing more to say. A beautiful commentary, Lady Nyo. Thank you for daring say what so many broken hearts need to hear.

      Love,
      CZ

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  11. CZ, I received a comment today alerting me to a site on facebook that has plagiarized material from my blog Planetjan. The latest comment on my blog contains a link to the facebook site and indeed I did find my very own words staring back at me. Advice? I left a note on the site that I was aware of this and that it needed to be taken down or a link needed to provided to the material on my site. Aargh! Have people no shame? (Yes, I already know the answer.)

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    1. Hi Jan!

      I went to your site but could not find the link? Did you take it down? other bloggers have found their work on a couple of Facebook sites (one in particular) so let me know wh stole your writing, just cuz I'm curious and keep tabs on those Facebookers who want the attention and praise without doing the work themselves.

      Did you hear back from the site owner?

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