Plagiarism, the Ultimate Complement That Hurts

I am very proud to share with you that a doctor has found my work as a good source written with expertise. Unfortunately, Dr. Julia P. Poynter had decided she like it so much she published it as her own deleting my authorship credit. Way to go, doc. Were you really thinking of becoming my personal lotto?

Money standards

Doctors make the big bucks, but writers for the most part have to struggle for every penny unless their name is Clancy, King, or Peterson. Those guys earned their mantle by accumulating the credits. I am sure the good doctor publishes to do the same. By doing so, she can one day justify charging outrageous rates per minute and live in the upscale part of town. Meanwhile, I am not paid or recognition for the work she took credit for. In return I cannot squeeze the penny pinching publishers for that extra nickel and have to live in the below scale part of town. On top of that, the piece she claims credit for is in my portfolio. An editor viewing the piece who remembers seeing it under some doctor’s name will likely doubt my overall credentials. I do the work. The good Dr. J. P. Poynter gets the caviar and I get the tuna fish. I hate tuna fish.

What it is

Call it copyright infringement or just plain plagiarism whatever you want. I am calling it stealing money and obstruction of my career. In a way, it is flattering. You acknowledge the superior quality of my work. The trouble is by deleting my credit and posting it as your own to advance yourself, you hurt my career. What comes to mind is how credible could you be in your field and in your published work if you subsist by claiming someone else’s material. Is it possible I am a more talented writer than you will ever be? Sure it is. It would be no different if I took your diet challenged patients away by claiming, I am the guy who you got your knowledge from. Since you passed my work off as your knowledge, I would be the only one of us that is credible.

The truth of credibility

Before this incident, I never knew the difference between Dr. Julia P. Poynter and Jane Doe. Doc, I am a nice man, I wish everyone well. (Okay almost everyone, you now satisfied BJ? I am human.) I do not know if you are a nice person. I do know you can be dishonest. Therefore, I ask you and all like you to stop pilfering the hard work of those trying to live their dream. I say this for every writer who does not have a bank account of a Steven King, Tom Clancy or James Peterson. Those that do, talk to their lawyers they can afford it. You know by using a good writer and doing the right thing both your careers go zoom into the stratosphere. It is called respect, teamwork and good business ethic. Right now, I would not recommend anyone to consult your for their dietary problems. I could not trust you actually know your stuff.

By the way

I can imagine as soon as this article is published, my switchboard will lit up like a Christmas tree at my house. (Trust me Rockefeller Center pales in comparison to my tree lighting displays.) Every ambulance chaser in the gutter and under a rock with a computer will come running. Don’t worry as my ex will attest to I have a great lawyer on call. The moral of this story, if you are stealing someone else’s work do not look over your shoulder. Look onto the internet, where someone who has had work stolen by you will spread the word.

publishes to do the same. By doing so, she can one day justify charging outrageous rates per minute and live in the upscale part of town. Meanwhile, I am not paid or recognition for the work she took credit for. In return I cannot squeeze the penny pinching publishers for that extra nickel and have to live in the below scale part of town. On top of that, the piece she claims credit for is in my portfolio. An editor viewing the piece who remembers seeing it under some doctor’s name will likely doubt my overall credentials. I do the work. The good Dr. J. P. Poynter gets the caviar and I get the tuna fish. I hate tuna fish.