They say that theft is the highest form of flattery when it comes to writing. I, personally, have never resorted to plagiarism, though when it comes to writing I cannot say I have any morals at all. So it does not surprise me, or wound me mortally, to have my blog plagiarized by nationally syndicated columnists. On the contrary, I am flattered.
More than one sports writer as well as one humor writer from a nationally circulated magazine has apparently been monitoring this site for inspiration for punch lines, the turn of a phrase, or sometimes, brazenly, the entire premise of a story.
I will not name names or anything classless like that. I won't use initials like T, or leave an incriminating file on my desk while I go on a bathroom break. I will not cite case and file,give quotes, and compare published dates. Though, I certainly could do all of those things.
I will not do anything about this immoral behavior, probably. I will look upon it as a curse of a free society and a free internet. We are easily infiltrated. I could make this blog proprietary and charge a fee for entry like a porn site or have a "premium" membership fee for my best stuff like theStreet.com. Leaving what I ate for breakfast on the free site, and words of wisdom such as the secret to happiness on the premium members only site.
I could offer an even higher level of membership which included color photos and cooking tips. But all of that layering is elitist and anti-democratic and limits the free flow of ideas - punishing the average internet user in the process. So I will not, at this time, change the format of this blog just to safegaurd my articles from the persistent plagiarists plaguing this blog.
Though at this moment I am not seeking justice or retribution, I am keeping records of every stolen phrase, joke, and copy idea (be looking for the phrase " persistent plagiarists plaguing" to show up in a nationally syndicated column soon). I am keeping links, emails with date stamps; all printed out and mailed through the United States Postal Service in sealed envelopes as a cheap copyright solution. This enables me to keep my legal options available when/if it comes time for me to prove my allegations and name names and dates. Believe me when I tell you that I will include a list of nationally snynicated newspapers and magazines. Not to mention multiple blogs. All transgressors have not, as yet, been identified. The number of blogs in the universe is huge. More than one per household at last count. So tracking them all down without spending money or being some kind of computer hacker geek is impossible. I will keep trying, though, and document every case I can.
Perhaps I will turn all of my files over to the FBI and let them handle it. This is intellectual theft such as they warn about before every DVD I watch - and that includes the pirated ones I watch in China. They seem to mean business when it comes to pirated DVD's, but I wonder how hard they will work to protect a lowly blogger against blatant plagiarism by monolithic mega media corporations? We all know the answer to that question.
Keeping track of all the plagiarists infesting this blog has been tedious, tiring, and taken up a larger and larger part of my life, and that has taken a toll on the creative process and ultimately the quality of the content for which this blog is so well known. Eventually, the time will come when I will have to choose between tracking down all of these literary thieves, and throwing my hands up in acceptance of the impossibility of bringing them all to justice, and the unendingness of it all, and just write. Frig em. Let them steal my best stuff. I am flattered, and will try to just ignore them.
Soggyblogger
Editors Note: Some readers may have noticed that you would "be the first" to be a follower of this blog, and may conclude that Soggyblogger has jumped to erroneous conclusions regarding the plagiarism he purports, but that is easily explained as a simple software glitch. Try it yourself. If you sign up to "follow" this blog, you will notice that nothing changes after you start following. Try it. Plenty of nationally syndicated columnists already have.
Editors Note #2: You can contribute to this sites investigations of Soggybloggers claims by paying close attention to the phraseology used on this site and looking for suspiciously close wordage used in other publications. Please report any violations you may suspect to this site and the FBI. Your cooperation is appreciated. Rewards are being considered and might be rewarded retroactively once the specifics of our reward program are run by our legal department. Keep checking back for further updates on our future rewards programs.
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