Ripped Off and Flattered

Because technology has made theft so easy, it is not only common, there are challenges you may not always think about. You could unknowingly be hiring theives who put you at risk. Sometimes, they package it as a bargain.

Allow me to share a recent experience I had that shows how one choice can be a compliment, and where another choice is theft. In this case, my materials were stolen but I would have willingly let them be used if the offending party had simply asked first. Because they did not seek permission, they are guilty of copyright infringement which is a serious matter.

The real issue here is that it represents a lot more than the fact that my materials were used without permission. I am mostly flattered except for the lack of integrity. This is also where it potentially puts many others at risk.

The offending party that stole my materials also had other copyrighted material. Though they pulled my materials off their site the same day I contacted them, the other material was not pulled. I have reason to believe that the other materials were also used without permission, so this company does not appear to have learned a lesson yet.

Here is where I get especially concerned. The site where my copyrighted material was posted illegally was a web design provider. I am not the least bit concerned about helping the competition, my concern is that anyone who provides web design and other types of services should have a good understanding of copyright law.

If they use this practice on their own site, one has to wonder if they do the same thing for their clients. If so, those clients could be in for an unpleasent surprise should they ever be slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit.

The irony is, all you have to do is ask first, write your own content, or get articles from legitimate sources where reproduction rights are given at little or no cost. I am a firm believer in the Internet, I welcome it, but one of the unfortunate by-products of the age is that anyone can buy software programs and then call themselves a web designer.

If you are wondering if this was a cheap web design company that stole my materials, the answer is yes. If you are a professional web designer and the client wonders why some designers work cheap, this is one more example of the differences. If you are a business owner looking for a web site or other marketing, you may want to look beyond just the price.

Just like new uses for duct tape are always being discovered, there is also new meaning being added to the phrase, "Let the buyer beware."