Atlanta Home Staging Company: They're MY Words, Not YOURS. Dealing with Plagiarism

I wish people would take the time to create their own content

Does Copyscape check for photos also, or does that have to be done viaually?

Thanks Kathy for your article and I'm sorry that someone would take your pain staking time you took to create your own individual words for your services! I just check this service and found someone plagiarizing mine. Unfortunately, there are some unethical people in our business but Thank God mostly I have found good.

I've had the same thing happen and when I contacted the stager she said she was just "borrowing" my website information until her web designer had her pages complete.  She thought it was reasonable business practices to copy and steal! 

I did let her know I was going to turn her into RESA and she took me seriously!

Good advice.  I will have to check out that website... COPYSCAPE myself and give it a try!

Harry - I couldn't agree more.

Val - unfortunately, it does not.  I haven't found anything, yet, that would do this. If anyone reading this post knows of a way in which to see if any of the photos have been used, please let me know.

Doris - Sorry to hear that it's happened to you as well. 

Margaret - Borrowing information and she believes it was "reasonable?" How wrong is that?

Sharon - I've been using CopyScape for a couple of years.  Hopefully, you won't find anyone that has copied your content.

Kathy

Kathy - I can understand that someone would want to copy your work--it's so fantastic--but doing so is stealing.

Kathy, After reading this blog I had to check your website to see why people would want to copy you and your website is beautiful! Creative, original, and the photos are gorgeous! No wonder people want to copy you, (even when they know it's wrong). I think you'll have run copyscape frequently. 

It sounds like Copyscape is a good way to separate the professionals from the amateurs!

Kathy: I'm sorry that people are plagiarizing you. I don't understand why someone would think its OK to steal someone else's property in the form of photos or content. Its not flattery, its theft. I hope the plagairizers step up and change their content.

Kathy ~ I hated hearing this about your website.  We know how much work you've put into creating it, perfecting it, making sure it's the best example of a home staging website.  Please, keep after those thieves (that is what they are, let's call a spade a spade) and make sure they remove your content immediately.  I've had this happen too multiple times (even by members of A/R) and am glad we have Copyscape.  And I agree with you that they knew exactly what they were doing.

I'm sorry you've gone through this. I know exactly how you feel as it happened to me too.  I hope the offenders remove your verbiage right away.  That reminds me I should check Copyscape again. 

Kathy you've got to understand how competitive the Market has become today and how advanced things are moving a long. I was notified by email that theres a service that looks for you keywords; and if they ("your keywords") are what's selling out there. Then a program will copy it and create a supposedly new Article for the webmaster.  The other thing I've noticed and was astonished to discover is that they will also use YOUR URL LINKS to direct your traffic to their websites. Please look at my page and find how to protect your links and submit your articles  to find out for yourself.  You'll be astonished too.

Kathy - I am so sorry you went through this. We had this happen to us as well - one of the new local stagers in our area not only stole content but also used OUR pictures on her site and as part of her portfolio! I found this out in two separate ways: 

1) Searching out new stagers in our area and visiting their sites

2) By going to a job where the home owner said she had had a previous stager in (who didn't work out) and that some of the same pictures she had portrayed as "hers" were part of our portfolio! Now ours had the whole house - she only had a room or two. Both the home owner and I were flabbergasted at the stager's audacity.

Not only did I contact the stager and threaten to legal action if she didn't take our content off her site and our pictures out of her portfolio but I reported her to RESA. She didn't think she would be caught but our staging community is a small one and I am vigilant about checking out new aspiring stagers.

Copyscape is also one of the best ways I know to ensure our site content remains our own.

I'm so sorry to hear this happened to you, Kathy.  It's not flattery and needs to be dealt with appropriately which I am sure you are doing.  Good luck and keep us informed.

Goodness Graces, I am so sorry to hear this Kathy. You are such a helpful person to all and this is just wrong. I really hope this blog is taken seriously by those had have done this.

Kathy,

This is a problem and people do need to know how how serious it is.  It is THEFT, nothing less.  It should be treated the same as someone stealing your furniture and accessories from a staging project.

Kathy, thnaks for the info and sorry that this happened to you. I am going to check out copyscape...thanks for sharing

Running copyscape now -- thx for the reminder!  I often forget.   So you had to deal with that.

Copying text is rampant and Copyscape is a terrific tool. I am sorry you are going through this Kathy.

It's disheartening to know this keeps happening time and time again.  Our whole site was used by a wannabe stager on the other side of the country.  We immediately had her site shut down.  A website is much like staging - when it's all together and laid out it looks so simple.  What's not seen is the time, effort, and talent that it takes to put it all together.  Hope you get it straightened out soon!

Maybe we should talk to their middle school English teacher.  I remember my teacher's class lectures about not copying anyone's words (not the dictionary, not a book, not the person sitting next to you)!  Maybe the should repeat middle school....

Oh, Kathy, how wrong and I am so sorry that you are running into this.  I did a post like this a LONG time ago and all I got were comments that said "Imitation is the best form of Flattery".....dare I swear here?  Bullshit!  It isn't flattery it is flat out wrong and illegal!  CopyScape is a brilliant program and I hope that you can get things under control!

I just ran it and found 4 that are copying a particular part of mine, I remember painstakingly writing this while I was with my webmaster.  He kept all of my original copies.  So frustrating!

Thanks for the reminder Kathy.  I just ran ours and didn't come up with any copy cats.  We have seen it happen as many of you have, where a new stager simply copies and pastes on to thier own web site.  I think the stronger your web presents, the more you get copied.  Checking your web site on CopyScape should really be a scheduled event so you can catch this as quickly as possible.

I concur it's certainly not flattering Kathy. After spending weeks on end trying to make the verbiage on my site sound like I was talking to a client I'd be mad too.

Have they taken it down yet?

Every few weeks a vigilant Stager reports their website content has been copied.  Copyscape and RESA can go a long way to remedy these situations.  One day the plagiarist will be OUTED - someone will name names - and that's not the kind of profile one would want to see on the internet!  Julie

I know how this feels Kathy and I'm sorry you are dealing with this!  Have the websites you contacted changed the content yet? What are the next steps if they don't?

I'm speechless. Every time I hear this happens, especially the copying of photos it leaves me speechless. These people have no pride or conscience. If they do this I would think that their work would be sub standard as well and that time will take care of them and put them out of business as they cannot live up to the standards of staging in the photos. Sorry to ramble there but to leave me speechless takes quite a bit to do.

Kathy...know how you feel.  I had an A/R member take photos from my website and use on an A/R Blog and her Profile.  Go figure!!  Sorry to hear your having similar issues!!

Ditto here, someone copied almost all my wording and do you know what was the most hysterical? They copied the portion "about Shar" and just changed their name. It seems my exact strengths and interests were theirs too!!

I haven't checked mine in a very long while. Good reminder.