Copying Other People’s Work is a NO-NO

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Halloo,

Every business, small or big, should stand for something. Something that makes them unique or stands out from the rest.

This is especially important for online small businesses.

The main thing a business stands for and what the business owner wants to be known for should be closely guided and monitored by the business owner. 

A small business owner who understands and practices this will have little or no trouble standing out from the pack. 

Unfortunately,  some small business owners have no integrity or respect for themselves to make this a priority. They have absolutely no idea what they or their business stand for. They are only out to make a buck. No long term plan.

This is my take on this matter, others may have a different opinion. I have no other way to explain why a business owner copying the contents of another business to use on their website without permission or acknowledgement.

It is worrying because not only are people like that hurting themselves but they are hurting the person they copied from.

The search engines bots get confused with stunts like these, so most search engine companies frown at these practices.

Let’s take Google, for example, you can get blacklisted for months or forever. Please, what is the future of a  small online business going to be if it is not listed on Google?

I know it would be nice if such people acknowledge the owner of the contents they use on their website or pay for used work in some way. BUT it goes deeper than that. Some contents are not meant to be copied.

Am I wrong to be worried that a person’s website is filled with my work? Almost all contents are from my own website, an exact replica, only business name and phone numbers changed? scary!

Many online small businesses are doing this with my contents.

Let me tell you about a lady who I found out using my blog posts and contents from my website on her own website. I got to know through Google Search Engine Result Pages.

I confronted the lady in question, who was living in South Africa but a Nigerian, and Yoruba too just like me. Here is my email to her:

I explained the danger of her action, both to me and herself. I mean you can’t just copy all the contents on a website and put on yours and expect the person you copied from to be happy.

I was disappointed by her response. She basically told me I should consider it an honour because we all copy one way or another. Read her response:

I have never heard of her before these, nobody said anything about her recommending me. It doesn’t matter anyway. You can’t do that to my business just because you sent me referrals. So, I emailed her back, have a read:

I am not always this respectful, but I am learning self-control, so I guess this lady met me when I am trying all my best to stay cool and classy. Have a look at her terse reply here:

She promised grudgingly that she will take them down. well 3 years down the line some of my hard works are still being displayed on her website.

There are so many incidences like this one, I lost counts. But the above example is the worst one I have ever seen. Her refusal to reason is infuriating.

Because of this incidence, I had to make lots of changes on my website, which was hurtful because the time spent doing this could have been used for other activities.

As you read this she still has my contents on her Facebook page. Sad!

This may look like a whine to some, in fact, maybe it is. But in my opinion, some actions are just not excusable.

I think people whose only place of business is online,  no physical shop at all, will understand my frustration. You don’t mess around with Google or any search engine for that matter.

Due to resources, situations, and circumstances, the only place I operate my small business is online. So excuse my being upset.

All that apart, My Business is all about my writing. This is what my business stands for, This is what I want to be known for. I work hard to create my contents.

The thing is I love to write, I am not a great writer, but I love writing. This is what I use to push my business. If you don’t love to write and want to push your business, why not have the decency to find what you are good at rather than copying?

You are doing yourself a disservice by copying other people’s work without permission.

The least is to read some of the other people’s work and use their ideas to create your own content.

Or simply changed the wording to create a difference. I am not a fan of this though.

You don’t even have to write a lot about a product to demonstrate your knowledge, just a general idea of what is it you are selling will do.

But wanting to eat your cake and at the same have it is not on. You want to look knowledgeable? Do your own research then.

There are people who you can pay to create contents for you. There is no excuse for copying and pasting other peoples hard work.

Makes you wonder- if you are too lazy to research, what is happening with the products you are selling to people? I leave that to the reader’s imagination.

People outsource their content creation to those who can write for a small fee. It is no big deal.

At the start of my journey, I used a lot of stock photos because I was a crappy photographer, but I wasn’t happy with this because most of the photos don’t really convey the message I wanted.

Then I started taking my own photos, which were mostly bad in those early days, many people can attest to that.

For just one product, I could take 50 photos, then spend hours choosing the best one.

Then I started watching YouTube videos to see how to take product photos, and the game changed. I don’t think I am a good photographer still, but I can take the picture I want within my limited experience.

Copying others will not give room for growth, especially if done in a sly way.

Sharing content is totally different from copying and pasting another person’s content without permission.

Almost everything can be bought, if time does not permit you to do something yourself, get someone to do it for you, instead of stealing the hard work of others.

A morally upright small business owner won’t engage in stealing other people’s work.

These are my opinion, I am sure you have yours. Why not share with us in the comment section?

Thanks a lot for reading. Please, your contributions to this post will be appreciated in the comment section below. Help by clicking like, and share with your friends. Also, don’t forget to join other subscribers to receive notifications of new posts by email. I appreciate it.

Stay with me,

Ruka

Stay with me,

Ruka

About Post Author

Ruka

My name is Ruka. Born and bred in Nigeria. Now living in Ireland. I am a Woman, Feminist, Wife, Mother, Muslim, Black, and African. I am an Entrepreneur who also works in Finance Administration. I am a Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Warrior. I love writing and hope to make a name for myself doing it.

rukaganiyu5@gmail.com

https://www.rukasplace.com

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