The Blog

A peek into the thoughts of the man behind Milk Carton Designs

The Burn of a Copycat

Posted: June 16, 2005 @ 04:03 AM EST | Filed Under: Life, Site News and Updates

Shaun Inman has felt it, and so have many others. And today, you can add me to that list— the list of those who have seen their work, writing or design or otherwise, taken from them and used without permission, notification, or what-have-you. And it burns like no other.

I can’t complain too much, however, the burning in example isn’t too extreme, I simply had one of my post titles ripped off. Most of you should be thinking at this point, “So what? It’s a post title, that’s common language and the such, you can’t exactly get angry, and besides, people copy post titles all the time, it’s inevitable with so many blogs and sometimes used for memes and such,” and this is a very valid thought. However, I know this guy (I’m not going to name him because it’s not warranted for this lowly example), and he has pushed me beyond my limits before. As soon as I demanded he take down the title, without naming which, he did it, without question, and quickly. He knew what he had done, and quickly tried to blame his memory for the use of it, saying, “I forgot whose it was … it just sounded cool, so i did it.”

I’ve been burned, marked, desecrated. I don’t like it, and I won’t live with it— not quietly, anyways. I’m taking on a policy much like Inman’s. You take my design, my posts, my writings, anything of mine within reason, here, copyrighted to me, and try to make it your own, you will be publicly humiliated, here. Right here. You will come back red-faced and embarassed, and I hope it makes you heart-sick, because that’s how I feel.

Update

To clarify, I know it’s just a post title, but I was extremely irked because it’s not just that he took my title, it’s that he took the title knowingly… Most people just don’t know there’s others of the same title floating around, and really, this whole thing isn’t that big of a deal, and I really don’t care that much about post titles, but this fellow and me have a history with this sort of crap, and I’m fed up with it.