Let’s get something straight here. I don’t really hold any illusions that I am a wonderful writer. I amuse myself, but I don’t typically think of myself as someone that others would consider witty. As a result, when I discover that one of my posts has been liberally copied from without an attribution, I’m offended on two levels.

First, I’m offended because this blog is my intellectual property. It’s not much, but it is me. Second, I’m offended because, really, the thief is exhibiting a severe lack of taste. Trust me when I tell you that there are many wittier people you could be stealing from.

I quote liberally from other websites (including other blogs) on a regular basis, but I always attempt to attribute the quotes (complete with a link back to the source, when applicable) and to make it clear that I’m quoting. I also try to point out, where applicable, who helped me to find the link I’m commenting on (that’s the “hat tip” that I provide at the end of a lot of my posts). Heck, if I knew a way to do it without making every post a clumsy mess, I’d make sure to give Ian Hamet credit for the information I add in the title attribute of my links and my use of the thorn (þ) as a “hat tip” symbol on a regular basis. (My failure to follow other tips from Banana Oil!‘s stylebook is not because I decided that they weren’t sensible, but rather because I have a very short memory.) Consider this, and the “stylebook” link on my sidebar, to be that attribution, unless Ian has a suggestion on how to do it otherwise. (I originally referenced Ian’s stylebookpost here.)

Anyway, I was shocked earlier today when I was looking at a blog that Technorati listed as having listed me and discovered that large portions of my Movie Commandments post had been copied word for word, with only a brief reference that it was “written by a fellow blogger”. Worse, my pathetic quip at the beginning of the post (about Revenge of the “Six”) was also copied, and integrated into that post’s opening text without any acknowledgement that the content wasn’t original.

When I first noticed this, I was fairly angry. I wrote a nice tirade about intellectual property theft (which then turned into a rant against DRM, since I’m incapable of staying on topic for any post longer than two paragraphs), but eventually calmed down and decided against posting it. The blog in question doesn’t have many posts; it’s altogether possible that the author didn’t realize how offensive his post was. I certainly broke every law of “blogging etiquette” back when I started my original online journal, so it would be hypocritical of me to get too angry at someone else without giving them the chance to fix things. With that in mind, I’ve fired off an e-mail to this blogger, asking him to give me credit.

I don’t want to be a jerk about this, so I’m not providing a link to the offending post (yet). I’m not even asking that the blogger in question limit himself to only posting an excerpt of my post. Make it clear exactly what’s taken from my site, and provide a link back to the post that is quoted, and I’ll be fine with it.