I started my copyright back in July. It is very difficult copywriting a forum! So my copyright is not final. BUT most server (I found out) have a TOS against this.

Ocne my copright is final it becomes retroactive from my app date and I can SUE! ;)

I have pdf scans (a picture of her forumhome) and its her catagories and discriptions, many of them are from my site and they are word for word!

When we took note of this my admin hit the net in seach of other popular boards in or field and we were not hte only ones!! She hit someone else twice as hard and even took a cell pic from that site!

I just dont get it!!

You dont have to be anywheres near close to the sharpest tool in the shed to write a decent forumhome! She could have copied and changed it all around or used mine as a principal, KWIM? What she did was WAY beyond the fair use act!

Personally I don't think it is that bad. It pisses me off that we are all suing eachother and all. For what? just so that there site gets taken down, you made your ideas up and anyways there are probably 1000 other forums with your same genre using the exact same categories.

Consider it flattering? I mean really - what have you ever written that's not been done before? I realize this is a very silly opinion coming from a published poet - but really......

Jacquii.

I wouldnt sue, just was telling him I could! But its still wrong to copy other opeoples work and pass it off as your own! No mater which way to try and dice it!

Did I mention she was a member of my site? That makes it worse for me as I trusted her! I have busted my but for the last year filling my site with content and building it to what it is, brainstorming, collectiong smilies and I dont think its right for anyone to come and just gobble up what they please in days, I will not just shrug my shoulders and say its okay!

Hey, that was my 100th post ! YAY! lol

LOL - congrats on you 100th post!

I tend to agree with this post. But it's a difficult business considering "intellectual" property and the copyright issue ONLINE - I'm thinking that it's pretty much a fair field type of domain UNLESS there are copyright info for the specific information.

I hate that the plagiarism happened to you AND I would be mad as hell as well. (hehehe that rhymes)

But another thing - is that I would consider it flattering that someone would want to "copy" my stuff -----> Perhaps the middle ground is that the thief can list you as a resource for the writings...

In fact I've have done something similar on my site: http://jpicforum.info/showthread.php?t=657 Though I'd never copy word-for-word it is very nice to recognize that the internet is a COMMUNITY... And to nod a thanx for certain resources is expected, appreciated, and just the FAIR thing to do.

Jacquii.

From the legal standpoint an original work is automatically copyrighted unless specified otherwise.