Oh Shit, Someone Stole My Article

Oh no! But was this my reaction?

Photo Credit: D Sharon Pruitt

Every week or so I pop over to Technorati to find out what blogs are linking here. I love it because more often than not, I find another great blog to subscribe to. I also like finding new bloggers and new angles on the debate. Though last week one of the blogs had an article that read strangely similar. A sense of déjà vu crept over me, before I realised.

My first thought was, and I’m serious (though not proud) "Oh shit, someone stole my article." My irrational brain, even after everything I know and discuss here, went straight to theft. Ironically, the posts in question were about how free music can spread around the internet and positively benefit the artist.

A few seconds later I had regained rationality and objectivity and realised both the irony and futility of my completely irrational disgust.

A blogger copying a few of my articles is out of my control and to be expected. This blog is licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license, meaning you can more or less do what you like with the articles, provided you attribute them correctly. I use the license mainly to ensure people can use my content in like minded discussion. It's an effort to encourage further debate, as opposed to straight copying without any additional comment.

Whilst my article was reposted, I'm not at all concerned about the 'theft' issue. That was merely an irrationality of my mind which I will explore below. There is only one single issue I have. There was no additional comment. The reposting didn't add anything to the discussion. After all thats the only reason for this blog, to aid in continuing the discussion about the future of the music and media industries.

Then again, it could be argued (as I have before) that the exposure of the article brings more people into the discussion and therefore, whilst indirectly, it contributes to the discussion.

Whilst he didn’t attribute me in all the articles he copied (he did in one, thank you), he copied all the html intact. Which meant many of my interlinked posts got some (albeit little) link juice. One could argue that that alone is enough attribution, maybe it is.

He did what to my article?

For what its worth I don’t have a problem with whats happened. None at all. I don't rationally believe it is 'stealing' either (hence the hopefully sarcastic quotation marks). 

In fact it’s rather justifying, it means that someone else believes/agrees my writing enough to share the value with his tribe.

But, I want to publicly explore my thought process. As I'm not the only one who 'gets it' to freak out over piracy. The difference of course is that I came to my senses.

But how did I jump to such a conclusion, which is quite the polar opposite of both the article in question and my general ethos?

The answer is something Dan Ariely has explored in his book Predictably Irrational, and continues to on his blog.

We as human beings are notorious for being irrational for the simplest, or stupid things, especially when the involve us directly.

In this case, the personal nature of the event triggered an irrationality in my brain. I lost my objectivity, and the bigger picture completely disappeared. I would suggest the reason is because I personally created the articles, as such I have an attachment to them. This attachment, is most likely what trigged the irrationality.

The key is the fact that I lost objectivity, even if it was for but a second. It caused me to think of nothing but negative consequences, it completely blinded me to the bigger picture.

What you can do

We all do this from time to time; lose objectivity.

Most of us know we shouldn’t, or realise very quickly (like me) and simply get on with our lives. But some people don’t.

Some people completely ignore the bigger picture, and opt for a lawyer instead of a phone call/email to either a 'marketing specialist’ or knowledgeable person who can explain the situation.

If you see or catch someone either 'stealing' your content or any other intangibles, don’t lose your rationality for to long.

Be objective, and think about the bigger picture. Chances are it’s better than you think.

Has this happened to you? Has anyone ever 'stolen' your content? Did you jump to the same irrationality as everyone else? Let me know in the comments.