Multiplicity… Multiplicity… Multiplicity…

Warning: I am upset.
Warning: This will be a rant.

What is wrong with our society? I mean, COME ON!

Recently it has been brought to my attention that creative advertising firms both in my own country of Canada as well as abroad lack the integrity and intelligence to write their own copy and have instead been directly copying mine… and I mean directly. Oddly enough this subject was brought up the other day in a discussion on Blogcatalog and I replied saying how I sorry I was to hear that fellow bloggers were having their original copy duplicated in other blogs of a similar community without any credit. Later on that day I performed a routine Copyscape check on the websites of the design company I work for and found that the copy I had written for our business’ websites had been ripped off and in some cases, even our designs!

After consoling our weeping designers (I am so sorry Mike, Jai, Marius and Caleb!) who spend hours coming up with their own creative designs for both our websites and our customers and informing our copywriting team that I think they’re top notch, I decided it’s time to take action. Let’s stand up for originality! Let’s scream from balcony tops that in a world of sharing ideas and sparking action, plagiarism is unwarranted, unacceptable and just plain mean.

I think…

If you are a design firm, advertising agency, logo design company, corporate branding firm, etc… you are in the world of creativity. If YOU guys can’t come up with creative ideas, you should be in a different field.

The internet is (unfortunately) filled with scams, thieves, plagiarizers, and more. It’s a sad reality. What upsets me the most is that the people stealing content from our sites own businesses, have full time jobs and supposed to be professionals. These people aren’t teenagers, children or bored. They should be responsible adults. They should be held accountable.

It’s disappointing that we can’t help each other out. There are so many creative people out there. Instead of taking their ideas, use their ideas to generate some of your own. Challenge yourself. If someone is writing about Plagiarism, respond with an article of your own. State your own examples and feelings on the matter. It’s not that hard to be yourself.

More than anything I just think it’s terribly unfortunate. I’m not deluded enough to assume that everything is original. I know pretty much nothing is these days, but some variation on the same old concepts is what helps us step in the future rather than stumbling around in the fog.

I did receive one extremely sincere apology from an advertising firm owner in Canada (thank you), so I am filled with the hope that maybe people can change… or at the very least take responsibility for actions that they may not have done directly, but were involved in.

Copywriting is a difficult field. It is plagued with hard deadlines and the need for creativity on budget and on time. I salute you if you manage to stay in this field and if you manage to stay through your own merit. My hats off to you all.

I would love to know what you think. Please feel free to post your comments and let me know your own experiences or thoughts on this troubling matter.

As always, my email box is open to you as well… kate@starmedia.ca