Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Imitiation: the greatest form of flattery?
I got an e-mail from my boss the other day telling me she found some of my articles online published without any credit to the college or to the author (me) AND with quotation marks and names of sources removed.
So I did a little research and found that my articles were all over the place, as well as some by previous columnists, published on reputable web sites and online magazines including ezine.com, all with the byline of some other schmo, "Mark Woodcock." (I'm not quite undestanding this choice of pen name.)
Pissed? Sure. I was fuming for about an hour as I found site after site with a little "bio" of our friend Mr. Woodcock, explaining how he's been writing (
stealing!) pet-related articles for over three years, etc., and every time I google this guy's name, one of our columns comes up.
What can be done? Well, I contacted the online magazines, asking them to republish the original versions of the articles, and they all responded, apologetically and some even more enraged than me.
Other than that, it turns out this guy runs an online pet store out of the UK, and our legeal department got a hold of his real name and info, but this guy probably won't get prosecuted since he's overseas.
So why would this guy do this? Maybe because some of these online magazines may pay a little, but more likely to generate visits to his online store, because he included a link to his store in every "reprint" of the articles and gave "permission" for anyone to republish "his" aricles with the stipulation that they inlude a link to his store.
Jerk-face even stole our reprint policy.
Oh well. I guess I can stay mad, or I can choose to feel flattered in some warped kind of way.
Anyway, when I emailed a publisher of an online cat magazine, he expressed his apologies and forwarded me the message he sent to "Mr. Woodcock:"
Mr. Woodcock -
I think liars and cheats - like plagiarists - are such pathetic losers, don't you?
By the way, I've discovered the "Smelly Pets" article you provided me for Catnip Chronicles, claiming it to be your own work, was, in fact, plagiarized from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine's website. Much of it was word-for-word - that's stupid even for a plagiarist.
I have replaced yours with the real article in our archives.
The University is aware of you now and I am publishing an apology to my readers for publishing your fraud. Don't contact me again - you are not welcome.
Kent Butler, Editor & Publisher
Catnip Chronicles, The Felizine
A Celebration of Cats and Cat People
http://www.CatnipChronicles.com
Much more diplomatic than I could have been.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Shelling Peanuts on the South Side
Spent a Saturday at another "Spay Day"--this time in Chicago. A low-cost clinic on the south side volunteers its space and equipment to the PAWS humane society so veterinarians, students and volunteers can perform free spays and neuters for animal shelters, low-income pet owners, and feral cats.
My colleague Susan takes special pleasure in the castrations--almost to a diturbing extent--and equates the procedure to slipping peanuts out of their skin. "It's fun!" she reminds me (that boyfriend of hers is a lucky guy!), as I face a table with three anesthetized tomcats lying side-by-side, waiting to unwillingly and unknowingly sacrifice their boys. (the cats to the right are recovering as volunteers monitor their heart rate and respiration.) As you can imagine, they don't wake up in a very good mood.
The day went pretty smoothly, and I think we neutered about 30 cats.
And no, I don't have plans to make any home-made peanut butter. Although I was tempted to save a pair in a vial of alcohol to show off to my friends--but then I wouldn't have friends anymore.
