Everybody Writes, 2nd Edition

Part VPublishing Rules

Not long ago a company lifted some content that we at MarketingProfs had created. The thieves pinched it straight from our website in the dead of night, scrubbed it free of our branding and byline, and passed it off as their own.

That sort of thing happens all the time online: bots and meme accounts lift content and republish it wherever they please—with zero regard for copyright or author.

The increase in the number of channels and algorithm-driven platforms has made it both more tempting and (in some ways) confusing for creators.

It's hard to know when a podcast might be used as uncredited source material for a video, for example.

And: If content is freely available, does that means it's free to use? What's the difference between jumping on a social trend and outright plagiarism?

The MarketingProfs situation felt a little different to me. The stolen piece was something our team was particularly proud of: We had invested long hours in creating what we thought was nothing short of brilliant. (Our community loved it, too.)

The theft felt more like an ethical violation than straightforward copyright infringement, in other words.

And it felt personal because it was the theft of an idea and execution that we had spent long hours crafting—rather than just, say, a cut-and-paste of a one-off social post.

Content marketing and social media are an opportunity for brands … a huge opportunity to build trust and affinity. But when marketing is done sloppily (as it ...