I'm LIVID!! Stealing a letter verbatim?

[VHunter]

They say immitation is the best flattery, but right I'm ticked off!!!!

This afternoon, I composed a letter to my clients and emailed it to them. I also posted the same notice on my Facebook group.
It's with regards to the H1N1, and how I'd greatly appreciate that anyone presenting these symptoms please stay home.

Now.... to be fair, and to be HONEST... if one of my peers used it.. I really don't mind (in other words.. a Geek).

HOWEVER.. this woman is a former product distributor of mine (Forze) and in the past has used photos of my work to the benefit of her business without my consent (to my knowledge, they can still be found on her site within her training podcasts, last I checked). There were also other issues that led to me choosing another company, but I won't get into that now.
AND not 10minutes after I sent the letter out to clients, I received the very same from her, ALMOST VERBATIM.
In essence, she offers MY LETTER up to her clients (nail techs) making herself look 'helpful'.
It was MY time and effort that went into composing the letter. Then she just helped herself to it without a single word to me. AND probably forgot that I was on her mailing list.

UM EXCUSE ME! how about you compose your own instead of copying and pasting mine????

Now, what I want to know is: CAN PEOPLE DO THIS??? Without asking?
What rights do I have, if any, against a company such as her own, about my own written materials & pictures?

Thanks

ps: please be reminded, Geeks, I have no issue with you if you like the idea. By all means, use it. You're all of generous character.
It's only that I'm slightly fed up of having MY materials used by her, to her benefit, without so much as a please a or thank you especially given other issues I had with her company.

 

[Exquisite Touch]

that is down right cheeky of her V..... I hope you emailed her and told her so, isn't it plaguirisim (sp) I got your email too via facebook and thought how well it was written and damn right professional. She could have at least asked you if she could use your work.
chin up sweetie

 

[zoealana]

i dont know what you can do about this. However i would be annoyed as well if i were in your position. Why can't people be decent and give credit to those who have worked for something. There is nothing wrong with asking somebody for permission is there.

The only suggestion i have is did you put your copyright on the work you did as you might be able to do something regarding plaigerism i think????

How about editing a copyright v.hunter or your logo onto everything. i dont know if that helps???

 

[VHunter]

Thanks! I appreciate your compliments.

Ok, so I'm NOT crazy? It is plagiarism? I thought so!
Yes, it was 'cheeky' of her.
I mean, ok, use the idea... by all means. I certainly don't hold the corner on original ideas. BUT GEEEEEZ... at least in her own words, ya know???
ORRRRRRRRR at least SAY something to me????

I emailed her, and all I got from her was "sorry you feel that way". Not, "oh, my bad, I should have asked or used my own words".
:irked:

I guess what pushed me over the edge was other issues I had with that company, and this was the straw that broke the camels back.
know what I mean?

i dont know what you can do about this. However i would be annoyed as well if i were in your position. Why can't people be decent and give credit to those who have worked for something. There is nothing wrong with asking somebody for permission is there.
The only suggestion i have is did you put your copyright on the work you did as you might be able to do something regarding plaigerism i think????

Well, my time stamp on my post/message is earlier than her email to her client base.
But, she's in another country and to pursue this legally isn't worth all the moolah it would cost.

I just wanted to know, for future reference how I go about protecting myself from this sort of thing (aside from banning her from my group and profile).

 

[zoealana]

oh no that is just taking the p. most people would just not think of doing that. she is a fool and things do come and bite people in the bum eventually. she will be her own downfall

 

[geeg]

Correct .. it is my understanding that without copyrite unfortunately you haven't got a leg to stand on. If you write something and do not lodge a copy of it with a solicitor then it is a battle of 'who copied who'?

Too bad Victoria ... I'd know your writing style anywhere as I suspect you would mine ... you are a very articulate lady ... be flattered this time and beware for next time. :hug:

 

[VHunter]

how about editing a copyright v.hunter or your logo onto everything. i dont know if that helps???

That's a cool idea (in process of redesigning logo as we speak)...
I just have to add copyright symbol? or how does that work?
Can anyone suggest a website with info about copyrighting?

THANKS!!

 

[VHunter]

Correct .. it is my understanding that without copyrite unfortunately you haven't got a leg to stand on. If you write something and do not lodge a copy of it with a solicitor then it is a battle of 'who copied who'?

Too bad Victoria ... I'd know your writing style anywhere as I suspect you would mine ... you are a very articulate lady ... be flattered this time and beware for next time. :hug:

Thanks Gigi! High praise indeed, coming from you. And yes, I would know you're 'style' :wink2:

But gee whiz, who on earth has the time and money for copyrighting everything? (at least for a business as small as my own...)

Arrghh :irked: were she standing in front of me, I'd very likely pop her one on the chin! (and risk breaking a nail at that!!! that's how mad I am!)

 

[persianista]

She is cheeky and lazy. Persoally I would email her telling her how disappointed I was to recieve an EXACT email to the one I had composed from her, purported to have been written by her. I would request that she either asks my permission before copying my work or passing it off as her own, or that she composes her own stuff.
I wouldn't mess about, and I would give both barrels to her. People like that have to be told extremely firmly that they are out of order.

 

[VHunter]

Frankly, I don't want her using ANY of my materials; written or otherwise.

YES, I should be flattered.
But right now.. I feel "used"... and here she benefits monetarily from ME and MY ideas, and I get ZERO compensation.....
:irked::irked:

 

[persianista]

So write her a stroppy letter or email.

 

[VHunter]

So write her a stroppy letter or email.

I did..... waiting to see what the response is.

I'm all for sharing in this business. We help each other.
BUT that's not what she does, nor did.

Geeg; it's ok, I wondered myself at the time I wrote it, if I had pushed the boundary too far. No need to apologize :hug: Thanks for editing as appropriate.

PS: I just checked the time stamps. My 'discussion' was posted on my group at approx 1pm, and the email sent to members shortly thereafter.
HER email arrived 45minutes AFTER my original 'discussion' was posted.

 

[VHunter]

Well, here's my letter. As I said earlier: I don't mind other geeks using my idea as you've all been very helpful over the years and I count you amongst my most valued friends. If this is of any use to anyone, by all means...

(keep in mind, I wrote it in the space of 5min.. so it probably needs a little more polishing, but I was running out of time, AT the time LOL)

Dear Clients,

I'm sure you are all well aware of the H1N1 virus.
At present, Chateauguay schools are inundated with children suffering said virus and there is currently a program underway to minimize it's spread and exposure to other children.
http://www.globalmontreal.com/entertainment/Chateauguay+school+close+despite+high+absenteeism+rate/2072640/story.html

As you all know, I have two children.

Due to circumstances, I must ask you to cancel and reschedule your appointment if you suffer any one, or all, of the following symptoms and I reserve the right to refuse service should you arrive with any of these symptoms:
fever
cough
sore throat
vomiting
diarreah
chills
headache
runny nose

I ask that you respect my request and decision because
1) I am trying to prevent my children, to the best of my ability, from contracting the virus
2) should my family and/or myself fall ill to the H1N1, I will NOT be able to meet the needs of my clients and will be forced to cancel mutliple appointments.

I do not wish to inconvenience any of you by falling ill, myself. Please understand that this is in the best interest of everyone concerned.

I thank you in advance for your consideration and understanding.
Best regards
Victoria

hope you find this helpful.

 

[Bev Rose]

Victoria - I'm pretty sure a lot of people she sent that too, were also, earlier sent the very same thing by you ( as I'm assuming you have known the same/similar people in the past) - I got mine from you via Facebook. I thought it was a great idea tbh.
The other recipients will know it was not her wording - and judging by her lack of skills for things - if she has to keep pinching your stuff - they will realise also, that she has no way near the literacy skills you have - do as Geeg says, & beware for next time.
xxxxxxx:hug::hug:

 

[redsadie]

That's a cool idea (in process of redesigning logo as we speak)...
I just have to add copyright symbol? or how does that work?
Can anyone suggest a website with info about copyrighting?

THANKS!!

Hi hun, I'm sorry to hear about this vile woman copying your work As for the copyright, all you have to do is put 'copyright symbol' into Google and it will come up with a page where you can 'learn how to input the copyright symbol into your documents, code, website etc', like this one Copyright Symbol Webpage.

Alternatively, you can copy the ⓒ from a Google page or Word and paste it in like I just did Put something like ⓒ2009 V Hunter on all your documentation and you should be ok.

The only thing is though, she can always edit out your logo and put her own in, so I'm not sure what good it will do in the long run I'm not sure how a digital signature works on email and I'm pretty sure you can't do it on a facebook email (don't know for sure though, I've not tried).

The only thing you can hope happens is that she falls flat on her face, and yes, I would block her from your facebook and remove her from your mailing list too.

Hope you get it sorted hun. :hug:

 

[SarahPierce]

You can copyright all your work, but on most documents you can save it, so no one can copy or edit them. They are read only versions, so that means that no one can copy it. She can easily copy your work and just delete the copyright bit. If you have PD, adobe or anything, you can do it on that. When you do that to all of your documents, and then send them on, people will only be able to open the email and thats it. They wont be able to edit them or try and copy them.....
I personally think this is your best bet....
Hope it sorts things out for you
Regards
Sarah

 

[VHunter]

Thanks ladies! for all of your support and advice.
I was soooooooo mad, that steam was coming out of my ears.:evil:

I'm feeling better now, and having a good laugh because she's 'supposed' to be the more experienced and savvy business woman compared to myself AND YET she must plagiarize to put out a letter to her own clients AND STUPIDLY forgot I was on her mailing list.
Now that I look back, it's rather amusing.
After all, how desperate must you be to steal someone else's materials to promote your own business?

At the end of the day, I'm letting it go.
BUT I have most definately learned something, which, as the french say "a tous les soirs, nous sommes moins niaiseux" (meaning, we go to sleep more intelligent every night).
Better to have learned something, than nothing at all.

Thanks again for your support, it is much appreciated. It's nice to know that I'm not being unreasonable, and that my discontent was well founded.

:hug:

 

[brend]

Hey Victoria,

VERY annoying!

Similar thing happened to me in the past.

There are simple things you can do like ALWAYS include a copyright bla, bla notice on ya stuff.

If the same person infringes your copyright a lot then you can quite cheaply get a solicitor to fire a 'Cease and Desist' letter at them... That fires a warning shot across the bow and stops 99.9% of doing anything a little naughty...

OR - do what I do...

COMPLETELY IGNORE IT!

What goes around comes around and the amount of energy you put into getting cross can be much better placed in more creative ideas to do better than the other person...

Not easy - but usually best...

Brend x

 

[VHunter]

UPDATE

I decided enough was enough and didn't want my work, nor business associated with that company in any shape or form.

I posted an email this afternoon, demanding that she cease and desist from using my materials (photo or otherwise) with all the relevant materials attached (and photos watermarked of course) and cc'd it to:
Better Business Bureau of Colorado
Gov. Herbert of Colorado
Beauty Licensing Bureau of Colorado
US Office of Copyright

and made note of it IN the email itself that it was cc'd to these offices.
Should be interesting.

:green: