Stop Stealing!
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Do you remember when you had to write papers in school? What is one of the first things your teacher went over with you? Plagiarism. Right? Stealing others’ words and using them as your own. It wasn’t right to do when we were in school. As a matter of fact, I remember students getting expelled from college for plagiarizing. I’m sure a lot of you can attest to the fact that it was a huge deal to even be suspected of using someone else’s work as your own.
So… Having said that, let me tell y’all about what has been going on in my life. As you may know, I send out text messages every morning. Not only that, but I podcast, I write on Facebook, and I share meaningful content in conversation with friends.
Well. Here lately, I’ve noticed that my friends and social media buddies think it’s perfectly okay to take my words, thoughts and ideas (which are all MY intellectual property, by the way) and use them as their own. I mean, these people will take my morning text message, add a word or two to it, and then post it on Facebook as if it was a revelation God gave them. It blows my mind!
I will have a conversation with a friend, give them a few nuggets, and they will take my words and post them like they came up with them. Like… and they KNOW I’m gonna see it! It’s crazy.
Don’t get me wrong: It is perfectly okay to share information. It is perfectly okay to quote someone. But in 2018, can we at least give people credit for the information and content we are receiving from them? Can we not just take others’ quotes and use them for ourselves, deceptively leading others to believe that they are our words? That is not acceptable at all.
I have made up my mind this year that any individual who is caught using my intellectual property without proper credit, permission or compensation will be sued. It’s one thing if you don’t know… like if you come up with something but you don’t check to see if someone else already came up with it… but it’s something altogether different to take your FRIEND’s words and use them as your own. Fam… Stop stealing. Please and thanks.
People. Value your words. Value your thoughts. Protect yourself. Protect your stuff. It may seem minor to you, but your idea could be a gold mine. Don’t be out here dripping sauce everywhere. Protect your intellectual property. When you see someone jacking you for your stuff, call them out on it. You don’t have to be rude, but you have the right and responsibility to let them know that you’re aware of what they are doing, and you also have the right to ask them to either properly credit you or remove the stolen content. That’s real. The big brands do it all the time. Just because your name isn’t that big yet doesn’t mean your words don’t have value. Govern yourself accordingly. Your future will thank you for it!
Have an amazing day today. Show love to yourself AND others. Be GREAT! I speak life to you and everyone and everything connected to you! Catch me tomorrow!
XOXO,
Na’Kole ♥
