Update: The post has been updated to cite this blog as the source and the Reverend has apologized. We all make mistakes from time to time, thanks for fixing this one. I’ve also removed the nofollow tag from my links in appreciation.
Ok, I’m not usually one to give scrapers or plagiarists any press or attention but this one was just too good to pass up. Tonight as I was checking the comments that were held for moderation I came across a trackback that seemed strangely familiar. Naturally I clicked on the link and to my disappointment there was my 5 Ways to Attract More Comments post in its entirety, staring back at me. Now this is really nothing new, I’ve had several posts plagiarized (just about anything that hits Digg’s front page is likely to be stolen), however, this one took the cake.
As you can see from the link there (nofollow link condom firmly applied), this blogger republished my post word for word (even the same formatting) and did not cite me or my blog anywhere. Naturally after discovering this I left a nice little comment for the blogger that went a little something like this (in case it gets deleted before you can see it for yourself):
Hey, when you steal someone’s content and publish it without permission or even so much as a citation, you really should remove all the links to other articles on the site. That way the author won’t get notified that there’s a new site linking to their site and discover your plagiarism. Just a thought…
With that out of the way and a general sense of pride in my exceedingly clever remark, I decided I’d check out the rest of the site. Much to my surprise the first post on the blog starts out with the words, “Rev. C. Lane Glaze has been serving as the Director of the Clemson Wesley Foundation and Campus Minister for Clemson UMC since June 2001.”
Wait a minute, Rev. as in Reverend? Yup, apparently so. It appears the Reverend Lane Glaze never learned about proper source citation or the concept of giving other people credit for their work despite graduating “Phi Beta Kappa at the top of his class in Accounting” from Wofford College.
Oh well, I forgive ya, Reverend. Besides… it gave me something to post about 
P.S. As my wife pointed out, that article really must work, it attracted the first and only comment on the good Reverend’s blog. Just one of the many reasons I love this woman.
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Updated: May, 2012
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Ben, I left the good Reverend a comment. Can I get a Hallelujah, praise the lord.
@ Derek lol, I don’t think Wesleyans do the hallelujahs and stuff but funny none the less.
BTW, I may be biased but I have the funniest readers around.
I may be biased but I have the funniest readers around.
Ow! I just strained a muscle patting myself on the back. Indeed, I agree. I’m hilarious. A Reverend stealing content? The most ironically hilarious part was that the post ended with “How’s that for practicing what you preach?”
Umm. Apparently the good Rev. preaches that stealing is the path to salvation – Or doesn’t practice what he preaches. I’m a bit muddled on the specifics there.
There may in fact be ways to handle this situation other than resorting to these sorts of tactics. After checking out that blog, it seems pretty clear that this is someone extremely new to the blogging world, and doesn’t know what they’re doing. Heck, you don’t even know for sure that it is a reverend of any sort on that blog. Maybe all the posts are just randomly plagiarized!
I think it’s a good idea to let them know that it is possible for people to find out if they’re blatantly plagiarizing like that, and ask them to take it down (or at least throw up a link to your site) but I just feel it could be done with more class.
@Ben – I am hoping I fall in the biased funny reader section. I work in the tire industry and it does things to you, strange things, you wouldn’t understand. Like that thing, with that guy, in that place… oh wait I probably shouldn’t of said that. Ok, later I have to go back into hiding, this post never happened.
@ The Duck, the site’s domain is meetlanecounty and the Reverend’s name is Lane. That would be one hell of a coincidence.
While I agree this probably isn’t the most gentle way to go about things, do you really have to be a blogging expert to know that plagiarism is wrong? The man is an educated person, I just don’t think there’s any excuse. Besides, I couldn’t pass up the irony factor.
@ the duck… there are always more subtle ways to handle things in life. always. but then, sometimes, some moments just call for a b**** slap. if you are smart enough to use a computer and start a blog, you should be smart enough not to just steal content and expect no one will mind.
ben could have been more subtle with an email to address the situation, but the the rev could have dropped an email to see if it would be okay to borrow a little content couldn’t he?
frankly, that cop that pulled me over last week, i think he could have sent a letter first, to inform me that i had been speeding and if i didn’t behave myself that i might get a ticket sooner or later. but that cop just wrote me out a ticket right then and there. it was as if i had done something wrong and he was going to fine me for it.
okay, so i’m dripping with sarcasm this morning… err most of my life… anyway my .02
A good trick is to embed 1×1 transparant gifs all over your content and set your server to serve spam or nude images when other servers try to show your images. It’s an old htaccess trick but it can be extremely useful in this day and age of blog scraping.
Yeah, I was trying to make a bit of a funny with the “it could all be plagiarized” thing, and I’m aware that the primary reason you posted this was because of the whole reverend angle.
I’m sure the blog was created for the good reverend, but based on the fact that the first post you referenced was written in the third person, either he thinks extremely highly of himself (which I admit is possible), or this blog is being written by someone else on his behalf. I’m guessing the latter is the case, and would not be shocked if the blog was in fact being written by a young teen who’s just getting his/her feet wet. You know someone who “knows computers” or something.
Either way, I’m not surprised you chose the path of action that you did, based on your “how to pick a fight” posts. I’m not trying to be inflammatory here, but I wanted to point out I felt that was the wrong way to handle this particular situation.
“but I wanted to point out I felt that was the wrong way to handle this particular situation.”
Fair enough. As I have said before, I don’t mind people disagreeing with me. In fact sometimes I enjoy it (that’s probably a little sick though). To be honest, the Rev. probably just caught me at a bad time as I was in the middle of a pretty passionate post for another blog when I noticed this. If the Rev contacts me, apologizes, or just links directly to me, I’ll be sure to update this post quickly. Everyone makes mistakes but this just seemed like a rather dumb one to make given the situation.
i’m sorry, post edited.
bkz ; source : http://bloggingexperiment.com/
check to page please
Thanks! I’ve updated the post accordingly and removed the nofollows from my links.
I would also like to re-track my first comment.
I’m still an ass and leave all comments as they are.
@Tim – LMAO
@Everyone Else – I re-track my re-track and put myself also in the “ass” category.
@ Derek E
Here Here! Let this meeting of blogging asses come together!! *taps gavel
I left the Rev a comment earlier today pointing out a 6th method of getting people to leave comments. I told him he could steal content from other people’s blogs and then people like me would stop in and leave a comment telling him it’s not nice to plagiarize.
He’s since DELETED my comment and engaged comment moderation.
I refuse to retract anything. It’s not my fault that I’m always right. Not everyone can be as infallible as me. People often see this as arrogant, and ego-maniacal, but that’s just because they are jealous of my uncanny ability to always be right.
Counting Fiar we now have three asses, a few more and we can start the ALA – The Asses League of America.
Oh I forgot, if we are starting the ALA I got dibs on the Green Ass, some one else can be SuperAss, BatAss, AquaAss, Wonder Ass, or the Ass. Let me know if I forgot an “Ass”.
Congrats Ben, Your post has officially been HiJacked.
Isn’t post HiJacking some type of flattery when it comes to a blog.
It’s kinda funny in a way, but why? Being a Reverand doesn’t excuse people from using the wrong etiquette on the web. Sure he may be new to blogging but the idea of copying from a person is as old as the ages. We were taught at school that copying somebody else’s work is wrong and as soon as the web came along those rules were applied there. I really can’t think of *anybody* who should be excused for blatantly copying an entire post from another website / blog etc.
Nice investigation.
I won’t visit his blog and that way give him the attention he doesn’t deserve.
Thanks for sharing this with us. It’s quite interesting case.
Makes you wonder how many thoughtful posts are being ripped into student papers. I don’t know that school plagarism checkers extend to blogs…
@Nick – You made me think of something to go along with that. I wonder could blog posts be consider as a citeable reference in a paper and what about the comments to that post, could you use them as references. In some ways it would be no different then using Wikipedia as a reference.
Ben, good discussion. Reverends are people too. Some are good people. Some are wounded people. Some live by their word. Others wouldn’t know the truth if it bit them in the ass. Some are wonderful, inspiring, uplifting, generous, loving people. Some are none of these and you wonder why they became ministers in the first place. Have a glorious day.