When People Shamelessly Rip Off Your Work and Publish It As Their Own

It never ceases to amaze me how people have no shame

I’m going to get right to the point. I’m fed up with people stealing my work. In December, Medium Staff commissioned a series of articles on brand building, which I spent two full-time months creating, How to Build a Brand. When I pitched the series, I was passionate about using my experience and privilege to provide online education for free. I was thrilled that tens of thousands read the series, used in their curriculum, and sent me kind notes of thanks for creating a comprehensive, free resource.

What I didn’t consider was how many people would steal my work. I’ve had to issue DMCA take-downs on websites that copied my work, word-for-word, as well as the graphics I’d created. It’s been translated and republished on forums in China without my permission. Someone actually reposted my article on MEDIUM — can you believe? So many people believed that they could steal my work and profit off of it.

But this shameless theft blows my mind. Exhibit A. “Man Who Stole My Work” published “Let’s Talk About How to Build a Brand” (wonder where you got that title from, “Man Who Stole My Work”? Pro-tip: The next time you steal from someone, maybe change the title so it doesn’t show up in search results?) and I invite you to compare the two essays. What’s more appalling than not copying my essay word-for-word, is basically rewriting the first part of it to avoid blatant…