This Saddens Me

[vampiredust]

Firstly, I would like to thank Leon and Julie for their action over this matter



I discovered earlier this evening a MySpace user who has been stealing poems from Lit and claiming them as her own work

Amongst the victims are bluerains, Lauren_Hynde, Liar/MM (she had the gall to put his 'Things Learned from Gravity' on her profile page) , MET (thanks to Leon for pointing this out)

She may be still lurking here at Lit, so I hope this thread will flush her out. Everyone who has posted a poem recently should check her page and her blog if she has stolen one of yours

There may be more out there under different names

Love,

Christian

 

[Lauren Hynde]

This is her member's page at Literotica. Unsurprisingly, she has no poems posted under her name. I wonder if she ever wrote one.

 

[LeBroz]

This is her member's page at Literotica. Unsurprisingly, she has no poems posted under her name. I wonder if she ever wrote one.

Probably not. Probably just good at the cut and paste.

So am I. I cut and pasted MySpace's Copyright policy and who to contact:

https://forum.literotica.com/showpost.php?p=21227927&postcount=79

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[Angeline]

Thank you Christian for your work behind the scenes to let everyone know about this as well as your post here. You truly are a friend to this forum.

 

[unapologetic]

I just tried to check...

I just tried to check, and got this message:
Invalid Friend ID.
This user has either cancelled their membership, or their acccount has been deleted.

The spelling errors are odd, but it seems that something's changed.

 

[bluerains]

Thanks Chris

I can't seem to find my work there ...If had been for charity I would have gladly gave it to her if she had asked ....what a sad thing is right that she used charity to steal others stuff.....anyway ty for the notice if you find my poem can you send the link please so I can email the site I guess..Blue

 

[LeBroz]

I just tried to check, and got this message:
Invalid Friend ID.
This user has either cancelled their membership, or their acccount has been deleted.

The spelling errors are odd, but it seems that something's changed.

The correct site is here. It's gone private I guess because of her embarrassment.

Check out the plagiarism thread from page 3 for all the gory details.
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[Lauren Hynde]

Here is more data that I had posted on the other thread:

And here is her blog's index, with links that should work for her friends, still. In bold are those I recognised as my own (there may be more hidden under different titles)

01/31/2007 12:32 PM
Rain Closet

01/31/2007 12:21 PM
Net

01/30/2007 12:27 PM
Breathless

01/30/2007 12:23 PM
Embracing Echoes

01/29/2007 12:48 PM
A Solitaire Rose

01/28/2007 1:32 PM
Sea Breeze

01/28/2007 1:30 PM
Astronomy

01/27/2007 6:23 AM
Contemplate (revised repost)

01/27/2007 6:12 AM
Intoxication (revised repost)

01/26/2007 7:21 PM
A Poet In Your Midst

01/26/2007 11:57 AM
Of Poets and Pain

01/26/2007 11:53 AM
Of Poets and Dreams

01/25/2007 12:53 PM
Of Poets and Fire

01/25/2007 12:04 PM
Concavity/Convexity

01/24/2007 1:51 PM
The Practical Application of What We Forgot

01/24/2007 1:34 PM
Foofaraw

01/23/2007 1:10 PM
Letting Go Of Stars

01/23/2007 12:45 PM
The Art of Discovery

01/22/2007 12:17 PM
For The Love Of Windmills

01/21/2007 3:58 PM
Of Want and Need (Somewhere in this World)

01/20/2007 4:10 PM
Acrostic Haiku

01/20/2007 3:49 PM
His Music

01/19/2007 12:20 PM
Commiserated Thought

01/19/2007 12:14 PM
A Poet's Dream (a sonnet)

01/18/2007 4:47 PM
My First Attempt..... 'Sonnet'

01/18/2007 3:53 PM
Ineffable Sunset (New)

01/18/2007 12:49 PM
Interim Denizens

01/18/2007 12:29 PM
Hour Glass

01/17/2007 3:24 PM
Dancing Inside Me

01/17/2007 3:21 PM
Peppermint Kisses

01/16/2007 12:40 PM
A Paris Rose (repost)

01/15/2007 6:25 PM
Quiet in A Corner

01/15/2007 3:09 PM
Untitled

01/14/2007 10:17 PM
Seaside Lover

01/14/2007 4:32 PM
Rum, Poetry & The Lash

01/14/2007 4:29 PM
Slow Minutes

01/13/2007 2:45 PM
Metamorphsis

01/13/2007 2:16 AM
Ive Been Tagged!!!!

01/13/2007 12:34 AM
Abstract

01/11/2007 3:19 PM
Unspeakable

01/11/2007 3:16 PM
Aloneness

01/10/2007 4:55 PM
Muses

01/10/2007 3:28 PM
I Remain

01/10/2007 3:12 PM
Victim Of Endless Miles

01/09/2007 4:50 PM
An Insomniac's Manifesto

01/08/2007 12:27 PM
Syntax

01/08/2007 12:23 PM
A Once Good Heart

01/08/2007 5:35 AM
Unmask The Gray

01/07/2007 3:17 PM
New Poem

01/06/2007 1:56 PM
Inspiration

01/06/2007 1:32 PM
Collection Of Three

01/05/2007 10:30 PM
Deliquescence By The Sea (New)

01/05/2007 4:45 PM
Enveloping (New Poem)

01/04/2007 11:15 PM
Solstice

01/04/2007 11:11 PM
Words

01/04/2007 3:02 PM
A Winter Equality

01/03/2007 4:59 PM
Prodigal Blue

01/03/2007 2:52 PM
Hyperbatic

01/03/2007 2:28 PM
Broken Scream of Light

01/02/2007 8:20 PM
My Poetry with Pictures

01/02/2007 1:12 PM
Queens of Silent Suffering

01/02/2007 1:11 PM
The Seventh Wave

01/02/2007 1:09 PM
Well Read

01/01/2007 1:06 PM
From Gasping To Grasping

01/01/2007 12:55 PM
Love

01/01/2007 12:53 PM
Do You Dream In Color?

12/31/2006 4:52 PM
Eyeing The Wallpaper After A Walk

12/31/2006 4:38 PM
Limelight Blinded

12/31/2006 3:45 PM
The Dance (one of my favorites)

12/31/2006 3:38 PM
Facile Words

12/31/2006 3:25 PM
Enlightenment

12/31/2006 3:01 PM
POEMS on Poets/Poems

12/31/2006 6:05 AM
A Collection of Shorts (Poems)

12/30/2006 11:52 PM
Black and White

The bitch is making money out of our poems and scamming people using the guise of charity!

Our Voice: Poets For Charity is also a blog started and ran by her.

OUR VOICE
...is a new project conceived by Heather Larsen and Brian T. Jackson, and it is being Officially Sponsored by AMR Sight and Sound.

The concept is simple: find Independent Poets. Collect their work into one book. Give these wonderfully talented young men and women the fair chance that no one else will, and help them publish their work. But thats just the tip of the iceberg. All of the proceeds that would be collected by AMR Sight and Sound, Heather Larsen, and Brian T. Jackson will be donated to charity. Every last penny.

 

[Guest]

Here is more data that I had posted on the other thread:

01/08/2007 5:35 AM
Unmask The Gray

I can't view the blog any more since it is set for friends, but does anyone know if that poem was illustrated or not? Because I have an Unmask The Gray, an illustrated published on Literotica on 1/28/2005 and I posted it in my LiveJournal 12/30/2004.

 

[LeBroz]

01/08/2007 5:35 AM
Unmask The Gray

I can't view the blog any more since it is set for friends, but does anyone know if that poem was illustrated or not? Because I have an Unmask The Gray, an illustrated published on Literotica on 1/28/2005 and I posted it in my LiveJournal 12/30/2004.

You might want to PM arienette and ask her if she's listed as a friend of Heather's and if she'd give a look for you. I remember seeing a number of illustrated poems, though this one doesn't ring a loud enough bell. But from all I did see and do recall, I'd put money on it that it was yours.

 

[Tzara]

I agree with Christian in that this makes me feel sad. I feel pity for this woman, not anger. Perhaps if my own work had been stolen (as far as I can tell it was not) I would feel differently, but I don't think so. I actually have been plagiarized before—someone stole some direct quotes off a website I had on an author and posted them as their "review" of one of his books on Amazon.com. It's a very weird experience to be reading your own words, your exact sentences, posted as the work of someone else. Disorienting, but an experience, like this one, that just made me sad.

I don't understand plagiarism or the motivations behind it. At least not this kind of plagiarism. A student cribbing things for a paper and a grade, yeah. I understand that. Don't approve of it, don't condone it, but understand it. There is an obvious payoff. Less work, better grade.

But what payoff is there in a case like this? The admiration of some MySpace friends? Maybe, maybe getting your name on some stolen poems in a small press anthology? How desperate and sad can one get? Does someone really feel joy at being praised for something they didn't write?

I just don't understand that.

It's the kind of thing that makes me think that the person is so marginalized emotionally that just attaching themselves to someone else's work gives them a feeling of accomplishment.

Which has got to be very very sad.

It also raises the question: Do we need to periodically Google our own poems to make sure someone else hasn't scammed them? What a pain.

Things like this remind me that the world is a very strange place.

 

[Maria2394]

up too late

 

[TheRainMan]

Things like this remind me that the world is a very strange place.

that's why there's so much to write about.

 

[Liar]

So. Uh. What is the status here? This myspace thing w friends lists, blogs, private accounts and whatnots confuse me. Is the snagged poetry offline?

 

[unapologetic]

New Post on Poets for Charity

Found this on that blog just now:

"Thursday, February 01, 2007


Heather resigned.

Yesterday I recieved some horrible news. My business partner, and very close friend, Heather Larsen, has voluntarily removed herself from this project.
I will do my very best to continue without her pressence.
I am very sad to see her go, but she has her reasons for making this decision, and as her friend, I will respect her choices.
I will say nothing more about this here. If you would like more detailed information, please check my personal blog, where I will be posting a response to the events that forced Heather to resign from a project she loved working on.
I will miss you here, Heather. Best of luck.

Thank you,
Brian"

I wonder why she quit.

It's just scary and makes me feel like maybe I should pull my stuff from here. I'm pretty serious about my poetry and am going to be trying to get some stuff published (using all the advice I've found here). Ugh. I feel like I'm being so naive and that I should have known.

 

[SeattleRain]

wow I wonder why she resigned? could it be that she does not actually write poetry?

Should be interesting to see how Brian handles the situation on his blog. Friend of no friend, he should be stern about this. The horrible news is not the resignation, that is the good news.


Unapologetic: can you post Brian's blog?

Found this on that blog just now:

"Thursday, February 01, 2007


Heather resigned.

Yesterday I recieved some horrible news. My business partner, and very close friend, Heather Larsen, has voluntarily removed herself from this project.
I will do my very best to continue without her pressence.
I am very sad to see her go, but she has her reasons for making this decision, and as her friend, I will respect her choices.
I will say nothing more about this here. If you would like more detailed information, please check my personal blog, where I will be posting a response to the events that forced Heather to resign from a project she loved working on.
I will miss you here, Heather. Best of luck.

Thank you,
Brian"

I wonder why she quit.

It's just scary and makes me feel like maybe I should pull my stuff from here. I'm pretty serious about my poetry and am going to be trying to get some stuff published (using all the advice I've found here). Ugh. I feel like I'm being so naive and that I should have known.

 

[unapologetic]

Link to the blog

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?f...yToken=6bed5a04-a6b1-425c-8342-f984f58224bcML

 

[WickedEve]

Read how he is sticking by the thief!


http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?f...yToken=0477c167-5f13-4bd3-a06a-1cf0d1689835ML

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Unapologetic: can you post Brian's blog?

Well, it looks like all this has been in vain. Some people just will not see the truth even if it slaps them:

2:47 PM - Heather
Current mood: enraged
Category: Friends

Many of you may know my very close friend, Heather Larsen. Many of you that do also know what happened to her yesterday. For those of you who don't, I will explain.
Heather has been accused by a small group of people on another "blog" site of plagerism. They claim that she has stolen their work.
I recieved no less than 5 e-mails yesterday from these people, all of them touting my best friend as a thief. Needless to say, I was very upset.
I told these people that I would do my research, and that I would do the right thing. And I am doing the right thing.
I'm standing by my friend, and supporting Heather 100%, all of the way.
Heather denys all accusations, and I believe her. I will not turn my back on her.
(...)

read the entire blog​

 

[unapologetic]

Are we surprised?

People only want to see the best in their friends.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I've posted this as a comment to the blog:

It really is a shame that you have decided to act like this, even in light of all the evidence that was presented to you. The "small group of people" from which Heather stole every single poem she had posted has protection from this thing called copyrights. You, as an artist and author, and as someone involved in a project that is asking other authors to trust you with their work, have an added responsability.

If you are going to stand by your friend - and you have every right to do so - you should do it for your own personal affections and sentiments, not by questioning the unquestionable: that Heather is a thief. If you are going to stand by your friend, you should remove yourself from this project as well and shut down the Our Voices blog, because you have decided that copyrights are worthless and stealing the work of others is fine.​

 

[LeBroz]

Found this on that blog just now:

"Thursday, February 01, 2007


Heather resigned.

Yesterday I recieved some horrible news. My business partner, and very close friend, Heather Larsen, has voluntarily removed herself from this project.
I will do my very best to continue without her pressence.
I am very sad to see her go, but she has her reasons for making this decision, and as her friend, I will respect her choices.
I will say nothing more about this here. If you would like more detailed information, please check my personal blog, where I will be posting a response to the events that forced Heather to resign from a project she loved working on.
I will miss you here, Heather. Best of luck.

Thank you,
Brian"

I wonder why she quit.

It's just scary and makes me feel like maybe I should pull my stuff from here. I'm pretty serious about my poetry and am going to be trying to get some stuff published (using all the advice I've found here). Ugh. I feel like I'm being so naive and that I should have known.

No need to fear for your work. Unless you feel the only way to safeguard it is to become a hermit. I gave WickedEve a thumbnail explanation of how the copyright safeguards work. These protect the work you place on line. Publishers will drop thieves (as happened with Heather). The only thing is each author must remain vigilant. They always had to; it's just more challenging in this on-line age.
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[LeBroz]

I've posted this as a comment to the blog:

It really is a shame that you have decided to act like this, even in light of all the evidence that was presented to you. The "small group of people" from which Heather stole every single poem she had posted has protection from this thing called copyrights. You, as an artist and author, and as someone involved in a project that is asking other authors to trust you with their work, have an added responsability.

If you are going to stand by your friend - and you have every right to do so - you should do it for your own personal affections and sentiments, not by questioning the unquestionable: that Heather is a thief. If you are going to stand by your friend, you should remove yourself from this project as well and shut down the Our Voices blog, because you have decided that copyrights are worthless and stealing the work of others is fine.​

Lauren, you've done a great job here, protecting yourself (and the other Lit poets) and helping to shut down Heather. Her book deal is shot and she's had to leave the charity site. Liam's got her number even if Brian is in denial. Things turned out for the best much quicker than I anticipated. Even the pulblisher was questioning the charity, according to Liam.

We all just have to remain vigilant.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I have received, as response to one of the messages I sent yesterday to people who had commented on this woman's blog, an invitation to visit and comment on the blog of Jim D. Deuchars, here.

I made a post exposing the situation with links and invited them to visit us here, and in turn they are encouraging all of us to visit that blog and add our views.

 

[Guest]

I have received, as response to one of the messages I sent yesterday to people who had commented on this woman's blog, an invitation to visit and comment on the blog of Jim D. Deuchars, here.

I made a post exposing the situation with links and invited them to visit us here, and in turn they are encouraging all of us to visit that blog and add our views.

I have a Myspace account too and would leave a comment if I knew if this entry of Heather's blog:

01/08/2007 5:35 AM
Unmask The Gray​

was actually my illustrated Unmask The Gray.

I thank Christian for the heads up and appreciate how everyone has put their war face on, so to speak in order to protect their work. I'm sorry this plagiarizing bullshit is happening yet again.