Giving Credit where Credit is Due

I felt so cheap. Used, really.

I had forwarded one of those really great graduation advice posts to my husband. It had ten important things for young people to know. It was made known to me via twitter from someone I don’t know, but who usually tweets links to great stuff. I didn’t know anything about the author. But hey, good advice is good advice, right?

Except when it’s stolen from someone else.

My husband is an engineer who reads his email and referenced articles thoroughly. He understands that genius and success are often in the details. When he read the post I sent him, he said, “Hey I agree with everything in this, but I feel like I have read it before.”

Sick feeling.

In 30 seconds, he found the source he thought it was and that led him to another source which was word for word the post I had sent him with just a little elaboration.

By another author.  Sicker feeling.

I don’t want what happened to me to ever happen to you, so let’s have a little talk about intellectual property and about borrowing words from another.

1. Decide not to. Never, ever, ever, ever purposefully take another person’s work and make it your own. I’m more than confident our readers already know that so let’s move on.

2. Do your homework. Writers read a lot and we have access to lots and lots of information. Even Solomon knew that there is nothing new under the sun. A great idea is a great idea, and you may not be the originator. So do your homework. Before we chose “The First Order of Business” as the name of Tim’s Thing, we Googled it, found out if the URL was available for purchase and checked out book titles on Amazon.com.  Only then did we name Tim’s Thing.

3. Use other people’s work giving credit where credit is due. The beauty of an otherwise flawed internet is that you can freely share the intellectual property of others. Just give them credit. The article I shared was very good. It just wasn’t original. Had the author  given credit and gone on to elaborate, I would be sharing it with you here now. But instead I  have discarded the stealy-mouth-cheaterpants author as an unreliable source.

By the way, at The Daily Blur, we love when people use our stuff. We work hard to deliver solid, original content and want it to reach as many folks as possible. Just give proper credit. We also earnestly endeavor to cite all our references when we quote or repost anyone else’s work.

So take your talented self and get to work. Write some content. Make some art. Compose. Build. Collaborate. Share it with the world. Show me your genius and I’ll share it. I’ll give you credit.  Let’s all do that for each other.

P.S.  I originally had a different photo, but I couldn’t find the photo credit for it.  My partner, Ryan “Awesome” Patrick, helped me source another with full disclosure.  Sometimes, giving credit takes an extra step or two!  Go there!  And find yourself some good people to hold you accountable to that higher standard!