Allpoetry.com – Still Great

By Jonathan Bailey • Jun 27th, 2005 • Category: Heroes, Personal Experiences

No matter how many good things I say about the Allpoetry network, they always seem to exceed my expectations. Today was no different.

I was informed about someone plagiarizing one of my poems on the site. I investigated and, sure enough, someone was using my poem “97 Percent” as their own. The funny part, if there is one, is that the person entered it into a contest and won, taking home the gold trophy and 300 points.

Flattering, to be certain, but still grating.

I informed the admins there, as I always do, and got a response within fifteen minutes, even at the early morning hour I submitted the complaint. The matter was handled swiftly and, within about 20 minutes of the initial complaint, the infringing work was down and the matter was, in my opinion, closed.

Personally, I never expected the moderators to do much more. Even though I did a thorough search, I couldn’t find any other works of mine stolen and it seemed to be an isolated incident. However, the moderators went ahead and voided the contest she won, reopening it for those who’d already entered it, and took down the other works in the account.

In the end, they did more than what was fair for myself and they did a great job looking out for the others who entered the contest. They are truly an example for other sites to follow…

Short URL to this Post: http://copybyte.com/z/ll

Jonathan Bailey is The Webmaster and author of Plagiarism Today, which he founded in 2005 as a way to help Webmasters going through content theft problems get accurate information and stay up to date on the rapidly-changing field. He is also a consultant to Webmasters and companies to help them devise practical content protection strategies and develop good copyright policies.
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  • Chandni
    Hi there -

    First of all, I am exceptionally happy that you hav written this article - I've been a member of allpoetry for 3 years now and have no complaints.

    Anyway, thereal reason for my commenting is that had you not written this article, I would not have found this website and so I wouldn't be aware of people plagiarising my poems.

    I he found some people and have gotten them banned - with the exception of a few [and I have no idea what to do with them]. I even found this one girl who stole MANY poems all from people on AP - and so my friend and I contacted the people whose work was plagiarised and all of it has been taken down.

    My reason for coming back today was to see if you had any information about a certain individual who calls himself Wifred John and has many many blogs and sites and plagiarises many works. I believe if you search "Wilfred John Plagiarist" on google, you will find more information.

    I just found him plagiarising one work of mine and have contacted yahoo to take down the post. Anyway, the person who notified me of him said that many sites have banned him but websites like Yahoo Shine and Blogger have done nothing at all - despite the many complaints against him.

    I have though, ran the name through AP and found two accounts of his - both banned.

    Anyway, thank you so much
    Chandni

    [ Never Fall in Love @ allpoetry.com ]
  • Chandni,

    First off, I'm glad that this article and this site was able to help. However, regarding the plagiarist in you've encountered, if you need any help getting specific works removed, let me know. I don't track individual plagiarists much anymore for a variety of reasons, but if you have some plagiarisms you need removed, I should be able to help.

    Just send me an email via the contact page and I'll look into it.
  • Chandni
    Yahoo took down that post!

    Only, the plagiarist posted it on another site now.
    I rally am contemplating removing all my poems from the internet after checking each of them.
  • Do you need any help working with the second host, feel free to email me if I can assist.
  • Chandni
    Thank you so much - I got a reply from Yahoo and stated what they told me to state. However, I haven't heard from them again. I'm gonna give it until Monday and then I'll see..
  • Rick: It is important to remember though, it is not just the author, but the reader, who is defrauded by plagiarism. Plagiarism is not just taking someone's words, it is a lie to the public. I put forth that while there is praise in being plagiarized, it is still worth fighting both for the poet and for audience...
  • plagarism runs rampant on the internet because there is really no way to stop it.but the best part is who cares.one who writes poetry online oughtta know his own work when he spots it. that is merit enough. let all these cannibals eat their own words. like the saying goes: for the writer there is no glory just praise.r.rivera1966
  • Pen Orphan: This is an issue that can happen with any large community site that uses moderators. Finding good people to give power to is very difficult, especially when you aren't paying them and have no leverage over them should they do something wrong.

    One thing I have seen some sites do is create something of a council or "appeals court" that, while not moderators themselves, have the ability to mediate disputes between moderators and users.

    It's just a thought, but it has worked before. Moderator rotation is a means of protection, but even it can't prevent the larger problem of just plain bad moderators...
  • pen orphan
    I was a member of AllPoetry for a time...I do think its a great site for the duration I was there but I also think the moderators should be rotated more often.
    Kevin (the owner of the site) wrote a column stating that they would be rotated, but it only seems the same ones were being rotated out and back in. A few havent been rotated for years upon years.
    That can lead to certain moderators letting their authority on the site go to their head and communicating with members in a stressed out abrupt way. I was spoken down to a number of times and it played a huge factor in me leaving the site. Exclamation points were used at me when there shouldnt have been any.
    If you look at the long time moderators and moderator manager's author's page, some havent even written poems in a long long while, so that tells you they are just on the site for the authority purpose to weild their power and not for the creative purpose. Its a volunteer admin role on a poetry site and sadly for some of those moderators it gives them the power they are obviously lacking in their lives and they go overboard with it. Some not all....
    They wont be rotated out, (the long time ones)for they are best friends of the site supervisor who is suppose to rotate out the old and bring in the new.
  • Georgia & wbiro: Thanks to both of you for all of your wonderful work there. I greatly appreciate the strong community effort on AllPoetry to protect all poets. Thank you.
  • I'm so glad you got it sorted out. I find that they're very willing to help with any problems or complaints I might have in ap.

    aslanlight
  • I enjoy taking young poets under my wing at AP, and I had just one plagiarizing case, where the young (early teen) poet would search the web and post works as her own. Her overnight improvement I saw as suspect, she went from typical early teen writing (which I told her isn't bad in itself, if it connects with her intended audience) to refined diction and subject matter. The plagiarizing was easy to catch- I would simply do an Internet search for a phrase or two in the piece and links to the original author and piece would come up. I'd chastise her, but her difficult home environment did not lend itself to giving life an honest go. She, as all such plagiarizers, did not have a driving need to write or communicate anything original, and did not stay long...
  • Mike: First off, thank you very much for stopping by. I stand by this article very strongly even today and have had nothing but positive experiences with the helpers at AP. You guys truly are a model for how other community sites, especially poetry sites, should handle these issues.

    Thank you for all that you do.
  • As a member and Chat Helper of AP, I find this article and blog to be one of interest. Although the original date was back in 06' . I can confirm that circumstances such as this will, and are, looked and acted upon immediatly to this day. AP has an amazing membership of accomplished writers, and the community aspect of the site is immense. On that matter, Cynthia 'C', Wayne And Sandy are all on my favourites listings, and all 3 are part of my AP family.

    I am pleased your complaint was acted upon quickly and that you were pleased with the outcome. We look at plagiarism in a strong way, and if a writer is found to have carried this act of theft out, then they are and will be removed (banned) from the site.

    Thanks for keeping poetry live.

    regards

    Mike Howes
    Chat Helper @ AllPoetry.
  • Sandy Collins
    Hello there fellow poet. I was notified by someone on Ap last summer one of my poems was on another site too. Mine a a few others from AP. That other site took them down and banned that person from the site. Thank you for sharing with us about your problem with plagiariem too. Take care, Sandy
  • I'm sorry to hear that someone plagiarism your own work on the site (and I agree the site is great!) But I'm glad the moderators did more than what you wanted.

    Good article! =]


    lilyqueen777 @ allpoetry.com
  • Adam K
    hey, great article. Good luck to you, moderators. Best wishes, Adam.

    'Adamantine' @ allpoetry.com
  • Wayne Leon Learmond
    Hi, is there something wrong with the All Poetry sight? I am having trouble again with it. I know it has just had an overhaul but the pages seem to be down. Cannot access it. Could anyone let me know if the sight is 'down' or not?


    Many thanks.
  • Udit Bhatia
    Hi,
    Yet another allpoetry member. Nice Blog. Hope to see you on the site.
    "The Risen Sun"
  • cynthia
    grrrrrrrrness
  • KaseyL
    Heey..I'm a part of Allpoetry.com and I found this blog to be extremely interesting. I'm glad you decided to write about it, and I don't really ahve anything to say besides that.
  • Hello, Raven! Being a new moderator on AllPoetry, this blog article interested me. I would very much like to see your AP page, if you have any, or to know which name you write under, so I can ask with the other moderators. :P

    Sincerely,
    Starhiker
    AP Moderator
  • I don't know if they tremble at the sight of my name, but every time that I log on, I seem to know at least one of them. I have to wonder if I ever get a "Not him again..." after submitting a notice.
  • cynthia
    Ap moderators must cringe at the very sight of your name. lol
    Anyway, glad I could be of service. See you around.
    ~C~
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