I’ve just been made aware of a website that has taken complete sections of code and content from my own website without even bothering to change the layout. It’s actually a verbatim copy of my content right down to my list of influences and favourites. The only thing changed is my name to hers.

I’ve decided to remove the name and website of the guilty party as she’s now removed my stolen content which was my main issue (though I do have saved copies of the site in case it comes to light again). An apology would have been nice rather than the lies I was given but there you go. And I will be keeping an eye out – if I catch her doing anything like that again, I guarantee this will become a legal matter.

This isn’t the first time it’s happened. A few months back there was a French composer who did exactly the same thing, stealing the complete layout and content of my website. As soon as my solicitor began threatening legal action he took it straight down.

To be honest I’m getting a bit pissed off with people stealing from the hard work I put in to this website. I’ve got better things to do than monitoring the web to see who’s passing themselves off as me today. Like writing music. The next time I find any kind of copyright infringement on any of my work, it’s going straight to litigation.

This sort of copyright plagiarism is unfortunately rife these days. I know of several other musicians who’ve experienced similar situations to a more extreme degree, with people stealing their actual music and trying to claim it as their own. There are steps you can take if you’ve experienced copyright or IP infringement. Here’s a couple of useful sites or get in touch and I’ll see if I can offer any advice:

http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/

http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/04/10/what-do-you-do-when-someone-steals-your-content/