Plagiarism Not Tolerated

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery.  I am not sure about that, but what I am sure of is Plagiarism is a criminal act.  Stealing someone else’s properties is a criminal act.

Everything I have written here on my blog is very personal.  That is why I always say that I don’t just review, I tell stories.  My own stories based on my own personal experiences, based on my own life.  Everything on this blog I have worked hard for.  I pay my way through the restaurants I have reviewed unless of course, it’s an event coverage or a dining invite.  I am not a full time blogger, but I always make it a point to exert effort to maintain this blog. I juggle my time between work and blogging because MY BLOG IS IMPORTANT TO ME.

And then one day, I found out that someone stole 23 of my blog posts.  23 blog posts. Photos and text.  Some of the photos were deliberately edited to omit the watermarks, while the text were tweaked a little, but some paragraphs were copied verbatim.  No permission asked from me, no proper credits were given.

Annoying. Nauseatingly disgusting.

When I checked my email yesterday, I found a message from one of my readers informing me that a certain “GRACEELICIOUS”, member of OpenRice.ph website has been stealing photos and copying some texts on my blog.

She posted all the 23 posts as her own reviews, edited the photos so that no traces of my watermarks are visible.


Filthy.

One of my readers who emailed me regarding this discovery and gave me a link which led me to one of the posts that was stolen from my blog.  It was MY post dated way back 2009 and she copied it last June 24 2011. It was my “Breakfast at Café Adriatico” blog post.  It isn't the most beautiful  photos and not the most enticingly thought-provoking post here on my blog, but the thing is, it’s mine, and someone stole it.

The "Cafe Adriatico" post she copied from my blog last June 24 2011

 MY original post way back May 16, 2009

http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2009/07/breakfast-meal-at-cafe-adriatico.html

I sent OpenRice.ph an email reporting this person and I even posted my concern on their facebook wall ( without dropping the offender’s name).  They have replied through the wall post indicating the email address I could send my concern to and told me that they will try to resolve the issue after the holiday.  I completely understand that.  I respect OpenRice as a separate entity on this issue.  I know it is not their fault, but I firmly believe that they should do something about it.  If this thing will be tolerated, it’ll definitely stain their credibility.  For now, I will just wait for their feedback.

See these photos?

Notice the resemblance?

I have also left a message / comment on this member’s OpenRice profile so that she would know that I am aware of what's happening. 

Friends tried tracking this member down and found out that she has a blog too.  That broke my heart.  Majority of the bloggers I know are intelligent people.  If you are a blogger, you know for a fact that Plagiarism is a big no no in this community.  Respect is important.

It's not just all about the copyright issues, but principle and respect.  Doesn't she have respect for herself, claiming someone else's work as her own?  Doesn't she trust herself that she can also make food reviews without stealing people's ideas and photos?

One of my blogger friends told me to send a message to the person directly on her Facebook account, so I did.  After a couple of hours she replied telling me that her cousin has been using her account and she already asked OpenRice to deactivate it.  Clearly she is saying that she's not the one who stole all the blog posts. 
 

I was THIS close to taking a plunge on the proverbial benefit of the doubt, but then I found out that some of the blog posts stolen from me were also posted on her personal blog.  Now I wonder, is it still her cousin’s fault?

The same "Cafe Adriatico" she posted on her personal blog

It will be easier to let this go if only one post was stolen.  But we are talking numbers here. And 23 is a big number.  23 blog posts.  23 of the posts I have worked hard for. 

Here's the list of the posts that were stolen from me.

EVERYTHING AT STEAK
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2010/04/everything-at-steak-family-steakhouse.html

BREAD AND BEAN
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2011/05/bread-and-bean-cafe.html

SANDY'S PIZZA
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2011/02/sandys-pizza.html

BANAPPLE:
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2011/06/of-new-beginnings-healings-and-sweet.html
  
KOWLOON
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2008/12/kowloon-house-west.html

PEN-PEN RESTAURANT
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2010/01/crispiest-liempo-and-more-at-penpen.html

SONYA'S GARDEN
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2011/01/healthy-dining-experience-at-sonyas.html

MISTER KABAB
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2009/08/mister-kabab.html

LITTLE ASIA
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2011/03/little-asia-symphony-of-flavors.html

DAVID'S TEA HOUSE
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2010/06/shabu-shabu-at-davids-tea-house.html

CALIFORNIABERRY
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2011/03/healthy-summer-kick-off-treat-by.html

SWIRLS
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2010/06/all-year-round-summer-indulgence-with.html

CASITA XOCOLAT
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2010/06/casita-xocolat.html

TENDEROAST
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2009/09/99pesos-value-steaks-at-tenderoast.html

CHEF DONATELLO
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2009/10/chef-donatello.html

HOUSE OF LASAGNA
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog-post.html

CAFE ADRIATICO
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2009/07/breakfast-meal-at-cafe-adriatico.html

BAR DOLCI
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2011/03/mushroom-bruschetta-at-bar-dolci.html

SACHI
my post: http://ph.openrice.com/manila/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=7025

CAFE AGO-GO
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2009/08/caffe-ago-go.html

DOMINO'S PIZZA
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2011/03/dominos-pizza-has-arrived-hot-and-fresh.html

RECIPES BY CAFE METRO
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2011/06/recipes.html

GRAMS DINER
my post: http://yedylicious.blogspot.com/2009/08/feel-good-comfort-food-at-grams-diner.html

Now the encircled comment I find rather misleading

I appreciate that the person involve replied to my message to explain. But the fact that some of the stolen posts were also posted on her personal blog is still unclear to me.

This is not a personal attack, rather a learning experience that I want to share to my fellow bloggers so that they may be warned and to my readers because I owe it to them. 

I will wait for this issue to be resolved in good faith and will update this post once necessary actions were taken.



May we all learn from this experience.

***UPDATE as of NOVEMBER 1, 2011***

I have not received any reply from "graceelicious" regarding the blog posts that were also posted on her personal blog.  Although she deleted the stolen posts, she did not bother to explain her side further.


OpenRice Philippines sent me an email and promised that they will deactivate the reviews in question after the holiday.


I am not sure if only the reviews will be deactivated and not the entire account, because if you check graceelicious OpenRice profile, there are other photos which were taken from other bloggers.


I am still waiting for the complete resolution of this incident.

Plagiarism should not be tolerated, because it can happen again.  It can happen to you.

Will post update hopefully soon.


***UPDATE as of DECEMBER 6, 2011***

It's been a little over a month since this incident happened.  Openrice.ph group were kind enough to take down SOME of the review posts which were stolen from me by their member Graceelicious.  "Some" is the operative word because there are still other posts left on their website.  I have sent them the complete lists of the reviews that were taken from me, but I cannot understand why they have not taken down everything yet.


The openrice.ph member, Graceelicious, the one who stole 23 of my blog posts and posted it on her Openrice.ph account and on her own personal blog has sent me an apology message through Facebook.

I am still looking forward that everything that were stolen from me will be taken down from Openrice.ph


For now, I may have to email them for yet another follow up.


It's been a while, I hope for this matter to be resolved soon.


*** update ***


Openrice already deleted 23 of the blog posts plagiarized by Graceelicious.