Seems I spend a lot of time on this topic – and I suppose the upside of it is that plagiarism is a form of flattery – but hell, it is annoying when we put so much work and time into our business and our website content.

It’s a small island – so plagiarism isn’t that hard to stumble on here…

This one completely takes the biscuit for bare faced cheek – it’s lazy, it’s unprofessional and frankly – pathetic. (I’ve twice contacted the site owner without a response…)

Text from our Gandy-Draper home page (I’m very familiar with it as I wrote it when we set up the site soon after arriving on the island):

“Our working methods and systems make it possible for us to work with clients anywhere in the world.”

“Our aim is to provide an unrivalled standard of service to our clients, going that extra mile to make the experience of working with us something special.”

Text from www.aaronsananes.com/services a ‘competitor’ (whose site has had various incarnations, this being the most recent)

“My working methods and systems make it possible for me to work with clients anywhere in the world.”

“My aim is to provide an unrivalled standard of service to all of my clients, going that extra mile to make the experience of working with us something special.”

Spot the difference…? Yep – simply the change of  ‘our’ to ‘my’. (His command of grammar doesn’t run to the distinction between ‘us and ‘me’). It’s laughable really…

Since being on the island approaching three years ago here’s some other examples;

• Our Canary Nightlife site has spawned a number of imitators – a minor annoyance because these sites die when whoever sets them up actually realises we have got as far as we have only through hard work (Internet novices don’t realise that running a website takes as much work as any other business)
• It’s very frequent that text turns up from Canary Nightlife – click here to see how we dealt with one particular incident (if you are having such problems there are a few tips on dealing copyright infringement and  an email template you can feel free to adapt to your own purposes)
• A site built by one of our clients was completely copied with only minor changes – click here to see that story
• Occasionally during the course of building a site, we provide some photographs for our clients provide some photography – these have then turned up in magazines and on websites. The thing about photography in particular is that the photographer – me in this case – always owns the copyright unless there is something in writing to say otherwise.
• We have noticed someone employ a strap line we have used for a long time on their website “Superior web design in Lanzarote” – Google the phrase if you are interested…
• We’ve had more than one of our site concepts copied and then our clients approached – either using our names in a derogatory manner, or even implying some kind of approval or connection with us…
• We’ve had feedback from various clients and friends of a number of people trying to cast aspersions on us – for instance giving false information on our pricing or levels of service for their own ends, be they competitors or other business with their own agenda. One example being a person who did some work for us and blatantly lying in attempting to take some work for herself which she then promptly screwed up. Unbelievably she then phoned us for help – not knowing what she had done we actually mistakenly spent time fixing it for her – won’t fall for that one again!
• Simon Harris (a Google search will soon show that this man has been accused many times of being a serial fraudster and con man) and his Lanzarote Society site appear to have deceptively tried to imply our involvement and ride our reputation – WE WOULD NEVER GET INVOLVED WITH THIS SITE OR THESE PEOPLE!
• And of course there is always my old friend Cyprus Bob who had a phase of abusing us on here and my personal blog under a fake ID. We know exactly who it was…

I could go on… No doubt if you are reading this you are getting the picture…

What is it with people that they feel the need to mimic, to copy, to ride our damage our reputation – one we have worked hard to achieve. Are they really dumb enough to not realize that we will defend it!

The thing about this island is that this is what happens once people percieve you as ‘doing well’.  I just wish people would actually go out and use their imagination and do something original instead – but lets face it – it’s not going to happen is it!

It’s a fact of life in Lanzarote – as everywhere else… And as times get harder – if people have this perception of us,  it is probably going to happen more and more…

Related posts:

1. Plagiarism and Copyright on the Internet
2. The Lanzarote Society
3. More copyright theft…

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