Originally Posted by
fimo
Originally Posted by
AddictedTraveller
Originally Posted by
bthotugigem05
The guy lifted content from three of my posts and one other bloggers. He never acknowledged my emails or tweets and has deleted and blocked anyone who has posted something negative on his facebook posts about this.
.
Wow - First of all, I'm resurrecting this conversation because I just got wind of this TODAY. So more than 6 weeks have passed and this blog post is still up and is still getting attention.
http://dereklow.co/what-its-like-to-...-suites-class/ Not a peep about any of the copy being plagiarized. In re-reading it, I now wonder if all those photos are his. He has definitely put a dent in his credibility and to be "DerekLowed" now means to be ripped off. Not a great way to fame and fortune.
Originally Posted by
chubbuni13
Firstly, plagiarism is wrong and he should be publicly shamed for that... still, aside from that heinous breach of trust, the fact remains that there are a bunch of haters on this page.
I don't know what the definition of "haters" is - it's such a broad brush with no real meaning. As a writer and speaker, if someone rips off my content or my photos, I go after them. That's not "hating" - that's protection of my business assets and absolutely needs to be done. People with no imagination and no creativity who go around stealing NEED to be in the crosshairs of reddit, and they need to be stopped. It takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to create copy over and over and over. And when that's your bread and butter and someone like this Low character just sweeps in and rips it off, they deserve all the bad PR they get. Stealing copy from someone's blog is no different than walking into a store and walking off with crystal glassware or gold jewelry. Stealing is stealing.
Originally Posted by
Aeran
Thought I'd chime in on this since I know Derek personally (served NS together + alumni from his university).
He's a very nice guy and I don't think he thought the blog would get this much attention. Not that plagiarism is ever warranted, but he isn't a travel 'blogger' and doesn't make any money off of his site or Medium - its just for fun and sharing with friends.
Again, this isn't an excuse for plagiarism but I think we need to take perspective that he isn't another 'blogger' trying to gain fame and fortune by stealing others' work, nor did he anticipate it spreading so quickly beyond his group of friends and getting so viral.
Arean - you sound like a nice guy. I think your buddy has let you down and may not deserve your loyalty. If he were everything you say his site would have a note at the top that says, "My apologies to Andy for lifting some of his words. I was so excited about the trip I guess I got ahead of myself." Or something like that. But there's nothing. Just his smiling face and the lurking questions about whether he actually took this trip or just bought the rights to go on a tour of the Suites and took a bunch of photos while no one was looking.
All I can say is good luck to him. I would hate to be in the crosshairs of the redditors. The internet can be a cruel mistress and those who cross this line can be taken down.
All that being said, cool photos. I'd still opt to use my miles for something better. Their Business class is just fine with me, and miles can be used to share trips with friends and family - which means more to me than temporary luxuries of a suite.
OK - enough of my 2.5¢... sorry for awakening the thread again.
And Andy - LOVE your blog ^