Public Service Announcement: Don’t swipe writing that is not yours.

As screwed up as this function is sometimes, WordPress allows you to see who has linked your blog, along with many other fine and occasionally screwy statistics options. Today, I found I blog I had never heard of or seen on the links list. Come to find out, this blog had decided to tear off the first five posts on the front page of my blog without properly linking me. Yeah, I’m pretty sure no one is going to think that someone with a blog (apparently) based in Canada has organized a zine fest in Richmond, VA, USA, but still, it’s  not cool. I flagged their blog to notify Blogger/Google, as well as posting a comment to let them know that if they do not take the post down, I will be taking further action, considering Google provides a nice page of information about how one can take steps against blogs who take your work without your permission.

I’ve also stuck a nice Creative Commons badge to the right of this page now, complete with my contact information.

I’m not particularly interested in getting into a debate about intellectual property. I will be very annoyed with anyone who says, “you should be happy about just getting your words out there.” Any responses along those lines will receive a “Fuck you, I’m not here to support lazy assholes who can’t be bothered to sit down and write their own words.” I’ve spent nearly 10 years in the zine community, and I’ve been apart of that debate enough for several lifetimes.

But here is what y’all need to know: even if I do not post as often as I used to, and even if this isn’t the most brilliant blog in the world, I work hard on what I do post. I’m very big on crafting and editing. Lengthier entries take at least 2-3 hours to write, which is part of the reason why I do not post as often as I used to. Therefore, I will not be happy if I find that someone has used my work without my permission.

If you want to post something I have written in your own blog or whatever, whether in English or a non-English language, contact me. I’ve had even old zine articles I’ve written translated into other languages, so I’m cool with it as long as I’m asked and have given permission. Hell, I’ll probably even link you back.

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And no, this is not how I envisioned my first post in nearly a month. Before I found the blog who decided to swipe 5 of my posts, I was planning on writing something about the new Ghostbusters comics. But that will have to wait until either the next time I’m feeling stuck on writing a paper and studying for an exam or after finals in a couple of weeks.