Why are you picking on me? Because you are a lazy thief!

Not here to post much and really only on steemit because it's an investment to me. I planned to hold steem for some time and my brother inlaw told me I could make some extra steem while holding. So decided to create an account and lease some power to him and was going to lease the rest but decided to play around a little to see why he likes it here so much.

Hive account@thedarkhorse is my brother inlaw and the guy who runs the #payitforward curation contest. see current week here. He spends a lot of time on this and its all about helping smaller members. So as i poked around steemit I decided to help him with votes and voting for entries on his contest which is what he would use the steem for anyways, but this way he doesn't have to pay for it. My way of giving back to him.

source: CC0 Pixabay Image

To the point of this post. Once I learned that flagging someone for stealing content and posting it as their own was an option I have, repeatedly. Stealing content and posting it as your own even if you use software to change out words to make it trick the plagiarism checking bot Hive account@cheetah into not catching you doesn't make it ok. Actually it shows the world that you knew it was illegal and not allowed on steemit, but tried to cover up what you are doing.

Here is an example from Hive account@crystannson. This is just the most recent example so it's fresh in my mind.

They swapped key words to make sure a plagiarism software doesn't see the theft and posted with a link to the source. Then when called on it gave this reply

But I cited my source, isn't that allowed any longer, the link is below

But if you didn't think it was wrong why would you butcher the original text with incorrectly using a thesaurus and swapping out words with ones that completely change the meaning of the writing. If you thought posting the text was allowed by including a source link then you wouldn't bother to try and hide your theft.

Hive account@steemcleaners has a plagiarism guide which calls this type of content as "“spun” content" and this is how they define "“spun” content"

Our definition of “spun” content, is content almost copy and pasted, however, contains small changes to words to avoid detection from plagiarism tools.

Going to reuse some of my reply here. Never has been allowed here or anywhere on the internet to steal someones work and post it. There are laws against this and can create legal issues for yourself and potentially the site hosting your stolen content.

Do you get that? The site hosting plagiarized content is potentially legally on the hook when the demand to have it removed comes over. Do you want to see Steemit.com in trouble? Even if they win it costs money to defend against lawsuits. It costs money when a DMCA Takedown notice is served to steemit.com and they need to answer it. these are things that worry me as an investor in steem. Couldn't find a quality source on the legal issues for the host of the content, but it's correct. added the word "potentially" before "legally on the hook" just in case I'm wrong on this.

Do you get this? As the thief violating copyright laws you can get in legal trouble for stealing content (even with minor edits) and posting it without permission. Do you want legal problems in the future so you can earn your pennies today? Read what University of Purdue's Copyright Office says about potential legal issues for violating someone's copyright.

This applies to both written works and photos (info from LegalZoom)! You can NOT use google images to find a photo you like and steal it, yes you are a thief when you steal other peoples photos or written work.

If you need photos check out Pixabay for photos you can legally use.

In case you think I'm an idiot here is the important quotes from steemit.com FAQ (have you bothered to read it?)

What are Steemit’s policies on plagiarism?
If you are posting plagiarized or copied content, you can get in legal trouble for violating copyright laws. Plagiarized posts and spam are seen as abuse and will be downvoted by community members. If you are posting or using someone else’s content, you must ensure that you have the rights to use the content, and properly reference the sources where you got the material from.

the most important part is "you must ensure that you have the rights to use the content,"

without permission you are violating copyright law.

same for images, here is the info from the FAQ

Is it okay to use random pictures from the internet?
If you are using an image that is not your own, make sure you are allowed to use the image, and cite the source of the image.

Using random pictures from the internet without giving credit is discouraged. You may, however, use photos from “free image” websites such as Pexels.com or Pixabay.com. All photos on Pexels and Pixabay are free for personal and commercial use.

key parts for this:
"If you are using an image that is not your own, make sure you are allowed to use the image"

That means you either have automatic approval because they have posted their release of copyright claim under the Creative Commons CC0 or you have Written Approval to use the image. This page on Pixabay is worth a read if you don't know about CC0.

Read from copyright.gov their FAQ which covers most things you might ever want to know about copyright.

Source: CC0 Pixabay Image

So if I flag you for being a Lazy Thief don't cry about it and Don't make excuses like "everyone else is doing it", because no they aren't only other lazy thieves are. We don't need thieves on steemit and you got what you deserve.

Now if you change your ways and then actually post some real content let me know. If I see you do this for multiple posts in a row and look like you actually want to produce your own real content I'll give you a 100% upvote for doing so as a reward.