Tryst with a plagiarist

I felt obliged to create this article detailing a recent confrontation with plagiarism and actions I felt compelled to take to protect my writing and myself.

During the 2006-2010 period I was fairly active on a couple of poetry sites - the starlightcafe and poemhunter. Since then, I've posted very little poetry and my interests have pushed me in other directions. 

Just over a week ago, I received an email from poemhunter stating a user had sent me a message. I tend to ignore these, as they are usually spam, but something piqued my interest so I logged in to read it.

The message was from a user who kindly informed me that someone had started to post my poetry to hellopoetry and writerscafe, claiming the work as their own. I immediately followed the links and was met with a mixture of shock, anxiety and anger . Someone called Chris G. Vaillancourt had indeed stolen two pieces of my work. Someone had commented on one of the poems that it was stolen with a link to my original. I have no idea how they discovered this, but I presume they had suspicions about him, and so were checking any new work he posted. I am eternally grateful for the people who took their time to do this and track me down.

What made this betrayal worse, was that he had received extremely positive, glowing, excellent feedback on my poems. It's hard to describe how such theft hits you, I was surprised by the depth of my feelings. Here was a published poet with seemingly established circles of friends and reviewers, and I was someone who hadn't posted much since 2010 and my work was fairly obscure. 

I could barely focus at work that day, and spent a large part of my time trying to find ways of informing the admins of the sites in question about the plagiarised poems. I freelance, so my actions only effected my own pocket. 

I first created accounts on hellopoetry and writerscafe and immediately left comments on the poems in question, asking Chris to take down my poems and informing him that I'd reported him.

An admin at hellopoetry replied almost instantly and took the poems in question down. I'm unsure if Chris himself deleted the poems, or it they were removed by an admin at writerscafe, but I never received a response. Chris pretty much instantly deleted my comments and blocked me from viewing his writing. I was then messaged by a user (I think they might have been a moderator) who accused me of causing trouble.

Proof of the two poems he stole from me can be seen here:

Chris posted this in August

and here is my original from 2009:

http://www.thestarlitecafe.com/poems/105/poem_91104317.html

The second poem of mine he plagiarized was called 'Death is cold', which he renamed to 'Death Is Just Cold' and posted in July:

My original, which I posted in 2009 can be seen here:

http://www.thestarlitecafe.com/poems/105/poem_91119292.html

What made this one worse is that I wrote this poem after the death of a beloved family pet, and here I find someone stealing it and claiming ownership of it.

I was stumped as what to do now, from viewing Chris's profile whilst logged out, he seemed popular and had an extensive network of friends. Also, being contacted by one user already accusing me of trouble making, I was worried about getting banned from writerscafe before spreading knowledge of his deeds.

I'm fairly web savvy, so I decided to start a blog listing examples of Chris's plagiarism with irrefutable proof, in the hope that if people wouldn't believe my word, they could at least look at the evidence for themselves.

I started to look through Chris's earlier work, utilising a number of search engines to see if it had ever appeared elsewhere. What I discovered was pretty shocking. In the first 5 pages of his poetry collection, I found over 10 other plagiarised poems. I got a friend to post evidence of plagiarisation on two of these poems, but he instantly deleted the comments, then shortly deleted the poems, before blocking my friends account.

He seemed to discover my blog and started to delete all the poems I flagged up, I guess the weight of deleted poems became too much, as today he has closed his account. I presume this is an attempt to stop my looking into other poems in his collection, of which I'd barely scratched the surface.

The poems he plagiarized seemed to exist on obscure sites, and their authors had been inactive for many years - so I presume which is why he felt confident in getting away with his actions.

I'll next list other poems which I found had been copied:

Cold wall of real

Chris posted this poem in 2014, claiming he’d first published it in 2005:

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/sanctus/1386388/

But the exact same poem can be found here, published a year earlier:

http://sinatrainred.blogspot.de/2004/08/cold-wall-of-real.html

Parasite

Chris posted this poem in 2014, claiming he published it in a book in 2010:

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/sanctus/1389888/

cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ZGytV2-Da3EJ:www.writerscafe.org/writing/sanctus/1389888/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Here is the original poem, posted by JadedxEvil in 2008

http://allpoetry.com/poem/4214425-Parasite-by-JadedxEvil

If this plagiarised work was indeed printed, this makes his actions even worse.

Coffee shop

Chris posted this poem in 2014:

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/sanctus/1396343/

Cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Zl1ye77qN0gJ:www.writerscafe.org/writing/sanctus/1396343/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

but it was originally posted by Frederic Kolman in 2009 Titled “Marvelous at the Coffee Shop” here:

http://www.writingroom.com/viewwriting/frederic/Marvelous-at-the-Coffee-Shop

Thinking In Nostalgic Fashion

Chris posted this poem in 2014:

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/sanctus/1373144/

Cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uoizTQmM6hgJ:www.writerscafe.org/writing/sanctus/1373144/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

A lot of the prose was taken from this poem posted in 2007:

http://forums.plentyoffish.com/3898337datingPostpage25.aspx by LyricalMuse (near the bottom of the page)

Many more examples can be found here:

http://timdanes.tumblr.com/

I'm hoping the weight of evidence presented will allow other people to see exactly what Chris did, and will hopefully save other poets from the same fate.

Reviews

[Tate Morgan]

I can tell you this is a sad tale. However it is also a cautionary one as we all know what it is to work so hard and get so little other than our fellows praise. But to take that from someone and claim it as your own is not in line with decent conduct. It is rude at best and theft at worst'.I cannot approve of this behavior but I can chose my friends and for who and what I will bleed.I am sorry this happened to you. We are all failed characters as are all men and women but we are supposed to be friends here.

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you for the kind words Tate. I have discovered a great community here, but I guess every site has a few bad apples. Hopefully people will wake up to their actions.

[Tate Morgan]

You are welcome you will find many here to be sympathetic to you. I am a firm believer that the world is full of good souls you just dont hear from them often as they go about their lives. But there are more good ones than the bad You just hear from the bad ones more often

[Arrinae]

Mr. Morgan, thank you for the R&R

[LL]

I agree with you Tate.

[Tate Morgan]

thank you levi

[ANM]

It is very sad that someone does this however what they doc is cheat themselves!

[NoelHC]

ANM you keep saying that. NO! He cheats, robs, steals, and degrades all who he took work from and claimed as his own.

[Steve L.]

Wow. I am speechless. This should be a site where you can express yourself without fear of anything negative. Very big letdown.

[Beccy]

Such low self esteem a person must have to feel their work so poor that they steal from others.

I'm glad you finally brought this to everyone's attention Chris, Writer's cafe and all on it are better off without such people.

Beccy. x

[Christopher Withers]

I totally agree with you. Thank you for taking the time to comment :)

[Prabha Salimath]

Thank you for sharing an important message here Christopher. Really this is the one reason why I've been in dark for years as a writer, although I'm not a very good writer in English but in my mother tongue.
I thought it is safe to post here thanks for alarming writers like us.
I don't know what people will get by stealing someone's work it's nothing but a crime.

It is an insult to a real writer who has created a new thing and they gonna get nothing.

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you for taking the time to comment Prabha :)

[Lydia Shutter]

I understand just how you feel. I, too, have been the victim of plagiarism...though not to the horrid extent you told us of here. It is very difficult to protect work when we post it on the internet. All I know for sure is, the people who do plagiarize are not poets at all. They are thieves. I am happy you were able to find out this villain Vaillancourt was posting your poetry. It's a crime that must be met with vigilance. No poet should be violated in this way. Lydi**

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you Lydia, and I'm sorry to hear that this has occurred to you too. I was informed by other poets, so all of us being vigilant sounds prudent.

[Johanna]

I believe you. Something has to be done about this.. poetry is something very personal, no wonder you got angry. It´s like someone stealing your inner thoughts and feelings that you were brave enough to write down. What can we do to help??

I wanna help, let me know.
-Johanna

[Lyn Anderson]

In my opinion, the best way is to spread the word. And if you are on other poetry sites, spread the word there too. Make it so uncomfortable for this man to use his own name he will be ashamed to show his face anywhere. As for his other personas, that's a bit tougher. Right now he lurks in shadows with other names, so be ever vigilant, and if something of anyone's looks to be stolen, alert them right away.

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you Johanna :) As to what we can do, I think KLGoode brings up some very valid actions we can all take.

[Sindu]

He seemed too good to be true. I do not remember what work I read but i found him through a comment on one poem. He just did not seem fair. Thanks for sharing this and I feel sorry for pain you faced. I hope he will not hurt anymore writers. I was scared about putting my work online, ofcourse I'm just a begginer, but still this is what scares a lot I believe.

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you for your words Sindu. I agree it is a fear that many hold. I do see that in the future, most works of printed literature will be searchable online (Google is making huge inroads into this area), to as time goes on, it should be easier to search for people who may of plagiarised our work.

[Sindu]

Yes, that would be immensly helpful. However big or small, every writers' work is special to each own.

[A. Amos]

This is sad and as a fellow writer, I can understand your pain!

i don"t feel posting two poems a day or synopsis of my books i"m working. This is net and the moment you post its not any more!
my work is my children and would feel the same as someone has kidnapped my children...i understand your pain my friend and trust me your this work would help many!

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you :) Although plagiarism is a serious matter, on the whole I think it's not too prevalent. So the spectre of it shouldn't stop us from sharing our works with others.

[A. Amos]

Now you did the right thing, that was the reason I told you to make it public. You're most welcome my friend...

[gabrielle]

There had been many accusations of plagiarism in the past and it has always been my position that if someone specifically accuses a person of plagiarism, he has the burden to prove the same. . I do believe that any person with malicious intent could easily accuse someone of plagiarism, even the innocent. The effect of a false accusation is pervasive and could have a long lasting effect on the reputation and credibility of a writer. This is why I do appreciate that you provided screen shots of the stolen works vis-à-vis the link of the original work indicating the earlier dates of publication. I commend you for this painstaking and time consuming effort. This would be a sufficient guide for me and for those who have not yet read those particular pieces.

Your objective and systematic approach on this matter strengthened the credibility of the accusation.
“Mr. Villain-in-court”, I believe, is in my friend’s list. I even gave some reviews on poems he posted in his page (I am not sure though if those particular works were likewise stolen). But then, no plagiarist should be tolerated anywhere. Thank you for this heads up.

[Christopher Withers]

Hi Gabrielle,
I agree accusations of plagiarism are very serious, so the accuser definitely has to provide convincing evidence. I wasn't particularly comfortable posting this, but after having found many copied pieces, it almost seemed a duty to do so.

[Arrinae]

I knew that guy was no good. From the first moment I added him something didn't feel right. i got a weird vibe from him. I though he was just an asshat, but this takes the cake.

He was always so rude. He was constantly bashing America and the military in poetry, and while its his right to express his opinions and thoughts, it is known that I am American and a member of the military. He contantly sent me read requests, which I feel obliged to read, only to bash my beliefs and honor with the same drab. When it got out that I am of the Wiccan belief system, he began to over run me with christian and catholic poetry to the point that I had enough. He was always so snarky and close minded when reviewing my own works and I felt like he was trying to force his religion on me. And thats not okay. I messaged him asking to stop sending me read requests on certain subjects and he flipped out stating "I'll send what ever the hell I want to who ever I want." I felt that his reaction was uncalled for and promptly blocked his account.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who was not comfortable with him and had issues with him as well. I hope when his deeds catch up to him, that they'll hit him hard enough to knock some sense and humility into him.

[Christopher Withers]

Since posting this, I've talked to many people who'd experienced issues with him too, so it seems you were definitely not alone. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

[Arrinae]

You are very much welcome. and while I want him to learn a lesson from this, I also don't want him to get banned from posting his own work, because to me, that would make us his internet bullies. I just want him to learn some integrity, and for him to be humbled.

[Christopher Withers]

As much as he angered me, I also feel sorry for him in a way. I definitely don't want to bully but it's a hard line to walk between flagging up such deeds and holding ones tongue.

[Arrinae]

Agreed. I know he should be banned from this sight at the very least to teach him a lesson, but we shouldn't go around and completely ruin his life by getting him banned everywhere on the internet for him doing this either. That would make us no better than him.