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

[Jon Roggie]

Well said, and thank you for the effort. I received many a review from him, and another of his identities. I can't help but wonder, am I going to stumble across some familiar words?

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you Jon. I guess we all need to remain vigilant.

[Jon Roggie]

No, thank you for your efforts.

[NoelHC]

Christopher, thank you for the detailed account of this clown's BS. I find the most ironic title claimed by him is "Parasite" how appropriate is that.
He ran with many alter egos on here, and I am sure on other sites as well, many of those have suddenly deleted their work, and closed their accounts, a couple leaving a message about the witch hunt on here.
I cannot understand the motivation for all the machinations CV went through to maintain a high profile, after all this gig pays such great rates for our writing, but he has closed his account after deleting everything you flagged.
I don't expect this is the last we will see of him, in some version or another, sad widow, young proud Canadian, a senior woman whose avatar happens to be a stock photo for pleasant, white haired senior woman, or a soccer mom.
Thank you for your hard work here, and I hope you decide to stay, as the writing I have read by you is really good stuff.

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you Noel. This is what I can't understand. He was published, and with the write nature, could have been greatly respected. Why go to such lengths (with the puppets and pluralization) for even greater fame? With the archival nature of the net, all it takes is a search to oust you.

[kublakhan27]

I know I speak for all of us in thanking you for the time and diligence you're putting into this ongoing saga...I join the others in assuring you that your efforts are not going unnoticed or unappreciated...the word is spreading pretty quickly now and he must be running out of options by now...again, I thank you for all you've done.

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you, your words do mean a lot :). I was expecting some hostility by making such evidence public, but the response has been overwhelming and speaks volumes of the great community that exists here.

[kublakhan27]

Always a pleasure my friend :)

[Frieda P]

His feedback was always benign in my estimation, he had few choice words he threw out there to bait people to read his own work, who knew he was such a phony at the time, and most of those works weren't even his! For shame....thanks for making this public, everyone needs to be made aware of this devious scoundrel.

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you Frieda. Whilst looking into his actions, noticing the frequency of his vague comments, I was almost convinced he was a bot. Someone's strange experiment into peoples reactions to increasingly apparent plagiarism. I'm still quite baffled by it all.

[Frieda P]

You're very welcome, he's bad news, glad he's old news....

[MusicManiac]

It's such a shame that bad things happen to good people. Our words, as poets, are our hearts--our raw emotions penned to life. The fact that we even choose to share our works is hoping to reach out to others, to create an outlet for pains and joys. It is us pouring trust into others.

It absolutely disgusts me that others are so shameless as to just take the words of another and label them as their own. MomzillaNC wrote a wonderful poem on this topic and I left quite the review there, so I won't ramble too much.

While most of my heart is in horror of the fact that people like "Chris" exist, part of me thanks those few that notice the crime and bring it to light. It is easy to shut down postings things after such an act is committed against you--and in fact, that is what I would do. But those few others who stand up against this injustice remind me of the fact that there are people out there who care--who take interest in writing and reading for all the right reasons.

This should be a supportive community--one that let's everyone have a unique voice.

I hope that such disrespect never comes to you again!

~MusicManiac

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you MusicManiac. I was inclined to delete my works, but I figured in doing so, I'd lose all evidence of the date I posted them, making plagiarism accusations harder to prove.
I'm not particularly comfortable in opening up emotionally, so my poetry is very personal. To attempt to take that away...

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you so much for further highlighting this villain. I'm a visual artist and a poet. I don't know if he's purloined my words. But, I have had my visual art stolen. I once reached out to someone my art teacher recommended. The woman worked for a prestigious chain department store in Florida. I sent some 50 design illustrations to her for her feedback and direction on how to proceed in pursuit of a career in fashion design. She sent me an encouraging letter and all my drawings back after about 2 or 3 months. The next year, I was at my gran's. We were watching a show about stellar new designers. Parading down the runway were MY DESIGNS. Every single one of my designs -- all 30 some works displayed as that woman's original work! I grabbed my drawings and showed them to my grandparents. They could clearly see that the designs were mine.

I simply have no words for the sense of betrayal and helplessness. I never heard anything more of that cow. But, my grandparents didn't have any clue what to do, and neither did I (I was only 14). My parents didn't want me to be an artist and most certainly not a fashion designer, so were unwilling to pursue any recourse.

I just had to let that cow revel in accolades for my work. The store wouldn't even talk to me; I was just some dumb kid!

I truly believe that plagiarists are enslaving someone else's genius. They have nothing to offer from their empty souls.

[Christopher Withers]

Wow, this is awful! I'm not sure I'd be able to contain my anger at such events which happened to you. I've heard of similar things occurring to friends who are trying to get into TV. Having to supply show ideas for interviews, to find a year or so later, their ideas brought to air by the very companies they wanted to work for.
I hope you've found some way of letting go of that hurt, I can see how easy it would get to become fixated on and consumed by it.

[MomzillaNC]

Well, I was 14. It was a long time ago, just another part of the bad old years… a place my life no longer dwells. I don't know of any specific thing I did to move on from that. But, Life is too short to hold onto anger or despair. I made a happy life for myself and refuse to let any of the darkness from my past color my now.

[Christopher Withers]

I guess, at 14 it's an important lesson learned! I'm sure you've more than distinguished yourself in your career since :)

[MomzillaNC]

I never became a fashion designer. I am an artist. That's not what I do, not something you choose to do as a job: being an artist is just WHO I am. I worked in print media and publishing as a graphic designer. And, I always wrote poetry. I've had a couple poems published -- nothing since the early 90s. In fact, it's only since joining this site that I've become comfortable sharing my poetry; I honestly never thought it was any good.

I grew up and lived in a very dark place. But, every indignity and injustice, every pain… I wouldn't change one thing in my past because it all led me to the now where I live a life of joy and love. My life has been blessed -- "pressed down, shaken together, and running over" -- with a hundred joys for every torment in that bad old darkness.

[Matching Socks]

I'm sorry this happened to you. I think a few of us know exactly how this feels.
I shut down my account because of his BS (heat of the moment thing, I'm back now as you can see).
But I am a bit suspicious of people now, I feel like I lost a bit of innocence.
Your poetry is great and I really hope we've stopped him from hurting any more people.
I did notice that he's closed his account but I would not be surprised if he came back under a different name.

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you Ana, and I'm sorry to hear you've experienced similar. It's crazy how some people gain some form of glee through hurting others, especially on a medium such as the internet.

[The Twin Arenas]

f*****g crazy. there was something totally robotic about that guy. a sad thing.

viva la brains right side.

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you Waconda :) I'm still trying to make sense of it all!

[Malister Mikey]

Thank you so much for posting this, it makes me sad that Chris turned out to be a plagiarist I thought of him as an experienced writer that I could learn from in my pursuit of bettering myself. All those times I would hear that he liked my poetry it make me feel more accomplished. Though now I see that his words don't mean anything. He committed the greatest sin of an artist of the written word and that makes me very sad. Thank you Christopher Withers for posting this and thank you Tate Morgan who sent me the RR.

[Christopher Withers]

Thank you for taking the time to comment, it means a lot. It's not comfortable bringing something like this to light, but sometimes you just have to draw a line.

[Malister Mikey]

I used to hold great regard for Chris so it was upsetting news. Though I'm happy to of gotten it and you're welcome for the review seeing I sent loved ones who also use this site to add Chris it made me feel terrible I might of handed their poetry to the hands of a plagiarist. I write more on books than poetry, but when I write poetry it's important to me, if this had happened to me, I'd of been very upset.

[Christopher Withers]

If I'm honest, if I hadn't been the victim of this, I'd perhaps have been taken in by his plethora of published works - so don't feel bad, you simply trusted him - and trusting people isn't a bad trait to have.

[Malister Mikey]

Yeah I know, I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt

[wordman]

just checked his page it has been closed