Content Theft - by a Mentor

Back Story:

A friend of mine runs a service and I commented to him that people were doing a poor job of filling out the info sheet, and that I would make him an example one. He's been giving it out to people so they know how to fill it out.

No Problem.

Anyway, another friend today IM'd me saying that another place that runs a competing service has a very similar example card, I had them send me a copy. Sure enough its the card I created with only a few slight changes. They were smart enough to cut and paste the text into a notecard created by themselves, so I'm not listed as the creator.

It's not possible the same info was created at random, the details are very specific, and while it is only minor content theft, its by a Mentor. Aren't these the people supposed to be setting an example?

Suggestions on whether I should just leave it alone, or take it further?

There is the whole "lead by example" aspect, but really any mentor is nothing more than a resident who bothered to fill out a form and who at the time of acceptance didn't have an abuse history.

If someone copied your text off a notecard (guessing since I'm not entirely sure what "info sheet" refers to? ) that's still copyright infringement but I'm not sure if you can really do much about it though (you can always try filing a DMCA).

Whether or not you want to do something about it is entirely up to you, but the fact that that person is a mentor doesn't seem terribly relevant in what you described.

I'm in the mentors group, and I must say that I totally agree with Kitty, the group chat is continously spamming with "hi" or "how do I script this?" or "where can I get that?". They should coose less people, but qualified.

Mitzy I had the same plagarism issue with my event announcement text (being used by a ex-employee for her new venue). I always archive my original notecards in one of those PixleTrix file cabinets. This way the date you originally created the notecard is saved.

Your friend is in the right, the Mentor is in the wrong.

Normally, I'm a huge fan of IP rights, and death on content theft.

Having said that, though, is this really something worth getting upset about? An information notecard? I mean, if it's something truly unique and original, then sure, find them, tar n' feather 'em, and run them out of town on a rail. But from your description, this sounds like the kind of "throw away" thing I toss off all the time.

No its not worth getting upset about, and if they had asked they would of been given permission to use it.

It's more their whole attitude and the fact that a Mentor should know better. Yes I know they are just residents.

The relevancy of them being a Mentor is simple, Mentors have an important role in this world, they should lead by example.

have you even asked this person about it?

it sounds like something very simple and basic that others could have come up with as well...maybe they created theirs first its hard to say

Wrong forum.

A mentor is merely someone who took the time to fill out a form, spend at least 3 months ingame, and have no abuse report history.

You also need to be more specific about exactly what was stolen/copied.

Don't feel bad OP, some of the mentors give out pirated versions of X2 and Naughty Design skins too...

although it's kinda hinky for them to c&p into their own note card, reusing informational texts (content dependant) is pretty common even in the real world... as long as neither was making a profit off of it, it's' often free game so to speak. of course claiming something as your own is bad juju, always give credit to authors or at the least cite that it was recompiled from ultiple sources.

If its informational texts, mentors are always on the lookout for more. And there really isn't much to worry about since the mentor was probably only trying to help a newbie not make a profit.

Right click > properties > no modify

if anything setting the rights to no copy or modify would not be of any help whatsoever.. my advice though.. be happy that you have set an example as to which other people are using... as it's just a notecard there really is no need to fill out a DMCA otherwise you might wanna start filling out a dmca for every single word you type. oh hang on... who do I pay copyrights to for even typing this out. lol

So how much money is this pivotal notecard worth anyway. Must be worth heaps to keep ripping at a SL helper so much. Tajke it to Judge Judy perhaps?
I want to sue the next person who plagerises from my Newbie Welcome & Help card

Ah, well here's the nub of the matter.

The OP implied it was a business, that happened to be run by someone who is also a mentor.

And yet lots of people have jumped in here assuming that if it was something given out by a mentor, then it was clearly meant to help an SL newbie.

A very easy mistake to make, because most newbies assume that if someone is a "mentor" they must have been vetted by SL and have a position of responsibility. This is why it *is* much worse for mentors to behave badly - even newbies would be wary of strangers offering advice, recommendations and freebies; they're far more likely to think that a mentor offering advice or selling them something is trustworthy. Clearly, that frequently isn't the case.

Well if this card indeed has monetary value, then sue their butt, but don't drag the good names of all mentors through the mud continually month after month this has been going on for...............
Otherwise cull the drama show and just get over it, Karma will sort it out.......

In another thread, Kitty posted the following from the T&Cs, which seems very sensible to me. I haven't been dragging the good names of all mentors through the mud, but I do think it's important that the bad apples are weeded out so that it *doesn't* tarnish the reputation of good mentors.

Are the following terms and conditions really that unreasonable? I don't think so: