Is it really flattering to be copied?
Charles Caleb Colton said “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
I have to confess, my Mom would say that often when I was growing up and my little brother was imitating whatever it was I was doing at the time.
So when is it not appropriate?
Several months ago, I attended a local event, Social Media at the Beach the keynote speaker was heavy hitter, Jeff Turner. He spoke about being authentic. I think about his speech often when blogging, and have to admit it annoys me to when I see people copy content or even links without giving credit to the person who introduced the subject matter. Isn’t it really a matter of being responsible? Why not discuss the topic and refer to the subject matter by linking to that particular blog, video, website, etc.
So what do you do, when someone has stolen your content? Lorelle VanFossen’s WordPress blog outlines the reality and the myths of copyright violations and addressing it isn’t as difficult as many think.
Fellow agents, have you ever had one of your listings “borrowed” by another agent, without permission? I can say it’s happened to me at least four different times through the years. Most times it only took a call to my broker, who quickly remedied it by asking the agent to remove the listings ASAP.
Recently during an interview with a prospective seller, they asked me about my inventory levels, which I quickly outlined. They said another agent they had found online had advertised they had many more listings. Normally as an agent, we are familiar with the agents who carry very large inventories, however this agent was not one who normally carried many homes. So as I sat with the client I asked them where they found this information, they informed me they read it online while doing research. They pulled out a notebook and directed me to the agent’s site. This agent had a quite a list of homes on the site, which impressed me. So I decided to dig a little deeper. I logged into REIN and started typing addresses right at the table with the clients. To my new client’s amazement, not one of the listings we pulled on the first page was actually listed by this agent, even though they represented on the site ”Look at my inventory”. I explained to the sellers that many agents will ask permission from other agents in their office to advertise their homes to create activity, especially if they have few listings. They had no idea this practice took place and even stated it was false advertising.
So I pose my client’s question to you. Can an agent advertise “Look at my inventory”, when the properties are not their listings, is it misleading? Would love your feed back.
Chris – this is a very important topic! You are so right – the social web is about authenticity, and giving attribution when you ‘borrow’ content is one of my personal pet peeves. Thanks for bringing this to the consumer’s attention. I wasn’t aware of this practice, but must say I’m not surprised. Its a cut-throat world, and people will do whatever they feel is necessary to get ahead. Its a shame, but I believe in Karma and it will come around to bite them in the bum one day…. i hope!
Imitation (unless done for ridicule) is flattering—it does not follow that it is good thing. Here, however, we seem to discuss the topic of content theft, which is a different matter altogether: Imitation would be if someone copied the look of your website, how you handled particular situations, what your business practices are, and similar.
(As for your client’s question, I lack the knowledge of local law and established practices, as well as the exact details of the case, but, generally speaking, it appears to be a factually faulty claim made with the deliberate intention to create the wrong impression and to lead the potential customer to make an incorrect decision. From a layman’s POV, false advertising seems about right.)