If You've Copied My Work, Who Else Have You Copied? Plagiarism In The True Crime Community, Rip Off Merchants & Exciting News About My Youtube Channel

 
(Come say Hi, I don't bite! Well....only in the darkest of hours lol. You can find me on social media here)

Today is September the 11th, the 20th anniversary of the devastating terrorist attacks which took place in the US in 2001. Today is always a difficult day for me as it is for a lot of people. My plans were to have a quiet day, to watch the memorial, light a candle and pay my respects in my own way. I still plan to do this but something is weighing heavy on my heart and I need to rant about it so that I can get it off of my chest and move on.

If you've been a reader & friend of mine (I class all of my readers as friends) for a while, you'll possibly remember a post I had written back in 2019 about a well respected true crime podcaster who was constantly having their work copied by Youtubers (you can find the post here) who were basically reaping all the views and financial gain from this man's hard work. 

Well, I was pissed off about the situation, this guy had a full time job and busted his ass researching, editing, writing, organising and putting together videos every week only for lazy chancers to come along and just copy everything he did. He was aware of it and it caused him a considerable amount of stress as it would to anyone who'd seen their hard work stolen. He almost gave up his podcast over it. Luckily his readers and others in the true crime community caught on to this pretty fast but unfortunately I'm sure there's still people out there who copy his work, being online there's always that risk. 

Well darlings, it seems like it's my turn! I've had my blog for a few years now and it's something I am very proud of and worked tirelessly for. I'm always amazed at the amount of views that I get on my posts everyday but it's true what they say, hard work does pay off. I don't do this for fun or to make money (although that would be amazing), I do this because I have a passion for it and you can tell that by all of the hard work, detail and time that I put into it. I want to be a true crime writer, that's my dream, to have my books on the shelves at Waterstones. 

I studied Criminology at university and have had an interest in true crime since I was a child. This is something I am serious about. Unfortunately with the popularity of true crime documentaries now, it seems that a lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon trying to make a few dollars. I have friends in the true crime community who work so hard on their content because they are truly passionate about it but there are some of the newer crowd who are trying to create their own channels by using other peoples work (and when I say 'using other people's work', I mean, word for word, even copying layouts, titles etc) and setting up Patreons to make money. 

I have a popular true crime blog so it's inevitable that I was going to be copied at some point, still doesn't mean that I'm not annoyed by it. I have had various Youtube channels who have used me as a source, as much as I don't agree with using blogs as sources (it's lazy, you should do your own research yourself) these people didn't copy me word for word. 

Last night however, a new Youtuber was brought to my attention and to say I was pissed off is an understatement. I sat in shock and utter disbelief (felt like I was in an episode of The Twilight Zone) as I watched this video (I'm not including the link cause she's had enough views from my work as well as other bloggers): The Husband From Hell: Mitchell Quy (this was posted a month ago on this copycat's Youtube channel: Beyond The Pale). You may remember that I posted about this story back in 2020: The Husband From Hell: Mitchell Quy

Well, Beyond The Pale (@beyondxo_pale ) took chunks of my blog together with another blog and read word for word like I had written in my post, basically doing an audio of my blog post then trying to get away with it by including me as a source with another two true crime blogs and a newspaper article (which was also the first newspaper I publicly listed in my sources - oh, what a coincidence) in the links below the video. If this sad woman was such a huge fangirl of me she should have just asked for a collaboration if she's not bright enough to do her own research. Like I mentioned before, I don't agree with using blogs as sources but if you want to ref a quote or at the very least make sure all your words are your own and you have done proper research like others who have referenced my blog. You have to put in the work in order to be taken seriously. The coward behind Beyond The Pale has no public face and sounds like a middle aged woman, straight off the bat, she loses credibility as someone in the true crime community because she's been exposed as a word for word copycat in the early stages of her channel. If she's copied me, you can be damn sure she copied other people.

I confronted this person on Youtube and Twitter and was blocked (says it all really). My readers and friends also left comments on her Youtube channel which were removed and they were also blocked. It seems that when this person gets called out for their actions, they like to remove comments and block people. It makes you wonder how many other people she has done this to and is currently copying right now. 

Anyway, here's some screenshots of me trying to communicate with this fangirl of mine (Single White Female vibes) lol: 


She knew she'd been caught out by myself and my readers and thought she could squirm her way out of it. Plagiarism is Plagiarism, she read word for word of paragraphs from my original post from this case (even in the order I had written them in, the unique sayings I have and the title was also copied) which I published in 2020. Blatantly doing an audio of my work and then listing me as a source is just a bullshit way of trying to get out of it. 


My comments on her Youtube channel were deleted and blocked, my readers were also blocked and comments removed. She did the same thing on Twitter too. 

Now that I've written about this on my blog, I feel better and I'm done with it, let her have her views on her fake Youtube channel, see how long she lasts. There's only so long and far you can go when copying other people's work. The fact that the video she did which copied my original post has gotten just 2k views but my post on this case has gotten 57,000 views (& counting). Thousands of people read my blog everyday and if one of my readers stumbles across her channel they'll know she's full of it. People who read other blogs will notice she's copied others too. Let karma just do it's thing. I'm done with it now.

My blog continues to be a success and I'm very proud of it and thankful for all of my readers/friends who read my posts, send me lovely messages about my work, who've been amazingly supportive over this situation as well as others. 

Moving on (now that we have that out of the way)....

I have some exciting news about my Youtube channel, I know a lot of you enjoy reading my posts and I will continue to bring them to you but I'm currently planning to do some Youtube videos based on cases that I have already covered on this blog plus new ones. My channel will be popping with lots of weekly content soon. I will also be making a video of The Mitchell Quy case based on my original post with my original title and the link from 2020 (when I first published it). So it'll be up to people whether they want to watch & listen to my original work or just watch a video where some faceless middle-aged sounding Irish woman (assuming it's an actual person and not one of those voice machines) has copied everything I've said. I happen to think that people will much prefer seeing me and hearing my sexy Scottish accent (lol). 

Every week I will be publishing both a blog post and a video on my Youtube channel. I'm excited about these plans and I do realise that this is not going to stop some people from copying me. I think those of us who are serious true crime writers, bloggers, podcasters and documentary makers are always at that risk of being plagiarised. 

My videos will be like little documentary episodes and I'm looking forward to going on this other little journey with my amazing readers/friends. 

(Hopefully you'll join me on Youtube for lots more true crime content coming soon: Caledonian Kitty

Before I love you and leave you I just wanted to add something else, please be careful when shopping online, especially if it's jewellery. I made the mistake of buying what was advertised as a 'White Gold' necklace from a company called The Diamond Store UK. They advertised themselves as the UK's number 1 diamond store more like the UK's number 1 cowboys!. I got sent a cheap silver chain that turned black. I've been playing hell with them for weeks, trying to get a proper white gold chain (like I actually paid for) or a refund. I've been like Mary Whitehouse leaving bad reviews on TrustPilot (but it's the only way you get a response as they tend to ignore emails and delete your comments off of Instagram). 

They weren't happy with my reviews about their cheap product and crap customer service but why should I let other potential customers be fooled into spending their hard end money on these crooks. I know they've had some fake reviews posted on their TrustPilot page (you should see my glorious reviews if you fancy a laugh, I don't hold back as you've probably gathered. Never mess with a Scottish girl who's a Scorpio & has Spanish blood) but if you scroll through them you'll find the 1 star reviews about the ''cheap Gold rings that turn black after a couple of weeks'' or the tacky cheap engagement rings that change colour and the stones fall out after a week. 

A lesson has been learned here and I'll no longer buy jewellery online, I'll go into a proper respectable jewellery store on the high street or shopping mall. 

Anyway, I know this was a long post but I'm glad to be done and dusted with this and excited about my upcoming plans for my Youtube channel. Thank you for all of your amazing support as always, I really do appreciate it. I will be back next Sunday with my latest case. I will also update you on my channel plans soon. 

Hope you're all well and looking forward to catching up with you later or on my socials x

4 comments:

  1. Unbelievable. When I saw that on YouTube I was not shocked at all buy still the disbelief was 100% genuine. There's a huge difference between citing a source and copying and pasting someone else's work.

    As a musician this is a common recurring theme. When writing riffs and songs we have to pause and ask ourselves if we heard what we wrote somewhere else.

    You can't play the intro to Master of Puppets and change the last note from E to F and call it original.

    Ripping off someone else's hard work is pathetic and really sad. Says a lot about that person's integrity.

    I can't belief that The Diamond Store did that. Having been a jewelry store manager for years this was the worst example of customer service I've seen in a long time. They should be ashamed of themselves about this. I hope someone from their PR department sees this and kicks their customer service department in the ass.

    I know for myself as I'm sure many others are that we are all eagerly anticipating true crime videos from the best true crime writer out there.

    I hope that your weekend is amazing and you can get a chance to relax. Thank you for your incredible and always brilliant work. I truly appreciate everything you do. 🙏❤💝

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  2. Hello Jo, hello gorgeous.
    September 11th is always such a difficult day for me and for the entire world.
    My GOD, plagiarism is a sin, such a shame. I don’t get people that copy work of others.
    Thank you so much for publishing both of your articles about plagiarism.
    It’s necessary to report that sad act of laziness, fraud, scam...
    I’m in shock to read that it was your turn yesterday 
    That channel is a sin and pure garbage.
    I reported and blocked the account on Twitter.
    That is a disgrace ! I obviously gave them a thumb down on Youtube. I was listening to the video and I was screaming. The channel copy the same title of your article about Mitchell Quy. I’m so sorry about all of this Jo.
    You’re working so hard, with so much passion, devotion, love and professionalism.
    To see a channel like that is such a shame and so disrespectful to you.
    I hope that they will close their account because they are scam and fraud.
    Now, people are aware of this channel and the twitter account. I hope that everyone will reported and blocked that account on Twitter and also report the Youtube channel. I know that they will removed any bad comments and they will blocked everyone but they must be reported.
    Thank you so much for writing your article and denounce that fake horrendous account.
    Karma will hit that person !!! It’s not gonna stand for long.
    I can’t wait to watch your upcoming youtube videos, that It’s a wonderful news ! Awww, seeing you and hear your sexy Scottish accent will be a treasure.
    That online company is total bullshit. That is false representation !!! Thank you for letting us know about that BS company. I’m glad you left a bad review. I wasn’t able to read it from your link tho. They should give you a complete refund.
    You are amazing Jo Xxx

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    1. Thank you for checking out the post and commenting x

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