Copycats, copycats everywhere!

[Erby Crofutt]

Years and years ago, when I had time for such stuff, I wrote several articles and posted them around the internet on one or two of the article sites.

A while ago, I decided to do a blog outside of Active Rain that was more under MY control.

Erby, The Central Kentucky Home Inspector's Blog

I’ve taken some of the stuff I wrote years and years ago and / or on Active Rain to put on that blog to get it started.

Today, while checking to see site statistics for that site, I wanted to see if Google had picked up the new site yet.

So, I took a random sentence out of the middle of one of the articles Home Fire Safety posted on the new site to see if it would come up on Google.

"When you move into a used home, you have no way of knowing how old the detectors are"

It didn't surprise me that it came up on several of the "Article" sites out there, with attribution. That's one of the reasons I wrote it.

What did surprise me was the home inspectors who now lay claim to that same article.

Bruce LaBell, Scottsdale, AZ wrote the same article in February 2009.

The Home Inspection Information Site uses it without attribution and some slight editing.

Steve Rinner, GLH Home Inspections in Norwalk, OH wrote the same article on his website, without attribution, but with a couple of minor edits, like taking out the B4U Close.


Maybe they hired the same guy to do their websites and don't know about what he did)


Maybe I'll write 'em something nasty, maybe not. But then maybe I just wrote this to embarrass them and to drive some traffic to my blog.

Ah well, what the hell. I wrote it to spread it around.

It's a wonderful day when you wake up in the morning!


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[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Good one thanks for the info Erby..... Roy

[Tim Spargo]

copyscape can produce some *flattering* results from time to time...

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

I hear ya! This guy (http://www.ableinspector.com/) claims to have made this up on his own, when I clearly had it trademarked before he even owned a TI camera. His initial thread is dated 7/23/2010, and now he has this on his website;

"If Your Home Inspector isn't using INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY You're Not Getting the Full Picture!"

I recently found another (http://truenorthinspections.net/) inspector using my tag line on his site;

"If your home inspector does not use a Thermal Image Camera, you are not getting the complete picture!"

Apparently they feel if they simply change a few words, it doesn't count as "infringement."

I have allowed some inspectors to use this tag line on their site. I only ask that they give appropriate credit of ownership

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Originally Posted by tspargo

copyscape can produce some *flattering* results from time to time...

Here's a good site to see "who had it first."

http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

[Erby Crofutt]

Changed.