Some say the WWW is not the "World Wide Web" but the "Wild Wild West" where anything goes and copyright rules do not apply. Not so. Anything published on the Web is as protected by international copyright laws as it is on paper, and this includes not only the printed word, but images as well.

So imagine my surprise when I saw an article appear in Google News from the "Smart House" ezine in Australia that is virtually identical to an article we published on Big Picture Big Sound 4 days earlier. They even included our copyright image, which I personally shot at the CEDIA show last week (and yes, I still have the original full-resolution image).

Here's our article

Here's their (stolen) copy.

If their article gets removed, or altered, which it undoubtedly will, then you can view a partial screen shot of it here and here's a higher resolution original image (before cropping/rotating).

We have also saved the files associated with the article as evidence for a lawsuit if we do not receive an apology as well as some form of compensation for the content theft.

The author was someone by the name of David Richards. I wonder how many other articles Mr. Richards has "written" this year?

Perhaps, with September 19 being "International Talk Like a Pirate Day," Smart House decided to act like pirates, too. But avas, me hearty, it may be time for Mr. Richards to walk the plank.

Update! March 4, 2008 - several people have e-mailed us in the past few hours letting us know that so many other web sites have been the victim of David Richards' plagiaristic practices that the show "Media Watch" in Australia has aired a story on him.  The Media Watch segment documents the pattern of abuse over the past 2 years, with multiple examples.  

View the complete sordid tale on MediaWatch (including video)