This is the time of year when I log zillions of hits for my Mel Tormé Christmas story, which is easily the most popular page on my site and probably the most widely-read thing I've ever written in prose.
For some reason, though I give it away free here, people like to steal it. Internet Etiquette would suggest that if you want the readers of your site to read the entirety of something on someone else's site, you post a link to that other person's site or perhaps an excerpt and a link. Some folks do this. But some folks just copy the whole thing onto their site and maybe (maybe!) cite me as its author. Last year, a number of sites just copied it and that included a few where the copier either intentionally or accidentally allowed the readers of his site to assume he'd written it and that the incident had happened to him. What's even more baffling is that sometimes they slightly abridge or edit the article, often leaving out the punchline. It's kind of like, "Hmm…I think I'll steal this, ruin it and then take credit for it."
You know, it's one thing to steal. It's another to steal a Christmas story.
I'm not really annoyed at this so much as amazed. A few months ago, whilst Googling myself (admit it, you do it too), I came across a right-wing political site that had ripped-off the entire text and posted it, minus any mention of me. The author didn't explicitly say he'd experienced the incident and written the account but he didn't say that the "I" in the piece wasn't him. Wondering why someone would do that, I dropped him an e-mail and asked ever-so-politely why he hadn't shown me the courtesy of including my byline and a link to my site. For that matter, why hadn't he just put up the link and said, "Hey, go read this"?
I should have known. The answer I got back from him was that he knew his readers would enjoy the piece but he didn't want to send any of them over here where they might read all the America-loathing Commie propaganda I post. He also suggested that since I was a Communist who does not respect property rights, I would obviously have no objection to anyone "sharing the wealth" and taking from others. No response as to why he took credit for the writing of a Communist.
Anyway, it seems to be popping up again on other sites, including one that omitted the punchline. Folks…I appreciate that you want the readers of your site to read the piece but do it the honorable way. Link to this page where I have it up. 'Tis the season to be honest.