A Victory Against Plagiarist David Boyer of Vincennes, Indiana

Great news in the fight against serial plagiarist David Boyer of Vincennes, Indiana!!

The Attorney General's Office for the State of Indiana has written me that since they cannot mediate the matter with Boyer (who couldn't see that one coming), that they now need "... evidence of a pattern of deceptive conduct in order to sue under the consumer protection statues we enforce."

Fortunately, B Thoughtful compiled a massive pile of evidence proving conclusively Boyer's pattern of plagiary against innocent authors!

So now we are contacting Boyer's victims and packaging up the evidence for all the people we've found that he plagiarized and will be presenting it to the AG of Indiana.

This is a key breakthrough in information for busting serial plagiarists like David Boyer (under his plethora of aliases), Richard Ridyard (who we're now actively after), Angela Priest and many more.  Establishing the pattern for the state AG's lets them go after them.

We're setting up the legal defense fund (adding a Donate Button to the Fight Against Plagiarism, packaging up the evidence, and then going after David Boyer first and foremost!  We'll need lots of help, so I'm contacting the National Writers Union.  Every writer should join them as their first and foremost defense.


Finally a way to bust these plagiarists!

International Plagiarist David Boyer Invents New Aliases- Part I

David Boyer Might Be Losing Weight

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Or not.

Pictures can be deceiving.  Although stress can be hard on you.

But he's had plenty of energy to work at being an International Plagiarist.  You see, he published my story in a South African online magazine called "Something Wicked."  The editor there, when he learned of Boyer's trunchant treachery, acted like a true professional and both apologized to me and attributed my story correctly.  Now there's a magazine editor!  And of course, I'm contacting this editor asking that they file with the IC3 as well.

After I learned he'd plagiarized me on another continent, Stuart Yates (now living in Spain) was worried he couldn't do anything about the time Boyer plagiarized him. But he  has now filed with the IC3 ("The Internet Crime Complaint Center).  And since David Boyer and his entire family of aliases live in Indiana, the complaint and investigatory responsibility goes to the Attorney General of Indiana.  You see that's where David Boyer does business.

So that's South Africa and Spain now.

Then there's Stephen Blundell who today filed with the IC3 all the way from Australia!

Wow.  South Africa, Spain and Australia.  Busy, busy, busy.

Is there more coming?  Of course!

Stay tuned.

In our next episode- how creepy plagiarists like David Boyer use false identities and aliases to cover their tracks and how to find them anyway so you don't get robbed of your creative work.

By the way, Stephen and Stuart don't take things lying down- they fight back. 

Do you know how to fight back and not have to spend a fortune doing it?

A Shocking New Tale of Copyright Violation and how Bloggers Rushed to Illadore's Aid

Centuries Ago,

Plagiarists & Copyright Violaters
Began Working Overtime at

Making Money from Our Creative Work 
&
They're Still Hard at It

Is this the season for plagiary and copyright violation or what?  My copyright attorney, Patrick Sturdy, of CMDA told me that with the advent of the Internet, it's as bad as it was in the 1920's and 1930's.  What is it about the Internet that brings plagiarists out of the woodwork?

What follows is a direct quote from Illadore's House o Crack - Copyright Infringement and Me.  It's a wonderful example of how writers who are Bloggers can fight back!  All Hail Bloggers!!

Good for you, Illadore!

And everyone go to Crooks Source to support the cause of Bloggers Against Copyright Violation and hopefully plagiarism will get its own page, too.  Wait, it already did.  It's called Plagiarism Watchfires!

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"My 2005 Ice Dragon entry, called 'A Tale of Two Tarts' was apparently printed without my knowledge or permission in a magazine and I am apparently the victim of copyright infringement.

The story:


I was contacted early last week by a friend of mine who lives in the Northeast about my "As American as Apple Pie - Isn't!" article that was published in Cooks Source magazine, mostly to inquire how I had gotten published. This was news to me, as I hadn't ever heard of this magazine before.



However, some basic Google-fu lead me to find them online and on Facebook. In fact, after looking at the Cooks Source Facebook page, I found the article with my name on it on on "Page 10" of the Cooks Source Pumpkin fest issue. (No worries, I have screencaps.) The magazine is published on paper (the website says they have between 17,000 and 28,000 readers) as well as being published on Facebook as well.



So. I first phone the magazine then send a quick note to the "Contact Us" information page, asking them what happened and how they got my article. (I thought it could have been some sort of mix-up or that someone posted it to some sort of free article database.) Apparently, it was just copied straight off the Godecookery webpage. As you can see from the page, it is copyrighted and it is also on a Domain name that I own.



After the first couple of emails, the editor of Cooks Source asked me what I wanted -- I responded that I wanted an apology on Facebook, a printed apology in the magazine and $130 donation (which turns out to be about $0.10 per word of the original article) to be given to the Columbia School of Journalism.



What I got instead was this (I am just quoting a piece of it here:)



"Yes Monica, I have been doing this for 3 decades, having been an editor at The Voice, Housitonic Home and Connecticut Woman Magazine. I do know about copyright laws. It was "my bad" indeed, and, as the magazine is put together in long sessions, tired eyes and minds somethings forget to do these things.


But honestly Monica, the web is considered "public domain" and you should be happy we just didn't "lift" your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me... ALWAYS for free!"


I got nothing.


Scratch that. I sure as heck do. Let's go over the major points:



At this point, I am mad as hell. It is now the principle of the thing -- and I also can not quite believe that my copyright was violated -- and then I was informed that I should *pay them* for editing it for me!



The web is NOT public domain! Don't believe me? Try the University of Maryland University College -- or just Google it.



I should be thankful because I wasn't flat out plagiarized? Don't college students get, oh, I dunno, tossed out for being caught for plagiarism? How is this a valid argument?




I have some ideas of where to go from here but I am more than willing to listen to other suggestions."

*****

I want to see justice for Illadore, so I recommended the IC3 filing approach followed by notification of the Attorney General in her state re: Consumer Fraud Protection.

The way Illadore was treated is absolutely despicable.  Sounds like "Cook's Source" has been taking lessons from David Boyer.

Why do you think seeing so much disregard for creative rights?  Isn't it time to rally behind the National Writers Union?

Scam Publishers- The Black Eye of Indie Presses

David Boyer, is that You?

*****

Tyree Campbell (Publisher of Sam's Dot Publishing) has written a highly informative and thoughtful article on the plagiarist David Boyer (a.ka. David Byron, Iron Dave, and a long list of other aliases).  It's worth reading and lends a lot of credence to what we're discussing in this post.  Here's the link to Tyree's article: http://www.samsdotpublishing.com/atthedot.htm

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Most writers, in their early days, are so desperate to be published that they never question who their publisher is.  The idea that the person at the other end of their submission might be unscrupulous never seems to occur to them.  Just the opportunity of being published in a print magazine is enough to make young writers shove their common sense in a drawer.

But writing is a business- shouldn't you know who you're doing business with?  I've been fortunate enough to know my publishers personally.  William Jones and Tyree Campbell are two of the finest men you would ever want to meet.  But believe me, after learning what I have about the dark underside of Indie Publishing, before I go to another publisher with anything, I'll research them thoroughly before I submit my work.

For example, imagine all of the writers thrilled to be accepted by David Boyer (David Byron, etc.), not knowing that he is a plagiarst on a shocking scale.  He makes money by stealing other writer and artist's work and selling them for profit.  To promote his shaky self-image, he even gives work that he doesn't own away for free.  Who would think that the little town of Vincennes, Indiana harbors such a con man?  Without checking David Boyer (David Byron et al) out thoroughly, how would they know who they were really dealing with?

Did you know that our favorite plagiarist is still soliciting stories and interviews?  All this while the deeper we dig, the more we find he's stolen and used.

Perhaps you think he is the only publisher out there like this?  Think again. 

Although the genre organizations- The Horror Writers Association, the SFWA and such- were quick to respond to the Boyer alert, is there no Indie Press Association to report this guy to?  What exactly are the standards of the Indie Press industry?  An email address and the phone number for a Print-On-Demand company?  Is there no industry association to vet these small presses?  If there is, can someone please let me know who they are, because I want to work with them.

How about this- how many of you have not been paid royalties by scam publishers?  Did you know that you have legal recourse to report this to the Attorney General where their businesses are located?  Earlier I wrote about the Caswell case in Indiana, which tipped me off to this avenue of redress.  How about you?  When you don't get paid promised royalties, do you let it drop so that other publishers don't think you're difficult, or do you stand up for yourself.

We're trying to find every instance of where David Boyer/ David Byron cheated writers out of their royalties so we can send this information to the Attorney General for the State of Indiana.  They come down hard on scam publishers.

Remember, David Boyer/ David Byron had people sending manuscripts to him all the time.  How many of them did he plagiarize?

Think about it.  Writing is a business- what can we do to protect ourselves and each other from crooks like David Boyer/ David Byron?

Tin Foil Dave used multiple identities and freewebs to hide his activities under a myriad of personna.  Next post we'll look at how easy it is to sort through that kind of smokescreen.

How To Catch a Plagiarist

Let's Go Sherlock on these Clowns

So you've written a novel, a story or a poem, or created a graphic design.  You were pretty confident that you owned it and no one could take it from you without your permission.  Then, you read about David Boyer, who plagiarized my work, Lisa Morton's work, Jane Baxter's work and even seems to have stooped to grabbing Activision's copyrighted artwork.  Suddenly you're not so confident anymore.  You realize that you don't even know how to find out if your work has been stolen. 

What can you do to find out?  Finding the answer to that question is the first step to catching a plagiarist.

If you're an artist/graphic designer and are looking to see if your work has been plagiarized, I suggest going to the website Tin Eye to use their reverse image lookup.  Take an image of your own work, upload it and watch as it goes through over a billion web images in mere seconds so you can see if someone else is using it.  My lead researcher discovered this resource, and I suggest you use it.

If you're a writer, you've probably heard about sites like The Rusty Nail, or Preditors and Editors or Writer Beware.  They keep you up to date with the latest information about who to watch out for.  The HWA's Lisa Morton has written a powerful cautionary piece called "PIRATES! Or, How to Protect Your Intellectual Property on the High Seas of the Internet."

And now I'll share what my researchers learned along the way:

First, plagiarists, as they get more canny, will change the titles of your work so that you can't easily find what they do.  But you should still look for your titles first.  But remember, titles are not copyrightable so you will probably run into a few works using your title.  Maybe you'll find some of your own stories under the title you gave them.  That would be great, but don't stop there because, as I said, they can also change the titles on you.

What next?  Take unique blocks of texts from your story and search the net for them with your favorite search engine.  Sometimes that will yield the good result.  Other times not, even if your story is actually out there.  What to do?  What can we do if they change the titles.  I was at a loss.

But here's something interesting that my lead researcher discovered- a lot of the works plagarized are available through Google, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. with searchable contents.  Take the books you suspect and use those searchable contents to your advantage by looking for your unique blocks of text within those windows.  You'll even be able to see the Table of Contents- and maybe just see your title there.


And screenshot every violation you find- that way when the plagiarist goes back to delete the evidence, you'll still have what you need to prove your case.


Plagiarists want to use the Internet to steal our creative work, sell it or give it away as a free download like Boyer did to me.

Let's turn the tables and use the Internet against them.  And we don't have to fight them alone.  When we find we've been plagiarized- we can let our friends in the Blogosphere know.  You'll be surpised how many good people willing to help.  

I Reported David Boyer to the IC3- the FBI Partnership with the National White Collar Crime Center

David Boyer, alias David Byron and a host of other names, seems to be under the impression that there is nothing anyone can do to him and that no one can stop him. 

Let's take him to school.


Friday of last week, myself and a group of writers and publishers filed complaints against Boyer with the IC3. 


Who are they?  Well, in their own words:


"The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) was established as a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) to serve as a means to receive Internet related criminal complaints and to further research, develop, and refer the criminal complaints to federal, state, local, or international law enforcement and/or regulatory agencies for any investigation they deem to be appropriate. The IC3 was intended, and continues to emphasize, serving the broader law enforcement community to include federal, as well as state, local, and international agencies, which are combating Internet crime and, in many cases, participating in Cyber Crime Task Forces."



But is when someone Boyer or some other creep plagiarizes a story or art and sells it over the internet or gives it away for free as a download, is that really a CyberCrime?  Yes it is.  Here's what they say:


"Since its inception, the IC3 has received complaints crossing the spectrum of cyber crime matters, to include online fraud in its many forms including Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) matters..."


So, we notified them.  Plagiarism hits the big time crime issue (NET Act of 1997) when it hits the Internet.  Even if it's not for profit. 


Dig around a lit bit on these topics and as writers, editors, publishers and artists, you'll be pleasantly surprised.  When plagiarists steal our work and distribute it around the Internet, guess what?  They've got trouble coming their way if we use the system.


Oh, and did I forget to add that tomorrow I'm in contact with the Attorney General's office of Indiana?  They've done such a great job nailing that scam publisher in Indiana, that I thought since David Boyer is a publisher, too that maybe they'd like to help those of us he's plagiarized.  Maybe he hasn't paid royalties to his authors- maybe the could contact the AG, too.

A Boyer Victim's YouTube Video- Watch This!

This talented author counts six of her stories used, over and over, without her permission by David Boyer and at least five other stories she had nothing to do with where he attached her name to them.

 In Her Own Words

Here's a direct link to the video: "Mad As Hell"

Indiana Gets Tough on Scam Publishers!

Victoria Strauss did a marvelous piece of work in her blog posting at WriterBewareBlogs! (I'd add the trademark symbol for the blog name, but I can't find it on my keyboard.  Here's the link to their blog for the full story, where the Attorney General of Indiana (whose office we'll soon be contacting) slams the hammer down on a scam publisher: http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2010/08/indiana-attorney-general-investigates.html

This case is of particular interest to me because it happened in the same state where the publisher/writer/plagiarist David Boyer/ David Byron, etc., etc. lives.

Here's two fascinating excerpts from the filed papers on the publisher David Caswell of New Century Publishing:


"The Plaintiff, State of Indiana, by Attorney General Greg Zoeller and Deputy Attorney General Thomas Irons, petitions the Court pursuant to the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, Indiana Code § 24-5-0.5-1 et seq., for injunctive relief, consumer restitution, civil penalties, costs, and other relief.



PARTIES


1. The Plaintiff, State of Indiana, is authorized to bring this action and to seek injunctive and other statutory relief pursuant to hid. Code § 24-5-0.5-4(c).


2. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Defendant David W. Caswell (hereinafter "Caswell"), engaged in the solicitation and/or sale of book publishing and promotional services to consumers from a principal place of business located in Marion County, at 1040 East 86th Street, Suite 42A, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240. Caswell also resides in Marion County at 4425 Knollton Road, Indianapolis, Indiana 46228."



"16. Among other things, Defendants represented that: (1) once the book was completed and sales by Defendants began, Baldwin would be entitled to royalty payments amounting to fifty percent (50%) of net sales, and that said royalties would be paid to him within six weeks from receipt of the sales proceeds by Defendants; and (2) various promotional services would be performed when Baldwin's book was published, including a press release and inclusion in a newsletter and catalog.

17. Despite sales of Baldwin's book on Defendants' website, royalties were not made in the amount or within the timeframes as represented by Defendants nor were all the promotional services performed as promised."

*****

Since I've been contacted by writers already who claim that Boyer hasn't paid them what they're owed, I'm announcing this open request for anyone who's been stiffed by this plagiarist to send me the info on their complaint.  I'm meeting with my lawyers next week re contacting the AG of Indiana re David Boyer/David Byron.  And I won't be alone.  A lot of people have been coming forward with more information.


Time to go legal.

Iron Dave Gets a Penalty

Ouch!

More on the saga of David Boyer (a.k.a Iron Dave, Doc Byron, David Byron, etc).  Here's an excerpt from the HWA's Home Page, hot off the press:

"HWA has recently been informed of several acts of plagiarism regarding works on our 2008 and 2010 Stoker recommendations lists. The works in question are three recommendations received in 2008 for the short story "Electrocuting the Clowns", credited to "Doc Byron", and a recommendation for the 2010 anthology CRIMSON SCREAMS, edited by "David Byron". The publisher of CRIMSON SCREAMS, Sam's Dot, has pulled the anthology from release following allegations of plagiarized art; and the short story "Electrocuting the Clowns" is actually by Ferrel Moore. HWA has removed these recommendations from record.

HWA has also recently posted an article to our "Writer's Tips" page on how authors can protect themselves from plagiarism: http://horror.org/writetips-morton.htm. For more information on Mr. Byron's activities, please visit http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2010/10/cold-iron-david-boyer-plagiarist.html."

*****

 
David, you always wanted to be front page on the horror scene, well, now you got your wish.

 
And none of this would have been possible without the support of the blogging community.  There are too many of you to thank individually, so let me just say a loud THANK YOU to all of you.  You have taught me the meaning of the word community.  You have shown me that writers and artists can come together to protect our rights as a creative community, and for that I will remain in your debt.

 

 

The HWA organization has show their integrity in their actions today.  They are truly an organization with honorable standards.

 

 

But this isn't over, not at all.  Now comes the legal end of things. 

 

 

And a word of advice for David Boyer (David Byron, Doc Byron, Iron Dave and who knows what other names he has)-  it's always better to start taking down your websites to erase your tracks before our researchers have taken screen shots of them.

An Open Letter to the Plagiarist

Time to Man Up or What?



Please read the following and tell me what you think the plagiarist David Boyer a.k.a. David Byron etc, can do to make things right with everyone he's wronged in the creative community.  For an update of what's happening on this matter, go to the writer with the sharpest pen on the web- The Rusty Nail.  And don't forget to vote using the poll to your right.  Because if you don't, David Boyer will. 
 

*****

David Boyer/ David Byron etc, etc, wrote me an email today where he said he'd met my demands and can't understand why I keep up my "one-man terror tirade" against him.  Aside from the fact that he plagiarized my story and those of other writers who have come forward as well as doing the same to graphic artists, he sounds upset that a victim of his bad behavior would get upset.  Imagine that.

Originally I'd asked Dave to confess, apologize, and provide me with a complete list of his aliases so everyone could see if they'd been plagiarized by him.  If he did this, I was willing to post all of that, and allow him his second chance. 

He didn't do that.  But today he said he did.  Here's what I wrote him back:

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"Unfortunately, your 'confession' was done under the name of an alias with all sorts of confidentiality boiler plate attached (which, by the way, isn't worth anything). And you didn't provide the complete listing of your aliases I demanded. So- no go.



"As for the rest of the input from your 'lawyer,' David, watch and learn.




"Or, maybe just send me a complete, real confession this time also listing all of your plagiaries, including an individual apology to each of those artists and writers you hurt. And a promise, with a solid timeline, for correcting all those volumes out there that incorrectly attribute our (all of us you've plagiarized) work to you. Of course, if you don't hold to it, that would be bad.




"It's not just me anymore. The volume of people sending me evidence is filling my Inbox. They want to go forward as a group. You've heard of class action, right? You've hurt a lot of people. And they want it very public.



"So you might want to try it one more time, this time with feeling, losing the capitalizations and underlines and providing a complete, real confession and apology.




"Confession and repentance will give you your life back and you could move forward into the light.



Rick


PS, I will, of course, if I don't hear back from you by tonight, be posting this letter on my blog for group input."
 

*****

 

Okay, here I am encouraging him again to send me a confession- under his own name, with no confidentiality non-disclosure bs attached, an apology, and a complete list of his aliases and plagiaries against all of us. 

 

I'm not so much interested in revenge- I'm interested in bringing this whole thing into the light so that each writer and/or artist can decide for themselves what sort of action we should pursue, together or singly. 

 

David's self-focused pattern has been to talk down abusively to writers who question his actions and demand that they keep everything private.  Too late for that now. 

 

In the dark is where bad things squirm.  Come out into the light, David.  Own up so you can move on.

Plagiarist Smackdown!!!

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Has David Boyer (hiding under the name David Byron and all his other names) plagiarized Activision? 

Compare the two covers above.  You tell me.

When respected publishing icon Tyree Campbell of Sams Dot Publishing agreed to publish the anthology "Crimson Screams" which was edited by David Byron (Boyer), "Iron" Dave(Boyer) told Mr. Campbell that he would provide his (David Boyer's) own artwork- this according to Mr. Campbell, who is above reproach.  But this was before he knew about Boyer's/Byron's plagiarism issues.  So Mr. Campbell, who is the most honest publisher you could ever ask to deal with, might have been taken in like the rest of us.  If so, then he's not very happy, either.

So tell me, in your opinion, after claiming that he (David Boyer/ David Byron) provided his own original artwork to Mr. Campbell, has Mr. Boyer (Byron) really ripped off Activision and Sam's Dot Publishing or what?  Or do you think he got written permission from Activision?  He never mentioned any of this to Mr. Campbell, so maybe he was trying to avoid asking for written permission.  So much easier to just take what's not yours and try to profit from it.  Compare the pictures again.  If he did rip them off,  do you think Activision is going to stand for that??

Now that Activision's lawyers have been notified, how pissed are they? 

If corporate lawyers were salsa, do you think they'd be mild, hot, or flaming hot over him taking their picture and claiming it as his own?  I can't wait to find out.



I think "Iron" Dave is starting to rust.