Feb
11
Good artists copy. Great artists steal.
What does this mean? What is the difference between copying and stealing? (And, oooh… don’t they both sound just so wrong?)
Copying is duplication.
Stealing is taking something that belongs to someone else.
Copying: Mark Wielgus of 45n5.com is has vowed to do a video every single day for a year, so you decide to do that, too. Big whoop. Darren Rowse of ProBlogger does a video every week, so you do, too. If there were such a thing as “anti-points” you would get them for copying that.
Stealing: Come up with your own remarkable take on multimedia. Be as original as you can. How is this stealing? Most people don’t know Mark is doing a video every day for a year. That gimmick is long lost. “Steal” the idea of doing something remarkable, though, and it’s a “theft” you’ll always get away with.
Copying: Everyone else has EntreCard, BlugRush, whatever, so you do, too. Really? Can I be your friend, now?
Stealing: Steal the idea of stimulating blog traffic… but do it by creating your own methods.
Copying: Everyone else does a “link roundup” or “speedlink” type of post, so you do, too. Yawn.
Stealing: Steal the link thunder by doing links in a more creative fashion or in a more unusual way than everybody else.
We can’t be a great artist 100% of the time. Sometimes, we can only be a good artist. Many people before me have skyrocketed their subscriber rates by releasing a free ebook only to subscribers, and I did, too. It worked. In fact, it worked like you wouldn’t believe. And that was just “copying” rather than “stealing.”
The paradox of this is that one of the best ways you can truly steal is to be original, and one of the best ways to be original is to truly steal!
Popularity: 7% [?]
Yeah most of the Internet marketers are stealing each other nowadays. But who care, as long as you know how to “modify” it.
> is a definite thief
Michael – Ahhhhhhhhh! That is the challenge to emulate the masters but not to steal! It’s the inspiration we’re all shooting for and walking the fine line on imitation – while it’s the highest form of flattery (don’t use it as an excuse to rip someone off! )
I’m a contributor to a forum where people regular complain about other members stealing web designs/content.
The perpetrators always seem to hold their hands up and plead that it was an “accident”…..after they have been caught.
I don’t want to get too deep, but will there come a time when all ideas are exhausted and no one can find new ones of their own
We’ve always been in that situation. It’s an interesting paradox: on the one hand, it seems there’s nothing new under the sun, but on the other hand, people are always coming up with fresh new ways of doing things.
Case in point: how many make money online blogs are there? Only about a billion! And yet Dosh Dosh comes in and clobbers them all!
@ Steve – For as long as you are yourself, with your own brain and personality, you will always have something unique to share.