With few exceptions, all of the material on this website has been shamelessly stolen, filched, lifted, snarfed and or plagiarized from other sites on the internet.  I admit it.  I am guilty. 

But, I am virtuous with my intentions.

davidstuff.com is not a commercial site.  I do not profit from the labor of others. I have never received any money as a result of the existence of this site.  I sell nothing and I advertise nothing.  In fact, I have rejected several (three) offers from companies wishing to place advertising banners on my website.  In fact, I personally own a commercial company and I do not even advertise my company on davidstuff.com.  I do not even promote myself.  You know my name is David but I do not mention my last name.  And just in case you haven’t already figured it out, that isn’t my picture on the main page.  It’s Casey Stengel.  davidstuff.com is not a porno site so the true owner of my pilfered material should not be embarased to have their writing on my page.  Since I’m being so honest with you here, I really must admit that if any of those companies seeking to advertise on my site had offered me any REAL money, my lofty principles would have folded like a wet taco in a New York minute.

When I’m perusing the internet, if I happen upon something I find interesting, amusing, educational,  entertaining or challenging, like a dastardly thief in the night, I grab it and place it on my website.   Not for fame or fortune.  Not to make money. Simply to share it with you. In the very beginning, I attempted to contact the owners of the stolen material requesting their permission to share these pages with you.  On each page I would provide the author’s name and a link to their website.  I would create the page and in its final form, as you now see it on the site, and email the link of that finished page to the author and ask his permission.  This gave the author/owner the opportunity to see the document in its final form and the ability to review the purpose and character of my website.

But noooooooo, that wasn’t enough.  Some authors demanded advertising banners for their website, special graphics and other links on the page, demanded their names be placed on my website homepage, demanded the links be placed in special positions on my website, one guy even demanded I place his picture on my website.  He sent me four pictures and gave me permission to pick one.  Prima donnas.

Most of the people didn’t bother to respond.  The few that did, said fine, or OK, or they stole it too, or it’s in the public domain, or don’t bother me, or who cares.  My own creations on this site are labeled: “The Way I See It” and most of “David's Wine Stuff”.  The few other pages I’ve created, I sign “David” at the bottom.  As I did here.

Today, I removed a page named “Rocky Marciano”.  The author protested, said he was a professional writer and accused me of claiming authorship for his efforts.  I guess he felt that my placing his material on my website without mentioning his name obliterated all future prospects of him becoming the next Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whittman or Tom Clancey.  He's in it for the fame and fortune.  However, he’s right.  I’m wrong.

I have noticed my creation http://www.davidstuff.com/opinion/cosovoe.htm, on several other websites, some with credit to me and some without.  In each case, I emailed the website and thanked them for posting the page.  By the way, I received a death threat over that page which is probably why I don’t care whether or not I receive credit.  I have also seen http://www.davidstuff.com/opinion/guncontrol.htm on two other websites.  Whenever I see my writings on another site, I feel proud.  Proud that someone thought enough of my writing to place it on their page to share with their readers.  But, I’m not trying to make money off of my writings.

So, if you are the author/owner of any material on this website and would like me to remove it, or if you are the author and would like to thank me for thinking enough of your efforts to steal it, tell me here.   mailto:david@davidstuff.com

Plagiarism is alive and well.

David
07/15/02