[GhostGrid]

Many of you are probably already aware that the precise content that has been shared or discussed on the TBHP forum is consistently shared by at least 15–20 well-known YouTube channels with millions of followers. Let's not talk about the X handles (because there are many).

Does it not upset you guys that you put in so much effort to compile the useful stuff for the TBHP community, while these content creators simply copy and paste it onto their channels without naming the original writer?*

I'm interested to hear what my fellow TBHPians have to say about it.

[CarNerd]

Team-BHP is the Wikipedia of Automobiles in India and anyone can browse this website for any information related to automobiles for free which is a great thing. I think no automobile content creator is more popular than Team-BHP, so we shouldn't worry about them.

[blueberry]

My activity on team-bhp is purely for the joy it gives me to interact with other enthusiasts & the community feeling it affords. I'm not here for monetising this interest of mine; so it doesn't bother me.
Also, isn't imitation the highest form of flattery.

With respect to plagiarism (/ not giving credit to the OP) I'm indifferent.
Infact, if it can enable a like minded enthusiast to discover & join t-bhp; all the better.

[Rajeevraj]

I have seen a lot of photo and video content put up by the actual creators on X, Insta and YouTube been taken without credit by a lot of people including mainstream media. Was not aware Team Bhp content is being copy pasted by wannabe influencers to gain views and likes. If there are regular offenders doing this, I think this should be highlighted. While the content posted here is free for everyone to browse, I don't think people are allowed to take it without giving appropriate credit to the source material. Even when we post from other sources, a link to the original source is always given.

[ABHI_1512]

It has happened that a certain member here had copied my entire post from elsewhere when I was not a member here

Someone did see and notified the moderators perhaps and that resulted in an infraction for the said member and my original link was tagged. So, there are people who have the tendency to copy and pass off content as their own. It’s an integrity issue and in these days of social media and YouTube, it is very hard to expect credit.

But, what is original will always stay original, no matter how hard one tries. We have fantastic content in the forum and a simple web search is enough to find the relevant write up. A YouTuber can only copy but will never be able to hide behind the veil as long as the forum and its content is there on the net.

[AltoLXI]

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”

[GTO]

When I share something online, I do so for the love of "sharing useful information". Now, whether it's viewed by 100,000 enthusiasts on Team-BHP, or another bunch on YouTube, I don't care. I love to share.

If one shares information on the open internet, fortunately or unfortunately, it will get plagiarised. Especially if it is information of high value. I don't mind it. The only exception would be, if I submit something on private channels (say 1-on-1 WhatsApp or my social media meant only for family & friends) and that gets shared publicly. Else, I have no issues. Sharing is caring .

[Jeroen]

In general I don’t care if my content shows up on other social media. It is different though if commercial enterprises start using my work for their own commercial gains

There is one exception. My photographs. These days I can’t do real good photography anymore, so it’s iPhone simple shots all the way..

But there was a time my photography was pretty good, with several accreditation, including the Royal Photographic Society in the UK.

Some of my photographic work was “stolen” and I would always take action.

Some of the photographs I took of the Guinness World Record attempt for the most Mercedes W123 on the road were stolen of TeamBHP and ended up on w123world.com. The world’s most exclusive and expensive W123 car restorer.

I approached the owner and he claimed he had no idea. I told him, every images has two watermarks, mine and TeamBHP. He took them down eventually.

In Delhi many years ago I took some images during a bike event. One of the merchants stole my images and used them on his website.

I put a message on my Facebook page telling everybody he did not had my consent to use my images and that he had not contacted me either. In those days I was FB friends with most of the Delhi Bike fraternity. This guy got a lot of bad PR. Everybody was rooting for me!

He took the images down, and called me. But I refused to take my post down until he had made a proper apology to me on his website. Which he did.

But usually there is very little you can do about these matters.

In both cases I would have been happy to let both businesses use my images if they had simply asked and put proper credits up with the images.

Jeroen

[It's Magic]

Originally Posted by GhostGrid

I'm interested to hear what my fellow TBHPians have to say about it.

When you post something on the internet or on a forum that is open for everyone to read, there is always a possibility that someone who is not a member of the forum will view it and might use it for their own benefit. I think the idea was always that viewers would visit our forum to go through the content and gain some knowledge in process. How they use that knowledge is up to them.

Unless we make our forum members only, I doubt we can do anything about it. But what happens if a member themselves decides to become an influencer and use forum content?

I was not aware that influencers are using Team BHP forum content for their gains, but I agree that influencers should provide a link to the original content or give credit accordingly. On YouTube, I have seen many influencers share links to the original material in their video descriptions.

[Roy.S]

A lotta cats copy the Mona Lisa, but people still line up to see the original.

Louis Armstrong

[am1m]

Forget content creators, national newspapers and magazines now publish articles on their online editions, that are nothing more than 'sound bites' they've lifted from Twitter/X, Instagram and Facebook. You now the type- "User ABC on twitter says the 'Bangalore Metro has become very crowded these days'" "Reacting to this post here's what reader XYZ had to say 'Virat is a genius and should always be on the T20 team'" "Linkedin user ABC recently posted his thoughts on XYZ, here's what other readers had to say..."

It's sad, that this passes for journalism. But newsrooms have budget cuts, most readers don't want to pay for quality content, and journalists don't get paid enough to actually go out and report facts, so they need to find a way to file stories sitting at their desks.

I've already seen a couple of newspaper articles where TeamBhp posts have been quoted (with credit). Right now it's good publicity for TBhp, but as an individual user, I'd be a bit more worried about seeing some random thing I posted on the forum get lifted and published to a much wider audience, out of context. "TBhpian 123 posted against the government's policy of banning Chinese EVs..."

Maybe a small chance, but probably a reason to not use your real name as your handle on an open forum.

[V.Narayan]

Stealing content I suspect is as old as the Gutenburg printing press.

Violating copyright laws has become of epidemic proportions today thanks to the internet and the near impossibility of seeking justice. Some of my threads on Team BHP on aircrafts and warships have annotated photos which I discovered are being used on other sites cheerfully. Worse is that some photos of aircrafts taken during my business years by my company are now being touted on sites such as getty images and almany. The height of this was that a couple of photos of myself taken for a press interview ended up on getty images! Must inform getty dear I'm not pretty enough - no one will buy those photos :-)

Way too many content creators pluck and drop all over the place.

[Geo_Ipe]

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

If people are imitating/copying me, I'm just flattered. There are a few respectable content creators, however majority lack basic shame. I try to keep away from those. YouTube, like TeamBHP can actually be a treasure trove of information! However unlike TeamBHP, YouTube needs a lot of filtering. TeamBHP is the cream of online content available - a big shout out to all of us!!

[Miyata]

I don't understand how people can be ok with someone else stealing / plagiarizing others' works or posts.

It's just unethical. If others want to to use the posts, they should at least acknowledge the source (citation / referencing). Imitation being flattery is poor rationalization of unethical behavior and encouragement in perpetuating such behavior.

[DroopyGarfield]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Stealing content I suspect is as old as the Gutenburg printing press.

Worse is that some photos of aircrafts taken during my business years by my company are now being touted on sites such as getty images and almany. The height of this was that a couple of photos of myself taken for a press interview ended up on getty images! Must inform getty dear I'm not pretty enough - no one will buy those photos :-)

Way too many content creators pluck and drop all over the place.

Getty images has been following this modus operandi - claim all images in the public domain (read internet) without any explicit prohibition as their own. Then slap a copyright, catalogue the picture and attach a license fee. Some famous personalities and professional photographers found this out the hard way, including cases where the pictures were available in open source such as US Congress website (such as the case below).

News link: https://graphicartistsguild.org/judg...-getty-images/