Look familiar?
Mark takes on FA. Or rather, Mark Jackson of Big Boy Enterprises (and of BiggerProductions) takes the FA article i wrote yesterday, and reposts it word for word.
Without giving me credit. Straight out-and-out plagiarism.
NOTE: Since this issue is as resolved as it’s going to get (meaning that the stolen materials have been removed from the site), i’m putting the rest of this post behind a cut.
Oh, and the comments? He also put those up there. Except Fillyjonk, you’re now named Phil. The Rotund is now “Raymond”, and omfg i just noticed that all the FEMALE names have been changed to male ones and the ones that were male or possibly male have been left alone. What the bloody hell twilight zone have i woken up in this morning?
I hate to give this guy any traffic, because OMFG. So pissed right now.
ETA: Some of the other things on his site look a bit familiar. I wonder who else he’s stolen from…
ETA pt 2: I am not the only person he has stolen from. Currently looking through his archives, and i’m seeing a LOT of familiar posts. It’s likely that he has been at this for a LONG TIME. Oh, it is on.
ETA, the revenge: Here’s a list of links to posts he’s stolen from. Note that this is not being treated as a blind cut’n'paste job, as in one of the posts, he changes “bra” to “pants”
- http://riverstwilight.blogspot.com/2008/01/shouting-over-din.html
- http://www.bigfatblog.com/canada-one-person-one-airline-fare
- http://thoughtracer.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/fat-youre-not-fat/
- http://fattymcblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/double-x-standard.html
- http://www.bigboymark.com/?p=300
- This is where he changed “bra” to “pants”
- http://fattymcblog.blogspot.com/[...]when-i-told-her-i.html
- http://nostartingpoint.blogspot.com/2008/01/fat-phobic.html
- http://fattymcblog.blogspot.com/[...]-horribleplease.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/health/22fblogs.html
- http://www.bigboymark.com/?p=286
- Okay, so this is beautiful: not only did he steal from the NYT, he inserted himself into the article: “Smart, sassy and irreverent, bloggers with names like Big Fat Deal, FatChicksRule and BigBoyMark (“Now with 50 percent more fat!”) buck anti-obesity sentiment.”
- http://fattymcblog.blogspot.com/2005/07/fat-man-little-car.html
- http://www.therotund.com/?p=251
- … more links as i find them…. do i NEED to keep going?! As far as i can tell almost every single post on this blog has been stolen from someone else.
ETA, yet again: So many of the plagiarized posts appear to come from Fatty McBlog, most likely because it went mostly inactive quite some time ago. Maybe he figured he wouldn’t notice. In any case, his domain host has been alerted to the issue; to the best of my knowledge, standard TOS for most domain hosts indicate that they can and will keep thorough site logs and backups. Meaning: if he deletes the evidence, they’ve still got copies. So if anyone is going to press charges, the domain host will comply (may or may not require subpoena, it’s been a while since i actively worked in domain registration)
ETA, this time with feeling: He’s started taking the posts down. But that’s okay, i have screenshots. I’ve gotten a lot more screenshots of things that i didn’t link here, but i’m SURE are stolen as well. Figured i’d get the screenies before he took ‘em down. I can find the originals soon enough.
Bride of ETA: All of his posts are now taken down. BUT, i have about 20+ screenshots of posts before they were removed. I am thinking about posting them on flickr to see if we can still identify the originals. Or rather, i am GOING to post them, it’s just a matter of when - before or after i find the originals.
Son of ETA: there are almost 40 screenshots that need identifying! I would love some help finding the originals. Screenshots not necessary, links should be sufficient. Note: if the originals cannot be found (indicating that maybe this guy had a valid post or two), they will be removed after 24 hours.
Much later ETA: closing comments because this post is getting swamped by spam bots. 
February 5th, 2008 at 6:56 am
OH MY GOD. That is so asinine.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:04 am
Rio, just updated the post: it’s not just me he’s plagiarized from. I’m collecting a list now.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Registrant:
MARK JACKSON
BIGBOYMARK ENTERTAINMENT
SAHARA AVE
LAS VEGAS, NV 89117
US
Registrar: NameSecure.com
Domain: BIGBOYMARK.COM
Created on 01-19-2006
Expires on 04-09-2011
Administrative Contact:
MARK JACKSON
Phone: 330-849-0834
E-mail: bigboymark@aol.com
Technical Contact:
MARK JACKSON
Phone: 330-849-0834
E-mail: bigboymark@aol.com
Name Servers:
NS1.THINKHOST.COM 64.40.100.183
NS2.THINKHOST.COM 64.40.109.99
February 5th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Rio, oh, i know.
I used to work in domain registration. *evil grin*
Which means i know all sorts of regulations.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:10 am
SO fucking no way.
Is it just size acceptance posts? I am looking through that category now to see if I recognize anything else.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:52 am
On this page - http://www.bigboymark.com/?cat=3&paged=5 - there is an entry called Fat talk and talk which is the same as my post (with a few words changed) here.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:59 am
TR, i added it to the ever-growing list. I’m on his site archives, checking every single post there. So far, i’ve found like, TWO that might be original. Or at least, i can’t find them anywhere else.
February 5th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Um, what psycho does that? I guess it’s easier than having your own blog…but is it really that much harder than just quoting other people?
Rio, you are AWESOME.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Un-be-lievable! I don’t even know what else to say at this point. I’ve been lurking in the “fatosphere” for a short time, but I’ve read much of “his” stuff on other sites. I can’t even begin to articulate the unmitigated gall this takes!
February 5th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Please tell me someone has reported it to the NYT already.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I believe that is being looked into. I am also alerting his domain host so that they’re aware of the situation. They’ll want to make sure they have backups in case anyone decides to press charges.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I wrote to Roni Rabin re: the NYT article and have already heard back from her - she’s passing it on to the editors with the lawyers. So the wheels are turning on that one for sure.
Lindsay, have you been screen capturing/saving this stuff in any way?
February 5th, 2008 at 9:23 am
TR, i haven’t yet, but his domain host SHOULD be doing regular backups.
Yanno, just to be on the safe side…. I think i’m going to put my flickr account to good use.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I wonder how long it’ll be before he lifts these plagiarism accusation posts and puts them on his blog?
I love this bit:
Seamless. Really seamless.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Wow, that takes quite a set to do something like that. Or else he’s just plain stupid. I really don’t have a handle on how teh interwebs works
Is there someone the rest of us can email so they get lots of complaints or is it better that they hear from those who have actually been plagiarized?
But Lindsay, you rock for taking this jerk on and figuring it all out
February 5th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Oh, he knows he’s busted… the posts are disappearing.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Shannon, i used to work as one of two people in the domain registration department of a national ISP. I have resources. Mwahaha.
I’ve already reported it to his domain host, but if he’s stolen from you, then you are entirely welcome to do the same.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:42 am
So crazy it’s sad. If it were just the posts… but reposting the comments? Someone needs to see a psychologist.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Alexandra: i have screen captures. Uploading them to Flickr now.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I reported him for the post he stole from me - and mentioned the NYT lawyers and that seems fairly panic-inducing.
I hope you got some of this stuff before he started taking it down!
February 5th, 2008 at 9:47 am
There’s more in the humor section. Fat Folks Will Die is lifted from http://unapologeticallyfat.blogspot.com/2008/01/bill-to-prevent-fat-people-from-eating.html
Time to Fight Back is actually from this post http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2008/01/shows-what-i-know.html though he changed it so it was a story told to him by a woman.
This is fascinating in a “how fucking stupid do you have to be” way. Really, how did he think he’d get away with this?
February 5th, 2008 at 9:49 am
The posts are gone now - just as I read about this. Lindsay, please let everyone know once those are on flickr.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:51 am
TR, Paul, i was only able to get a few, but i might be able to find cached versions.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Thanks for getting on this, Lindsay. Holy crap.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:53 am
They aren’t ALL gone yet. I just saved the page with my stolen post on it.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Holy crap.
So, uh, lawyers in the house?
All content on BFB - and I trust, these other blogs - is fully copyrighted.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I was about to put another one but maybe it’s best not to. If anyone can tell me how to do a screen shot I can take pictures of the ones I still have open (that haven’t been listed on this post yet).
Amazing. Just amazing.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:00 am
The PrintScreen key, Shannon, assuming you’re in Windows.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Got it
Also found some more from Red No. 3 and Seeworthy though yeah, there are a lot of FattyMcBlog. Another news article too.
Lindsay, I’m saving screenshots since some people said they can’t see the pages anymore. Let me know if you need them.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:26 am
I’ve seen this “copy rather than create” situation elsewhere on the Internet, and it’s unfortunate. Keeping people focused on developing their OWN voices before they try to integrate/play with the more established crew needs to be encouraged.
It sucks that this happened to you, and in your position I’d be spitting nasty words of rage myself. I’m annoyed enough that my site keeps getting picked up by splogs.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:30 am
That’s just it, Di: he didn’t copy. He made all the necessary edits to make sure that when a name appears it’s his, that the more generally recognized blogger names didn’t appear in comments, and that any and all gender references are male.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
Shannon, those screenies will likely be handy. At this point he’s taken all posts down, which kind of confirms my suspicion that the items we didn’t immediately recognize are stolen as well.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:30 am
This guy’s apparently got a podcast show with a couple other people: http://www.chubtalk.com/?page_id=13 Note that it’s got listener call-in (or online equivalent), if anybody wanted to call him on these shenanigans…
He seems to be (at least locally) well-established. My guess is he was looking to pad his site on the fly since it’s obvious from his single remaining original post that he’s not much of a writer himself.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Whoa. Just finished all the screenshots of pages I had open. Hit “next page” and it told me there was nothing. Went back and the posts are gone.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:31 am
OMG. Let me share with you MY experiences with this scoundrel. [I write JunkfoodScience.blogspot.com, for those who don't know me.]
On June 13, 2007, he ripped off my entire bariatrics’ article, in its entirety — one that involved YEARS of research, tears and work to write.
In the introduction to MY original series, which he claimed as his own, he’d written:
“This post has taken some time to put together and many
hours of research whereas; I owe many thanks to Kim W
and Danny G for helping put this post into words… Therefore we bring you our findings!”
I called him personally and screamed at him, but had no luck shutting down his website. You’ll notice that he continues to pretend an association with NAAFA — I’d contacted Marilyn Wann on June 14th, and she said his “chapter” wasn’t recognized by NAAFA, but clearly nothing was done.
Yes, he is in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Here is the contact information I have on him, if it helps:
MARK JACKSON
Bigboymark Entertainment
SAHARA AVE
LAS VEGAS NV 89117
Phone: 330-849-0834 [CALL HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
E-mail: bigboymark@aol.com
Formerly of: 82 Whitehall Drive, Tallmadge, OH 44278
And he’s on the Board of:
Las Vegas Big Men’s Club
Website: http://www.vegasbigmensclub.org
February 5th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Anyone who has screenshots, feel free to upload them (flickr is awesome for that) and link it here; i’ll put it in the original post. Or you can email them to me and i’ll upload them to my flickr account. Either way works.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Darn, there’s nothing on his site now, for me to see if he’s ripped off anything else. Does anyone back up a copy? He has even removed the cache, so there’s nothing to grab now.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Wow, Lindsay, great work on this. Way to be swift and merciless.
Love, Phil (full name Philliam)
February 5th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Sandy, i have a TON of screenshots that i’ll be uploading to flickr for people to help me identify. Soon as i get a moment to catch my breath, anyways. Wow.
Fillyjonk/Phil - ROFLCOPTERS. Heh. I wish i coulda found out what MY misogynistic name was. I think Rachel got turned into Mac Daddy. I SO wish i had a screenie of that. omfg.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Alexandra- I’ve listened to the latest podcast on his website and so far it just seems to be him. And to hear the bit when people phone in you have to subscribe. Hmm.
And at about 11 minutes 30 there’s something very very bizzare about ‘cowboy dick’.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:51 am
I think Rachel got turned into Mac Daddy.
Oh, dude. That almost makes it all worthwhile.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Thank god for the web archive.
Here’s another BFB-ripped off post. Here’s the original.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:02 am
But come on- the stuff he writes himself is hilarious!
“Doe’s vacuuming, count as aerobic exercise?”
Apostrophe abuse and comma abuse in one short sentence. That’s some tasty fail right there.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Um, what psycho does that? I guess it’s easier than having your own blog…but is it really that much harder than just quoting other people?
The funny thing is, I almost think that this would be harder than just writing stuff on your own. At least, if blogging was your goal. I wonder what the real deal with this guy is.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:04 am
A dig through the web archive shows that the site itself has changed quite a bit over the past 8 years (wow, yeah, 8 years) - from NSFW porn site to a webhost and ISP to a rip-off blog. Just weird.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Something tells me this guy isn’t having a very good Tuesday.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:08 am
There are now almost 40 screencaps that need identifying! I would LOVE some assistance with this. Also: there may be duplicates.
This chap has no idea who he was fucking with.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Sparkle Pants, i’m… protective of my friends and my community. I don’t lightly tolerate having them fucked with on this level. Not when i can do something about it. And i hoard resources like donuts hoard their delicious baby-flavor.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Lindsay — I’ve had people take my short stories and try to pass them off as their own. I *totes* feel you on this. I’m behind you and everyone else 100%. Stealing makes baby Jesus cry!!
February 5th, 2008 at 11:20 am
A brief update:
{pardon the “o”s for zeroes: broken keys}
His domain host was contacted hours before he took anything down. The ticket is “flagged with their business operations manager” and closed.
His website is currently “down for maintenance”.
Marianne, of The Rotund, contacted the author of the NYT article, who in turn contacted the NYT editors, who in turn referred the matter to their legal department.
Efforts are being made to contact other mainstream media sources he has plagiarized, and that’s where the screen shots come in. At this point we have every reason to believe that all his posts were lifted from some source or another, and the more mainstream sources we can identify the more interested parties we can involve that have standing legal departments that exist precisely to handle this sort of thing.
Lindsay is uploading screenshots to the above posted address. Any help in tracking down the original sources is very much appreciated.
bigboymark.com is not his only project. He is also the primary host of a BlogTalkRadio show: http://www.chubtalk.com . I haven’t listened to very much, but a quick check between that site indicates that both sites are sponsored by a local restaurant.
Maui Wowi
495o South Rainbow Blvd.
Las Vegas, Nevaga
7o2 579 WOWI {alpha, not numeric}
The Las Vegas Big Mens Club has apparently shut down contact functionality on their site. I’d say it’s a fair guess that Mark doubles as their webmaster. Here’s the link, should anyone have more success than I did:
http://www.vegasbigmensclub.org/?page_id=2
He runs a design company at
http://www.biggerproductions.com/
As Sandy mentioned, his NAAFA charter is a scam. Contact from people he’s stolen from {the more the merrier} may help motivate some action, particularly given recent media coverage:
NAAFA
PO Box 22510
Oakland, CA 94609
(916) 558-6880
February 5th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Lindsey, There were several of those screen shots that could have been articles from my blog, but from just the opening, it’s hard to know for sure.
But here were the ones that had content that I had introduced:
Jan 5
Nov 26
Dec 26
Dec 14
Nov 14
Sandy
February 5th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Ugh, my condolences to everyone who got ripped off. How infuriating! Sandy, I can’t believe that nothing was done about his plagiarism of your bariatric article…absurd. Paul, Rachel, Kate, et al, I hope you can bring him down. Thanks so much to lindsay for perpetrating this.
Huh, seems like the site is “down for maintenance.” Probably going to switch into a tech blog or something of that sort (”Yep boys, I thinks it’s plagiarizin’ season agin!”). Sigh.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I have three screenshots (that I confirmed are plagiarized) that aren’t in the flickr set. I’ll try to send them later. I’m such a technoidiot I’m having a hard time with this. I need to get tech support (ie - the hubby) to walk me through this. But right now I have to go do some Mom stuff right now (as in, I’m the mom and the kids can’t drive themselves anywhere yet
)
Amazing to see how many of those were plagiarized. Really, why bother writing a blog if you’re not going to WRITE a blog! All he had to do was link to where he got everything and say “hey, go read this, it’s cool”. Bizarre.
February 5th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
The screenshot for December 14, 2007 look an awful lot like http://www.reason.com/news/show/123151.html. I knew I had read that before…
November 15th, how about here? http://www.networkworld.com/community/taxonomy/term/7291
Those were the only two I recognized myself. I cannot believe that this fool thought he could do this. One of the reasons I do not blog is that I know I would not keep up the original, new content needed to make a blog a success. I am good with being a lurker. But lord, oh lord, I would NEVER have thought to steal other people’s words and try to pass them off as my own. Ah well, karma and all that stuff, he will get what he deserves. Crazy though, just crazy!
February 5th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
In conversations I know I sometimes say pretty much the same things as I’ve heard, or use a quip here and there that I though was brilliant. I also liberally link to these blogs and sites. What’s the purpose of copying entire blog posts without accreditation though? Well, except for the telling remark, “It’s ok to use that word, *they* say” and that it goes against all the “conventional wisdom.” The site is down “for maintenance” now. Well, I’m sorry to everyone who got ripped off, though I don’t know who was actually reading this guy.
February 5th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I’m fortunate enough to not have enough of a readership that I flew under his radar, but I feel for all of you guys who got plagiarized.
On the upside, the fact that he plagiarized media outlets like the NYT is not too bright… Susan and the rest of you might not have the means to take legal action but it’s a different story when it comes to the NYT’s (and I suppose the BBC’s) legal departments…
Good job y’all!!!
February 5th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
[...] has been posted at BABble and Big Fat Blog, everybody and their mama got a post (or several) ripped off, modified crapfully [...]
February 5th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I found 2 more blogs that he lifted from, among the few orphans left on the flickr stream…
February 5th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Looks like his site is “down for maintenance.”
Seriously, how much of a dumbass does one have to be to pull a stunt like that? Good god.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
i filled in a few more blanks with what i found on the internets. i’m hoping this dude gets his ass sued off.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I came over here from a link at Junkfood Science (dot blogspot dot com,) and while I’m outraged on everyone’s behalf, I just couldn’t stop myself from saying: “Damn it! Too many people already think fat people are all so lazy…now what, -this- guy’s such a ‘lazy fattie’ that he can’t even write his own damn blog posts? That sets the bar at a new high….” Cheesy, I know, but worth a half a chuckle, I hope.
Here’s hoping this jerk gets everything he deserves coming to him, from everyone that he’s swiped from.
February 6th, 2008 at 12:49 am
That is bizarre!
February 6th, 2008 at 1:11 am
That’s just crazy! I’m often at a loss for things to blog about, but c’mon…at the very least tell us what you had for lunch rather than copy and paste. Crazy, crazy.
February 6th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Normally, I am just a shy lurker, but this demanded a response. I believe (98% certainty) I’ve found “BigBoyMark” via his ad on Bigger City here: http://www.biggercity.com/personals/view.aspx?id=178 I imagine that they too have been hoodwinked; at very least this will give a face to go with the name.
-Todd
February 6th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Here’s his Flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chubtalk/
February 6th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Did he have any pics when you found the stream? Cuz right now, it’s a completely empty (or private) account…
February 6th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Did he have any pics when you found the stream? Cuz right now, it’s a completely empty (or private) account…
Does anyone honestly think he’s NOT paying attention to this site, or this thread?
February 6th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Of course he is reading this…
February 6th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Ugh. He’s slimy. I’m glad that you’re taking action against him, and I hope you can take legal action against him as well.
Is he from Tallmadge or Las Vegas? It lists both, and if he’s from Tallmadge, he’s local to me (I’m from Youngstown).
So… double ugh.
February 7th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Wow. Dishonest and not real smart to boot. I’d never heard of him before this incident. Hope he’s enjoying his fifteen minutes.
What a tool.
February 9th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Just one suggestion: Don’t link to the stolen posts. People like that steal content to generate income or spread malware, and they thrive on links to boost their search engine rank. In fact, I wouldn’t even go to those links without shutting off Javascript; anything involving stolen material is highly suspect.
As an example of how to provide the information without the links, I offer my own treatment of content theft by dustdiary.com.
February 18th, 2008 at 3:12 am
Oh, I’m so sorry I read his stuff. I must apologize. I followed the link from BiggerCity and found it kind of interesting because most of the FA bloggers I had seen were women. (No offense intended, ladies - you’re all princesses and sometimes it’s nice to hear from a Queen.)
I wonder if this guy is officially connected to BiggerCity at all…I kinda hope not, cuz I hate to think they’d do something that slimy.
February 18th, 2008 at 3:21 am
That’s one of the reasons I appreciate “Men in Full,” NetBear. I really do like to hear from men and their experiences. I also like Red No. 3 and BigFatBlog, also written by men. My own blog is totally male-friendly (er; I’m not a feminist - please don’t beat me up for it, I’m just not. Neither am I working against feminists.) Don’t apologize for reading it - how could you know? Now that you do, you won’t read it anymore lol. That’s all. Meh, his site is defunct and he’ll go co-opt something else in his marketing ploy. Who knows what? He’ll jump on some other bandwagon and we probably won’t hear from him until he crosses a path regarding something we care about.
February 18th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Annie, it appears he’s already set up shop again. Looks like he’s going to try to fill it with original content. If he does? More power to him. Surely i’ve got nothing against him aside from the whole “stealing lots of people’s stuff” thing.
Either way, i (and a fair number of other folks, i’m sure) will be keeping an eye open.
February 18th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Jeez, he’s already back up? Well I’ll be darned. Yep, keep those eyes peeled, for sure.
February 18th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Well, the new content sucks, at least from a writing standpoint. It reminds me of the immortal quote from Pulp Fiction: “English, motherfucker! Do you speak it?!?!?”
February 18th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I’m not gonna judge him for his writing skills. I’m just glad he’s providing his own content.
Thing is? I have no beef with the guy aside from the content thievery. He should live and be well… so long as he doesn’t try to steal mah shizzy.
February 18th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I hear you, but it’s pretty crappy that he only acknowledges copying ONE blog post - http://bigboymark.com/?p=45