Browsing Google blogs and came across the following link:
http://vbatalent.blogspot.com/
I don't know who this person is, but there are numerous uncredited VBA code samples on his blog. He takes the code from other sites, changes it a bit and posts it as his own, without any acknowledgement of the source.
The code to remove workbook passwords (http://vbatalent.blogspot.com/2009/11/remove-workbook-password.html) looks suspiciously like the remove passwords code that's been available here for years. And look! There's even code from this site on that same page.
The Sending Mail with CDO code from Ron de Bruin's site is duplicated on this page (http://vbatalent.blogspot.com/2009/08/send-mail-without-using-mail-clients.html).
Debra Dalgleish's site didn't escape his wrath; her pivot table code is copied in this post (http://vbatalent.blogspot.com/2009/06/remove-missing-items-from-pivot-table.html).
The rest of the blog (the part that isn't plagiarized) isn't worth mentioning.
I don't own VBA, so anyone could use the available objects and methods to arrive at similar code. But there's something wrong with copying and pasting someone else's work without any credit. John Walkenbach deals with it by posting about it. So I'm doing the same thing.
And I pose a question to all you bloggers out there: What would you do if you found your code on another site?
About JP
10 Comment(s) on Where's the link love?:
Thanks for letting me know, JP. It's a Blogger site, so maybe Google will take it down, if it's all stolen material.
When I find a site that has stolen my content, I first contact the site owner or author. I request (nicely at first) that they remove my content, since reposting it without my authorization is a violation of US and International copyright law.
Usually, the site author takes the material down immediately, and usually they are very apologetic.
If this doesn't work, I use whois to find the hosting provider, and notify them that a site they host is in violation of copyright law.
A couple times the provider has helped with the violation, but they are not as helpful as you might think, given their culpability. However, I'm just a small business guy, so I don't have lots of leverage.
I have had limited success having infringing material removed from Blogger sites.
If the offending site uses Google AdSense, I contact Google and notify them that one of their AdSense publishers is using AdSense ads on pages that violate copyright law.
I've only contacted Google a couple of times, and so far, I've got nada. But one time the author came back from vacation and took down my content. So who knows.
Guys there's more to it than just codes available on this site. There's whole books for download and Mr Spreadsheet is not going to like it a bit.
At least they aren't pretending that they wrote the book.
Well just wanted to say thank you for sharing your hard work and don't fret too much… the world has too many cheaters out there but we have to keep to our values and always remember what comes around goes around. You and your peers have helped me strive to keep learning new things and I always leave the author's info on my work. I use Ron's outlook stuff and call it up as RDB and list him and his site as a source. Likewise I have Peltiertech on stuff too. Anyhow Thanks!!!
Let's get real people, it really isn't a big deal. It is rude, it is selfish, but beyond that it is nothing IMHO.
Very little of what you quoted above is original material, it is at best a re-gurgitation of the work of others, at worst at interesting slant on something previously developed.
For instance, the password cracker is a modification of something that has been aroun d for years. That site makes a fleeting reference to Bob McCormick, but nowhere near enough IMO as it was he or someone around then that created it, all that version does is present it as a 'wrapped' solution – not much originality or particualr skill there. I have been using my modified version of this for years, long before it hit that site, does that mean I am stealing from there – absolutely not.
When I write code, or to my site or blog, I try to attribute any lifted sections, but I bet I have missed some. Nobody has died because of it.
Let's worry about the things that matter, such as the problem that chrisham highlights, not irrelevancies like this.
I don't write code but I do blog, and I also do research and writing under contracts (NDC) that is published. Responsible bloggers and writers comprehend copyright and fair use limitations and are ethical people. They do not plagarize and/or present intellectual property of others as their own.
"Links to your sources are important for at least four reasons: Verifiability, Acknowledgment, Examples, Context. " Mark Stoneman in Do You Link to Your Sources?
Thanks for posting his site and name so I can boycott him. I don't mind people posting my code as long as I am given credit and I always try to give credit to the code of others when I can.
I would encourage you to remove the actual links to the page, as anyone linking to this page could actually help boost his Page Rank on Google. At the very least, post the links as plain text and let interested parties copy & paste.
Good point, it's done.