“There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. There is no act more wretched than stealing.”
Updated 5/16 (additions at the end of post)
I’ve been a blogger since I was 16. I started on Tumblr, and over a few years, I accumulated thousands of followers. I loved that other people were inspired by things I was inspired by. I loved that people were interested in what I saw, felt, thought. I loved the lessons I learned from interacting with people from all over the world.
The internet is a place for recycling ideas and pulling inspiration, which I have done much of during my 8 years of blogging. On that topic, I am going to tell you about a strange situation I've been in.
To start, I own that I am not the first person to come up with the examples I will show you, and I will not be the last. However, there is a significant difference between being inspired by someone and relentlessly and unapologetically copying his/her brand, identity, and image.
In this case, the frequency and level of detail are what continue to be disturbing. Plus, this person, whose name is Alexandria Andrea, was privately asked to stop on 4 separate occasions, but claims it all to be coincidence. Please feel free to read and decide for yourself.
4 months ago, I noticed my close friend’s girlfriend posting things that were familiar to what I was. I would put up a pointless Instagram, or make a reference to a blog post of mine, and within a day or two, she would post something oddly similar in composition, subject, and reference. (FYI, for the caption below, #MFW = my face when).
I was confused, but I left it alone and minded my own business. I did not want to interfere with my friend’s life enough to even ask him about it. This seemed dumb, and maybe I should be flattered? So, I passed it off as a phase.
It continued. Daily. Alex Andrea would not only post on her own account, but on my friend's, drawing much attention to what was going on. She was going off of images from both my IG accounts, my blog posts, and even used similar editing apps to recreate images I had played with. I was getting texts from other people about her imitating me because it was so obvious and frequent.
I decided to ask my friend what he thought was happening with his girlfriend. He barely goes on social media, so he was surprised and thought it was weird. I felt better after we spoke and believed him when he said she was probably just inspired by me and would cool down/stop.
Well, sadly, it hadn't even begun.
After another week or so of images like the ones above, I no longer wanted her to look at my stuff. I told my friend this, and he understood. Alex Andrea has access to his Instagram, and she would look at my profiles using his account, so with this knowledge and his blessing, I blocked both of them.
He spoke with her, but she denied it with the skill of which I can only compare Republicans' willful ignorance in denying global warming. Was she as delusional as the GOP? Or was she just trying to save face? Either way, I thought her being aware of my opinion and my blocking her would be the end of it. Since, how much more obvious can I be that: 1. I don’t like what you’re doing. 2. I don’t want you looking at my stuff?
Get ready to sit down. She created a second account, spent a week or so moving over images from her old account, deleted her old one, changed the name to the same thing, so it looked like the account I blocked. Seriously, photos on her account now start less than a month ago. Did she do this thinking I would be ignorant to the fact she was unblocked and able look at my posts? You can decide for yourself. I have no idea what the motive was behind that extreme effort to make the same account, but my Instagram is now private indefinitely.
(The images here are only from the new account and a few previous screenshots I was sent. This is nothing compared to how many posts she put up before the deletion.)
With limited access to my Instagram, she was looking at my blog. I would put something up and sure enough, she would feature the same artist I did, take images from my collages, etc.
The madness did not end. So, I blocked her IP address. Did that relay the message? Nahhh, she went on with different IPs through her phone.
(Don't worry, I've been locking my door at night.)
Two weeks ago, I published an extremely personal blog post on getting back into shape after my weight gain. This is a narrative that has been spoken about thousands of times, and each woman’s experience is different. However, when you’re 3 months deep into imitating me so closely, there is no such thing as a coincidence. 2 days after my post goes live, she posts an Instagram relaying her opinion on a plus sized blogger’s experience on exercise and getting into shape. I was baffled. Throughout this entire situation, I’ve asked myself, “What is her end goal? What is she trying to prove?” Let me be clear, I know I do not own feminism or a sector of feminism. I am not even trying to take ownership of the opinions in my post. What leaves me speechless is that no matter what I put up, no matter how much it relates or does not relate to her personally, she within days, imitates it.
Yes. She hashtagged #fatandfit.
Still, I kept my mouth shut. I told my friends and followers to no longer let me know when she was copying me. Ignorance is bliss, so if I didn't know it was happening, was it? Until just a few days later, after I put up my photos from Coachella and was informed this happened:
For the third time, I contacted my friend. He spoke to her on two different occasions within a few days. Denial further ensued. Tantrums were thrown. Posts were deleted. And at last, Alex Andrea continued the next day without pause.
To say the least, my mind continues to be blown by every part of this... Which leads to why this blog post exists.
Throughout the last 4 months, I’ve felt conflicted. I have never met the girl, she doesn’t even live in the same state as me, so is it a big deal? How much harm is she doing even if she is mimicking my pose, caption, style or edit at a daily rate? Does it matter? I've thought about the many angles to this and yes, it does.
For the last 8 years, I have created a personal brand for myself across different online platforms. I have worked at developing my vision and committing to a unique voice and perspective. My brand has helped me throughout my whole life. One example, I created a website for a family friend and stylist that was so successful, I got offered my current job. My boss moved me to LA because he was able to see my vision and skill through what I created for her.
So, when it came to creating my own, I made sure every last detail was perfect. Kateccoffey.com has inspired me to be more frequent with my self-expression, and it has awakened a whole new area of my brand. I write 1-2 blog posts weekly. I research; take images; pull images; write; edit; find artists, writers, creators I am inspired by; and CREATE experiences that I enjoy and that others will enjoy. I am damn proud of who I am, work I do, and things I create. They may say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but when it goes this far, there’s nothing sincere about it. When almost every single thing I create is imitated in close detail, I am infringed upon. When my style, voice, and opinions are replicated, I am violated. My brand and image become less unique and less valuable.
I will not speak on her motives or agenda. For months, I tried to take the high road, handle this privately, and give the benefit of the doubt. Even still, this public post is not about being petty; It is about authenticity. Because of the years I have spent cultivating my own authentic self both online and in real life, along with her continuous actions, I felt I needed to bring this to light and say this:
My work, my ideas, my creations are to inspire others, just as they have inspired me. They are not to mimicked, outright stolen, or blatantly copied.
That being said, regardless of how often others try to recreate my art or image, they will fail. I will always be 5 steps ahead. Authenticity wins. Bullshit falls short. No matter how hard some will try to emulate me, they will never have my heart, mind or soul.
[Update 5/11: I have received incredible messages about this post in just the last 12 hours. I'm so happy this piece is making an impact already.
A part of my favorite message reads:
"As more of our personas are becoming digitized, this issue will only become more important. At the very least your story can act as a great case study for society to discuss Instagram culture, and the ethics of art. We should be discouraging blatant imitation as a means to increase ones self worth.
...
As for what to do about this, it seems like you’ve done all you can. The next step is to share the story, which you are. For me, I think this is a great reminder that I may need to protect my art a little bit more, be less relax about publishing, do more to legally own my content, and realize that there are people that will steal and reproduce without a second thought."
Please continue to send messages on what we "own" on the Internet, what is ethical/unethical when getting inspiration from others, and what rights we do and do not have online. Your insight and personal experiences with this are important. Let's create something useful and start a dialogue.
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Update 5/16:
I confronted this to take power back. I handled the entire situation with dignity, patience, and understanding. It showed me good karma is real:
On a professional level, in just the first day, my post received 400% more views than any other I've done. Not just the post, but all of my website's content was viewed around the world. An amazing plus sized fashion blogger from London got wind of it and sent me videos to tell me her similar story. She now follows me on SnapChat, Instagram and Twitter (@calliethorpe).
On a personal level, I spoke with people I hadn't connected with in over a year. I was taught new perspectives when discussing what is unethical about this behavior both on and offline. Others reached out to say how much my blog, style, opinions, etc inspire them.
As I said, good karma is real. You can turn a seemingly only negative situation into something positive! Authenticity and true creativity will always win.
PS: Yes, my friend and I are still on great terms. *Cue Real Friends by Kanye* PPS: Someone tell Azealia Banks I can help her use someone copying her style and image to her advantage next time. I'm mad I didn't come up with, "Damn, you be mood boarding the fuck outta me."]