About that swipe file page from Friday…

All weekend long people have been asking me to explain the story behind it, why I put it up, and should they hire an attorney like that and do something similar. (Not surprisingly, the people asking this have mostly been “Email Players” — www.EmailPlayers.com — subscribers, as once they learned my system and started kicking bootay, they were suddenly “targets” for swipers and thieves, too).

Incidentally, I can’t help but wonder:

Will someone be dumb enough to swipe the copyright lawyer’s letter?

Only time will tell…

In the meantime, here’s the story behind it:

A few weeks ago, some shmuck who positions himself as a 7-figure guru in the fitness niche used one of my emails 95%+ word-for-word to sell someone else’s email product.

(Which doesn’t say much for that email product…)

I wasn’t just PO’d.

I was like a mushroom cloud-laying mo’ fo’.

But, that soon turned to gratitude because it *finally* motivated me to consult a copyright attorney about how I can go after these bastards.

It was a very edu-ma-cational experience, too.

When someone steals your emails or sales copy, you got rights.

Including the right to collect damages.

To get attorney fees.

And, even press criminal charges.

Don’t let the “swipe & steal” goo-roos fool you, either.

It’s like the attorney’s letter says:

There’s no such thing as “innocent” copyright infringement.

It doesn’t matter if you’re “in a hurry” or are “sorry” or simply stoopid enough to think it’s okay because your favorite goo-roo does it. It’s no different than stealing money right out of someone’s wallet. And if you have copy and emails and informational products that are making you sales, I HIGHLY suggest consulting a copyright attorney about how you can not only stop the pirates… but maybe even profit from the situation by going for damages (and it’s not nearly as hard as it sounds — especially in blatant cases, like mine was).

So that’s the story.

I know, I know…

The standard line is not to worry about this stuff, right?

Just send some outdated boilerplate “cease & desist.”

I think that’s insane.

If enough people start hitting back, you’d see a LOT less theft.

A LOT less competition.

And, a LOT more profits overall.

Ben Settle

P.S. I would not recommend “swiping” that cease & desist letter. For one thing, that was unique to my business and situation. I have recently learned how idiotic it is to use “boilerplate” legal documents. People have no clue how their “swiped” legal documents are not only worthless… but could land THEM in some serious legal trouble. And for another, these things have much sharper “teeth” coming from a law firm, rather than Joe Internet Marketer.

But, I realize this falls on mostly deaf ears.

Everyone wants to swipe.

It’s all “cheap, cheap, cheap” online.

But, as I always say, cheap is the new expensive.

Especially when it comes to things like this.

So SPURN my advice at your peril…