Plagarised by Pooja.

I received an email from a girl I owe a great deal of gratitude to, Katie - a Plagiarism Fighter, telling me that my story Arabian Nights has been plagiarised.
My first thought was "oh, crap" and then I texted my friend.

Me: I've been plagiarised by a "Pooja".
Friend: What's a Pooja?
Me: An Indian girl.

:D

Cheered up by that, I began to think about it clearly. This Pooja has plagiarised over a thousand stories from Fictionpress writers and posted it up on a forum, she has been warned over the implications of her criminal actions and ignored them, refusing to take down the stories or to even respond with an apology.

I have since been considering whether to remove my Fictionpress stories and it's a hard decision to make, believe me. I love sharing them and I love that everybody can read them and express their opinions back to me. However, I do not like having my ideas and my hard work stolen. I have spent too long on them just for them to be violated in such a way.

"Pooja" may simply be a selfish, unimaginative person who thought she could get away with it. Maybe she didn't consider how hurtful it actually is but I am a big advocate of personal freedom and the right each of us have to behave in any way that we like as long as it is morally fit and does not hurt others. The way I exercise this freedom is through writing and sharing what I write. Plagiarism is simply another form of stealing this freedom; it is the theft of a voice and of the emotion behind it.

I won't waffle for too long and get to the point. It is because of the above reason and because I have received many reviews about how inspirational my stories have been that I am not removing my stories. I feel it would be like succumbing to bad luck or a bad person and giving up my freedom. However small this is in comparison to the greater struggles in the world today and throughout history, I feel it is a battle nonetheless.

If we all remove our stories then plagiarism wins and we'll have lost out on doing something we love. We just all have to band together and keep an eye out for plagiarisers. If everybody helps a little then it will make a huge difference. So...that's my plea, I guess.

A big thanks to Plagiarism Fighters who do it all out of goodwill and in their precious spare time. Truly you are great.

I also want to thank all those who have read my stories, who have put them on alerts and favourited them. I especially want to thank all the reviewers...it is because of what you've said that I'm happy to keep the stories up here. You mean a lot more than any plagiariser can.

Lily.