A personal message from me – Newsletter #116

Bonjour and bon week-end! This weekend there is a change to our usual newsletter format, but I promise next weekend we will be back to normal.

A Personal Message From Me - Newsletter #116

Today I write to you with a very sad and heavy heart. I cannot describe how low I feel. I am so disappointed and feeling gut wrenched to find out that my subscriber Inas Zaki has been infringing copyright and committing plagiarism of my work for over two years by copying entire blog posts and taking all post photos to share on Facebook Group ‘Everything French’ she is an admin of. Her Facebook Group has two admins and four moderators who all have been complicit in sharing my original work without my permission for their own gain. Entire blog posts and every single photo - I can’t believe it!!

I have now tracked her activity opening emails, reading blog posts and newsletters and then stealing my original work to share on her Facebook Group. Can you believe that the Group she is an admin for, even has their own rules about sharing original content and crediting work - they certainly do not live by their own rules! They steal other people’s work.

Photos have been screenshot, often even with my captions included, and then shared to the Facebook Group without credit, incorrect source information and without permission. Inas Zaki has even copied my ‘What’s Happening in May’ weekly newsletter (sent only to subscribers) word for word and pasted it in the Facebook Group ‘Everything French’.

It takes hours and hours of dedicated work to travel, take photos, edit photos, research topics, read books, write blog posts, write social media posts, answer emails and comments, return messages, and pay for software subscriptions and programmes to run my website and the total disregard for copyright and plagiarism law, and creator’s rights has totally amazed me. I’m seeking legal advice on the next steps to take.

My articles and photos have 10,000s of likes and shares on ‘Everything French’ spanning over the last two years (I have now found out) without any reference to my work. Inas has answered comments on the Facebook Group pretending to be the author of the work and even answered questions in the comments section with more copied text from my website. Below I’ve listed all the blog posts including all their photos that have had all their intellectual property stolen - can you believe how many there are?

For my wonderful readers and followers, who like, support and appreciate reading about France, I ask a small favour. Please support my work by reading one of the below blog posts, and telling a friend about A French Collection. Let’s stand together for what’s right and honourable and credit creators for all their hard work. Google will love you for taking the time to read one of my articles and it will help me also.

As I finish this newsletter, I wish to thank you for your wonderful French travel stories, continued friendship and the connections we’ve made online. You are why I do what I do. 🌸💕

With my heartfelt thanks