Hi! I didn't know who else to ask. I discovered yesterday that a fanfic writer whose stuff I've read has plagiarized several of their stories (not sure if all of them are), and I'm not sure what to do? They took oneshots from Fanfiction(.)net and made them reader-inserts. They've stolen them from writers who have not updated in many years, so I doubt if I make an account on there and message them that anything will come of it. Not sure what can be done about it, any advice?
that’s not good - sounds like we’ve got a real youngmoneymilla on our hands.
if they’re on here, i’d say the first thing to do and try and compile a list of the stolen works with direct quotes from the works they plagiarized. if you can, put it together in a google doc. i would personally do this before approaching them as plagiarists typically know what work they’ve nabbed from and will most likely delete the stolen work as soon as they’re called out.
if they’re posting on ff.net (which holy shit i did not know people still did that), i would scour their about page for any links to other social media accounts. people tend to use the same usernames often. do a little sleuthing.
personally, i think having your evidence before you confront them is important. it’s pretty undeniable when you’ve got pull quotes.
then, i’d message them. if they ignore it, make a post on here. i’m more than willing to signal boost it - stealing from authors who haven’t been active in years is just as wrong as someone who updated their story yesterday.
check the comments, too. reach out to people like you that have been reading stolen material and let them know.
i hope this helped - if you want any other specific advice, feel free to DM me!
