Is It OK to Do This?

Most information shared is not new, though much of it can be considered to be so.

This is a tricky move to make mainly because the ebook industry is very small compared to the real book industry and so ideas shared in ebooks can easily be traced to a source, this is so much easier if you're dealing with ebooks in an industry like IM where many strategies are either brand new (at least in IM) or fairly new and can be traced to a source easily.

As for real books, there are so many (though sources can also be traced) but it is more of an allowed practice especially if and when you make a note to give credit to the original thinker(s). In the ebook industry this may be frowned upon because it is much smaller and thus more difficult to make sales (or at least make a huge number of sales).

Hope that helps to answer your question.

Kunle

What if my product is better than the original product?

No, rewriting/paraphrasing is still considered plagiarism from what I understand (it's a derivative of the original, so the rights belong to the original author) -- but I am not a lawyer.

You really should write your own product.

Suzanne

And by "write your own product" I mean you can still write an ebook on affiliate marketing, but write it from scratch.

Suzanne

Listen, if they give you information X, and you can find the same info online by researching, then its open to the public and its cool by me, which btw the means nothing since I ain't a judge in civil court..

You're better off using affmarketing 101 as a blueprint for your own product, it will probably take as much time re-working affmarketing101 as it will take for you to create your own product.

So it's OK to write on the exact same subject AND whatever it is in the original product (method, blueprint, etc.), assuming I'm writing this new and better product from scratch?

Cant copy all the content from the ebook and make no effort in changing the structure and the table of content.

You can however create a new structure and outline and use part of the concepts in the ebook (with acknowledgment). In other words, build your content through your own research.

What is descrbe is how you can and should use PLR material. For anything else, why not recommend it via an affiliate link?

From the title, I assumed it is probably not okay before entering

Here is what I do since I want to teach my real world experience. I have other people in IM tell me, so and so is doing something similar, take his course and learn what he is doing. thats not what I do, what I did for the outsource ebook I just finished.

I wrote the ebook from your own expereince first, go over it a couple times. Then give it to someone else on my team (which you can do yourself) to fill in the fluff (like what is outsourcing, why you would do it?). If I want to take it a step further, which I will do down the road, I would then look at the other courses and make it stronger based on that.

Keep in mind, it is not who had the best product, it is who markets the best

Cheers,
Mukul

People have done this to me many times. My blog flipping ebook was copied, even the blog flipping fool concept was stolen with fool in another domain name. I mean, please people, think out of the box. It's so easy to write a decent ebook if you have knowledge and skill. Do it yourself.

TomG.

What amazes ME is the number of people who don't read the complete text shared before they start making unfounded comments in direct or indirect response...

Lots of those kinds of posts in here... This fellow asked a very simple question.

It does not open the floor to debates of good vs evil especially when that debate was NEVER started.

To make the point crystal clear (and that's not to say someone won't still make every effort to misunderstand this...)

DO NOT COPY ANYONE WORD FOR WORD WITHOUT ACKNOWLEDGING THEM... THAT is plagiarism.. but it is perfectly accepted to base your product on a previous product especially if yours will add extra VALUE the previous one does not provide...

The real world has been doing this since before any of us here was born. It is totally accepted. Just make due reference to the original author. For example, I was one of the first ever to create an ebook about creating ebooks (in 1999), so much of the content out there today is just rehashed content from back then... I'm not throwing fits because some of my students decided to tell the story in their own words... if they acknowledge they were students of mine or other such writers, but maybe we left out this or that, that's great for us and good on them.

If they don't acknowledge that's bad karma to them (if you believe that stuff) and that's their business really. Now, if they copy me or another author word for word and TRY TO PASS THAT OFF AS THEIR OWN WORK... THEN the gloves come off for real. Till then it is all perfectly ethical and legal to do this... IF done the RIGHT way.

Information is based on ideas and ideas ARE NOT COPYRIGHTED not unless you patent them or some such. Like I said, this is frowned upon in IM because of this really tiny community that feels like the whole world is here... but in the real world, unless your book is really crap, no one will kill you for voicing thoughts that were previously voiced as long as you do so with references where appropriate, make sense when doing it, and of course... if possible expand on the concepts and add extra value to the readers' lives.

I bet few people know that a lot of the content (if not all) inside James Allen's ultra popular "As A Man Thinketh" was inspired by ideas that are over 2,000 years older than James Allen himself and were actually WRITTEN IN BOOKS before he was born. One of those books is called The Holy Bible... Christian Bible to some.

"As a man thinketh in his heart so is he" is a direct quote from the bible and this is what inspired James Allen's "As A Man Thinketh"... Allen even had the "audacity" to use the idea that inspired his own work as his essay's TITLE! He then went on further to share stories, thoughts, experiences and ideas to further explain that theory in his own way which gave fresh insights into old well known thoughts, ideas or pieces of advice.

One thing I'd like to point out is that if you have never written and sold thousands/millions of books or ebooks successfully and changed thousands of lives in the process, you really ought to be careful what you advice others to do to achieve that kind of success. If you openly state that it is just your opinion (or in your limited experience) that is still better than insisting you're right when to better trained eyes, you're clearly wrong and you end up totally misleading others who don't know better.

AGAIN, it is COMPLETELY accepted to be inspired by other people's work, and to borrow ideas from other sources and expand on them... IF you do so professionally and ethically--As James Allen and thousands of other great writers have done.

Also... @Tomg... Hi, I loved your ebook by the way. It was a great motivator to look into site flipping... you see what you don't get is this... IF and WHEN people copy your work and they do it unethically they will always end up looking the fool so you need not worry, people are not as stupid as folks generally think, they can smell BS a mile off.

Tom, your ebook was one of the first to my mind that dealt with the issue the way it did and you did a great job. Other copy cats need not get you riled up. In fact, you should just feel elated that you were that pivotal to cause such an effect and then build on that.

I have had my work copied like that so many times I've lost count. But that's not what gets me riled, it's this... I have had big name IMers remove my name from my popular products and put their own name (like it was PLR when it clearly was not)... the guy I remember particularly made a mint off of this and got away with it or so he thinks.

The bottom line is this...

I LOVE FRESH IDEAS TOO... I have a ton of them a minute and most of my products ARE based on fresh ideas. But not everyone can be that creative or even has to be... There are enough ideas out there that need to be taught better or in a different way... and if you do it ethically and professionally it is ACCEPTED to do it especially when you add extra great value.

If you're building on ideas, do so properly and it's allowed... Frankly how many original ideas do you really think there are in the world? LOL... warriors make an interesting collection of minds... the ones that tick me off are the prejudiced, biased, inexperienced or plain trouble-looking for kind of folks that insist on their opinions being made LAW, everyone else I actually love to relate to.

@MichelledGrace, whatever you do please mind the advice you listen to...

One last thought, I know there are some/many misleading ebooks and articles out there in IM that tell you to just steal ideas and copy people, I don't condone those guys either, but there is the legitimate form of borrowing ideas and that should not be confused with content thieves and dumb copy cats...

Nuf said.

Kunle Olomofe

Michelle,

Look at it from a different perspective. Use the one product as only a piece of research material. Use other products, your own personal research, and your own testing to create a product.

While any form of copying or rewriting somebody else's product is wrong, learning from the product is not. Create your own system, from what you have learned for it, combined with learning from other sources, building a system you have used and tested.

As a secondary side to this, why don't you build a complementary product, which builds upon and extends their product? Then partner with the owner of the original product. They may be excited to offer your product to their list, making you more money, and creating a reputation as a go-to JV partner.

it depends on how well rewritten it is. If there are close similarities, you might get in trouble.

@Kunle -> Thanks for the kind words. I actually am not mad at all. I don't look back, just keep moving forward. I actually laughed when I saw the other "fool" website. Plagiarism will get you into a lot of hot water, though. And yes, many products are improvements on originals and have merits on their own.

TomG.

I assume you do not have any resell writes over the material so basically you are using someone else's ideas and ebook for your ebook. I do not think this is legitimate. It is much better to buy the resell rights of someone's ebook, and then rewrite it some. You can buy these books at a reasonable price and then you are sure you are not breaking any copyrights.

Don McCobb

One thing.
You did not specify if you even have rights to do anything with the content.

However using someone else's product and just 'adding to it" is not O.K. There are different ways to make a product I made one recently that incorporated a bunch of courses into one package I own the rights to them to do so that is very imperative. I did not alter them I just put them together making it a unique product messing with someone's work without a right to do so is like jumping into a pool of sharks with a chum bathing suit
-WD

Thanks kay
Yes I will edit that I own all rights to do so some gave me PLR etc you MUST have rights licenses or your in trouble
-WD

MichelledGrace, I would have thought you would need a PLR license to edit the work and also rename yourself as the author.
If not it probably is a bit much to just rewrite the one book if you don't have the license. You would leave yourself open.

I agree with TommyGadget ... it is not that hard to develop original ideas.

No, it's not ok. I believe you can do a better job by writing it all from the scratch. This may seem difficult at first but i'm sure by now if you were to explain what you wanted to write to a person in words, you'd do great.
Why not overcome the fear or doubt by taking up your pen and begin writing now bit by bit, you'll be surprised at how good and effective you'll be.

Hey I'm Eric. I'm new to this site but I hope to bring some insight.

Lots of information is shared on the web so as long as you are not breaching any copywrite laws than go ahead.

I hope the best from your venture.

People get sued all the time for doing what you are proposing. You've probably read a number of media articles about so and so getting sued for taking some other person's idea, then calling it their own - even if nothing is taken word for word.

Build on ideas by all means but set your own out in your own way. One way to do this is to make a mind map (on a piece of paper or using something like www.mindjet.com; they offer a month's free trial).

Then use your mind map and YOUR examples and case studies to write the product. In the intro, you could acknowledge the person who came up with the original - this won't be seen as a failure, just the rightful acknowledgement it is.

Another way is to write out questions (as if from someone who's never done it; in fact, interview newbies to help you). Use the Qs and As to help develop your product and your help/FAQ section - and to write the sales letter.

Add videos of YOU showing how to do bits.

~ Jacqui

Write your own copy - but at the same time, a lot of info now a days is regurgitated. So restating some info that is similar should be ok. I mean how many different ways is it explain how click bank works or google adwords. We are all piggy backing on someone elses info. Think about it!

Why not just pass this project off to a capable writer and request that it be original? You can point them to materials that they might find useful in doing their research. That's so much easier than doing it yourself. If you don't have money, this might not be an option, but at least it's one to think about for the future.

I am not a lawyer Brian is but if I am not mistaken this particular type of thing goes beyong copyright infringement into the criminal part like fraud,theft, etc I think it complete wisdom to avoid these things like the plague

-WD

A lot of people have mistaken my suggestion, please re-read the original post. I am done adding the clarification.

Hi Dennis thanks for the tip!

Here's the edited part in the OP:

Unless I am mistaken because I am not a lawyer it is my understanding as soon as something is put down on any type of media it is copyright the author
WD 2010

Nothing is new under the sun, every guru learned from other gurus. But I don't meean to say that you can just rewrite someon else's content and sell it. The most important thing is to:

ADD YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE TO THE EXISTING KNOWLEDGE BASE

If you have applied what you have learned, then I would learn from you, else, I can just go to the original one.

For example, Frank Kern learned a lot from books, he does not teach what is in the books alone, he has applied them, got results and adds his own experience & knowledge as a cream to the product.

But... It's just me.

From another perspective, professors who teach subjects in a business school have no experience in business (90% of them) but they still teach business subjects. If you can explain something in a better way then you are eligible to be a guru.

Man just go to Untitled Document (not an affiliate link) and buy 1000s of ebooks with Full Rights for one time payment of just five dollars, then re-write as you wish.

note: I have not bought the product myself or have a relationship to the seller, but I found this site some time ago, put it in my favorites, and it has been sitting there for a while now

I hope this works for you!

to your success!