When Someone Steals Your Content: Finding Peace and Holding Fast to Your Purpose | #229

Remember when you were a kid and you played games like duck, duck goose, and Red Rover, Red Rover, Come on over?👧👧🏾👦🏻

Someone told you the rules, but you barely heard them because you were smacking a boy's hand for playing with your ponytail. But despite not hearing the rules you caught on pretty quickly.

How did you catch on so quickly? We'll answer that and dive into what to do when you sense someone has stolen your intellectual property.

Link to my 3rd grade flashback to Mrs. Meeks...#228

⚖(As the legalese goes - this is NOT legal advice. It's one woman's perspective.  I'd love to hear yours.)

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Transcript

Time To Simplify
Jen Rogers | Creator of the 90-Day Sprint | Certified Coach | Keynote Speaker

I help startup Christian entrepreneurs leverage resources so they can stop running around with their hair on fire and have time for the people, places + play they treasure most.

When They Take What’s Yours: Finding Peace and Holding Fast to Your Purpose | #229

>>>Jump In with Jen on Fridays in September 2024

[00:00:00] Remember when you were a kid and you played games like duck, duck goose, and Red Rover, Red Rover! Come on over. Someone told you the rules, but you barely heard them because you were smacking a boy's hand for playing with your ponytail. But despite not hearing the rules you caught on pretty quickly. How, how did you catch on so quickly? Well, you copied people of course! That's what every kid does.

Which brings up an important point. When is it okay to copy someone? And when is it...ahem... Stealing someone else's intellectual property. Let me start by saying this.

[00:00:39] We know Solomon says there is nothing new under the sun. We also know that there's a fine line between taking someone's idea and making it your own and straight out, stealing it. Have you ever posted something on social and someone copycatted your posts? You see the [00:01:00] post and you immediately have a visceral reaction. 

[00:01:03] Sometimes that physical response will feel more like a punch in the gut. Other times it will challenge you to keep your focus on things that are lovely, pure, admirable and praiseworthy. Because when something gets stolen from you, it's not exactly the time you'll take out a notepad and write down a song of praise, now, is it? Copying a social post is one thing. There are far worse forms of stealing other people's stuff. Hold that idea. We're going to come back to that later. Funny thing in my last episode, number 2 28, I shared a then perceived travesty of justice in my third-grade mind, reflecting on my mean, substitute teacher, Mrs. 

[00:01:44] Meeks. I promise I'm not going to be a copycat of myself and regurgitate that story here, but if you missed it, you can get the full scoop after listening to today's episode. Just scroll down in the app and find episode 2 28, where I share more [00:02:00] about the dangers of 

[00:02:02] unlocked lockers. You know that expression imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Me too. Except those words likely feel empty and hang in the air for you as someone attempts to comfort you after you feel like you've been violated. So, what do you do? How would you respond when your intellectual property has been stolen? More on that in today's episode. 

[00:02:29] But first! The mission of Time To Simplify is to keep things simple for startup entrepreneurs. When you launch your business or your podcast, you can avoid tech overwhelm and endless loops on the hamster wheel, when you hire someone who has the skill sets you don't have yet. On this podcast, you'll learn tons about how to optimize your work. 

[00:02:53] So you can stop running around with your hair on fire and have time for the people, places and play you [00:03:00] treasure most. Hey there! I'm Jen Rogers, your hostess with the mostest! A long time ago, I was a certified public accountant, I guess I still am. I retired. I am now a solopreneur, a podcast coach and host, and a woman who cares deeply about your success as an entrepreneur. I'm exceptionally creative and highly driven to help you launch and live your best life so you can share the good news of the kingdom, Jesus Christ, in the marketplace and in your home. I want to help you avoid unnecessary mistakes in your startup journey. 

[00:03:34]  And that's why I created 90-day sprints for you to achieve success. Not just fast, SIS, more importantly, with focus and energy directed towards starting and completing what you've promised to do but have kept delaying. If you're like me, when something's on your list too long, you get annoyed and even better, you get determined to get it done. 

[00:03:58] You are my [00:04:00] people.

[00:04:00] Speaking of getting those pesky things off our list and out of our mind so that we can redirect our energy elsewhere. What do you say about meeting me on Fridays in September? I am opening up a room on Fridays at 12:33 PM Eastern time for a mere $47.

[00:04:21] now why 12:33? Well, that's a, you know what, that's a story that you can come and ask me that. Any Friday in September, 12:33PM to 1:33 PM. Eastern time, Friday, 1233. PM Eastern time, Friday, September 6th, September 13th, September 20th, or September 27th. 

[00:04:45] If you're wondering Jen. I don't know, is this really an invitation? Will this really help me? Well, let me ask you, are you thinking of starting something, but you don't know whether now is the right time. 

[00:04:58] Are you in the middle of a [00:05:00] pivot? And you're wondering how, when, or maybe not, maybe this is not the move for me to make right now. 

[00:05:07] Are you wondering, gosh, what would happen if I guessed it on a show? 

[00:05:11] How do I prepare for that? Jen, what do I do? or perhaps you are on the precipice of deciding it’s time to launch your own podcast. These are all things that you can bring

[00:05:23] to our Friday sessions in September. Don't be late. This is too important to miss.

[00:05:29] Listen, here's the thing. You can come for one or two or three or all four of these sessions, you simply need to register. If you were to meet with me one-on-one for one hour, you would invest $300. What I'm offering here is a okay. Jen. I think we probably could be a good fit together, but I'm still a little tentative. 

[00:05:54] All right. Well, $47. You put a little on the line. I put a little on the line and we [00:06:00] decide if we are a good fit to work together. To solve, whatever it is that you're working on, that is preventing you from moving forward.

[00:06:08]  You can come for one, or you can come for all four, you will need to register. 

[00:06:13] And it is 

[00:06:13]  a teeny tiny investment for you to come and get something done. It is time to jump into action and get these things off your list. Head on over to coachJenRogers.com/JumpInWithJen. That link will be in the show notes. 

[00:06:32] All right, This is episode number 229! let's get started with today's episode of Time To Simplify,  where we will explore what to do when somebody copies you.

[00:06:46] What do you do when someone copies you? Listen, whenever we are in a situation where it is easy for our emotions to take us down a road that we do not want to...ah [00:07:00] have to hire an asphalt company to come and repair later on. It's really important that we take a moment and we stop. And we think about what just happened here. Uh, Our ideas. 

[00:07:11] They come from the core of our being and that's what makes them extraordinarily special. That's what makes them, that's why it hurts so much because it feels as though a part of you has been taken away. It's important to acknowledge There are many emotions involved it's important that we don't push those to the side because our emotions... they are intelligence for us. How we talk about our emotions. Those are feelings. I feel mad. Yet the emotion inside of us when we're mad, what's happening, we can feel as though smoke is coming out of our ears, or we can feel our body tense up. 

[00:07:50] These are the physical or the visceral reactions we experience, where our body is attempting to tell us, Hey, something important just happened [00:08:00] here. So the first thing that you do is acknowledge, however it is that you feel about it. You may not care. you may feel flippant about it. and say, it doesn't really matter to me. 

[00:08:10] I am going to keep doing what it is that God has called me to do. And spoiler alert here. This is where I typically land. I am going to keep doing what God has called me to do, because truth be told there's no one who can do the thing that you do, the way that you do it, no one can deliver like you! So even if someone copies the formatting of your podcast, even if somebody copies your templates on how you create things, for example, 

[00:08:45] I have. Have a unique framework to create a binge worthy episode. And I share that with my private clients, because I want them to be successful as a podcast host. I want them to continue to [00:09:00] draw people in. And you're listening to this episode right now because the framework works.

[00:09:07] Now what's to prevent a client from selling that or sharing that in their own coaching sphere? Absolutely nothing quite honestly. And instead of exerting energy chasing after something, I would rather put my energy into focusing on the mission that God has given to me, because I do believe that in the kingdom of God, it is as God declares that he is more than enough. 

[00:09:35] And if he is more than enough, and if he is truly, as his word says, the possessor of heaven and earth, then what on earth am I worried about? I do not need to be chasing after someone who can't possibly implement something the way that I do. It just cannot be done because there's no one like me. We like to say, oh, we were prepared for such a time [00:10:00] as this. 

[00:10:00] Well, then act like it. That's what I want to say. Act like it. You were prepared for this moment. God knew this moment was going to happen. So I acknowledge your emotions and decide, okay, what are my next steps? Now you may decide. You want to take a different course of action than letting it go. once you've acknowledged the emotion and you are ready to move on. 

[00:10:23] The next step could be that you want to do something about it. As I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, Solomon is right. There's nothing new under the sun. It manifests itself differently. It will show up in new ways, but the ideas, the ability that we have our God given abilities. There are no new ideas. 

[00:10:44] There's just new strategies and how to get them to work or how to connect with people. And your people. Are your people. That's why we do so much work on market research to say, okay, who connects with me? As a reminder, a [00:11:00] very quick flag reminder here. You want people to be in one of three camps. You want them to be a green flag. 

[00:11:06] They're all about you. And they are devoted and loyal followers. You want people that say, I don't want anything to do with you because you know, they're not your people and they know that you're not for them. It's those people in the middle, the yellow flags, the meh... Well, you know, I could listen or not. 

[00:11:22] Listen. Those are the people that they're not really for you either. it's important that we focus on the green flags that we speak to the people who resonate with the ideas and the creative intellectual property which we are sharing. So we're continually working to create green connections if you will. 

[00:11:44] So there are no new ideas 

[00:11:47] Another thing to consider is have you trademarked or copyrighted your work? And there's a lot that goes into setting up a trademark and a copyright. And I want to say that that is not what this [00:12:00] episode is about.I am a recovered public accountant. 

[00:12:03] I am not a recovered lawyer. Okay. I don't do legal ease. ensure that you have proper legal advice. If there's something that you have that you want to copyright, or you want to trademark pursue the person who has the answers that you need and hire them so you can complete whatever it is that you're working on in a way that makes the most sense to you. 

[00:12:27] What happens when you decide you don't want to let it go?  I propose, there are two things you could do about it. and you could do a combination of these things.So, if you decide you're not going to let it go, then you may want to approach the person who you suspect 

[00:12:46] has stolen your intellectual property. You could give them some sort of notice. You could decide that you want to approach this person individually. The other alternative is that you want to approach and approach [00:13:00] with. Some sort of, I don't know. Cease and desist letter, some sort of recommendation from your lawyer that would, well, I'm certain be perceived as threatening, but if you need legal advice, legal counsel, consult an attorney and determine what your options are. Determine how you're defining the intellectual property. What evidence you have to support your concern. It does take a lot of time and it does take a lot of energy. 

[00:13:27] And that's why I go back to what I shared with you earlier in the episode, that typically it's a lot easier just to move on because you, as your creative self - you will continue to draw the people who God has already ordained to come and work with you. So keep doing the work. 

[00:13:46] Keep moving forward. Keep working on those ideas that God has given to you. There are a bunch of different ways that you can implement them. 

[00:13:55] Those are the three options that I come up with, the three options I'm offering up to you. 

[00:13:59] [00:14:00] One. Acknowledge your emotions in all cases, and then decide, am I going to move forward and let it go? Or am I going to seek some sort of confrontation either individually or with a lawyer or a combination of those two? I don't know about you, but sometimes as an , . 

[00:14:17] When things get really hard, it would be so much easier. If we could copy cat red Rover red Rover, come on over. What do you think? Hey, thanks so much for listening to this episode of Time To Simplify. If this episode helped you, I encourage you to share it with a friend. And if you're feeling like sharing a little extra love, please leave a five-star review on your favorite podcasting platform. 

[00:14:42] When you leave a review for the show, it helps elevate the visibility of this show and reach more people and offer up opportunities for them to learn more on how to avoid so many of the hurdles we encounter in our entrepreneurial journey. Hey there. I'm Jen Rogers and it's been [00:15:00] my absolute delight to connect with you today. 

[00:15:02] I will catch you in the next episode. And P S if you are on the fence about joining me on Fridays, get off the fence, head on over to coach Jen rogers.com forward slash jump in with Jen. And I will see you on Fridays at 12:33 PM eastern. 

[00:15:23]