J-Walk & Associates, Inc.

That Chart Looks Familiar

A woman in Australia named christielee1 posts Excel tutorial videos at YouTube. For example:

The only problem is that many of these tutorials come directly from my books. She uses the sample files on the CD, makes a few minor changes, and claims that she created them. I guess I should be flattered that she thinks so highly of my work that she claims it as her own.

She also has a blog, which also has several of my example. Again, with no acknowledgment of the original source.

- Reader Comments -

Following are comments in response to this item.
The most recent comment is at the bottom.

1. By JP. Comment posted 25 July, 2009 1:05pm

   Which videos come from your books? We can always assemble a small army and leave comments on the videos to discredit them.
2. By Jason Sanchez. Comment posted 25 July, 2009 3:12pm

   This is very funny
3. By Jason Sanchez. Comment posted 25 July, 2009 3:18pm

   I checked John's file and the only difference is the title of the chart and the age groups.
4. By Ron. Comment posted 25 July, 2009 5:00pm

   Maybe if we whisper, she won't know that we're talking about her!
5. By Mathias. Comment posted 25 July, 2009 5:06pm

   I am all for JP's approach. Can you list the offending videos and posts?
   This type of behavior is really annoying. To an extent, making videos from your material is adding value, but acknowledging the source is really the minimum that can be expected!
6. By F. Chidester Sr. Comment posted 25 July, 2009 6:19pm

   We can blog her blog - maybe she is to - mmmm maybe it’s better not to say that here, but maybe she thinks we talk in a different language. Go get her John Grrrrrrrrr.
7. By John Walkenbach. Comment posted 25 July, 2009 6:25pm

   Christie responded, and all is cool:
   
   Dear John,
   
   Please accept my sincerest apologies for failing to correctly acknowledge your wonderful book in the video tutorials I posted 18 months ago on YouTube.
   
   I do recall using the examples from the CD which accompanied your book in order to save time. Originally, the screencasts were private and created for a statistics class at Charles Sturt University for the benefit of students who just had no clue how to use Excel. The Excel Bible was a recommended resource for that class.
   
   I am more than happy to acknowledge your work in the YouTube videos. I guess I would do this in the blurb about the video? (I'm still a bit of a screencast/YouTube newbie in many ways). How would you the attribution worded and is there a specific web link I should include?
   
   Alternatively, if you are unhappy with your examples being used on YouTube, I can take the videos down.
   
   I'll wait for your response and, again, offer my apologies.
8. By Mathias. Comment posted 25 July, 2009 7:56pm

   A peaceful resolution, a happy ending! If only everything could work out so nicely.
9. By JP. Comment posted 29 July, 2009 1:28pm

   It's not enough. The videos AND the blog should have proper attribution.
10. By Bob. Comment posted 03 August, 2009 12:52pm

    The perfect resolution would be a meeting of the Christie and John with their beer of choice served.
11. By Matt Healy. Comment posted 17 August, 2009 7:27pm

    Sometime around 1996 if you were listening carefully you may have heard cursing from the direction of central Connecticut. That was the day I opened a book in a Waldenbooks store to discover the author had used some code I wrote without attribution.