A
Note from the Webmaster:
If
you are looking for "A Dad's Poem" it
no longer resides
on this Website. Though over 90% of can
still be read here,
the lines that were added to the original poem
have been
removed and the Authors Name and copyright
information
has been added to the poem
It
seems that a Poem copied and used on this
website was
plagiarized and edited though it is
clearly protected under
copyright law. The Author has contacted
this website in order
to help rectify the situation.
The
Author has had the Poem published in several
books:
Chicken Soup for the
Parent's Soul
Stories for a Teen's
Heart book 2
A
Note from the Author
Cheryl
Costello-Forshey
Dear
Readers:
I
need your help . . .
There
is a special little girl that I know who woke up
one morning believing that her daddy would come
home from work at the end of the day just as he’d
always done. Sadly, that would never happen, and
that little girl’s daddy would never be home
again. He wasn’t a fireman, and he didn’t
lose his life during the 9/11 tragedy of 2001,
his death occurred long before that time, but he
was no less heroic to that little girl, and his
death was no less painful to her. It was because
of that little girl’s deep love for her daddy,
and her unwavering faith that his life
continued on in heaven, that inspired me to
write, "Daddy’s Day". It has nothing
to do with the September tragedy of 2001, and
that is why I need your help.
Someone,
a man who shall remain nameless because his name
does not deserve to be mentioned, has added
lines to my poem, "Daddy’s Day",
lines regarding the 9/11 tragedy. My heart aches
tremendously for all those orphaned children of
9/11, but the plagiarized version of my poem
refers to a fireman who lost his life on that
tragic September day. "Daddy’s Day"
(although written because of one little girl)
was written for all the children who’d ever
lost a daddy, not exclusively to the children of
firemen. And one man, by infringing upon my
rights and adding those lines, has taken
something from me, taken something from one
special little girl, and from all the children
that "Daddy’s Day" was written for;
children of teachers, salesmen, factory and
construction workers, etc., and yes . . .
children of firemen.
The
man, who has tried claiming my poem as his own,
felt justified in doing so because he’d found
my poem displayed on the Internet as
"author unknown". "Daddy’s
Day" is protected under the copyright laws,
and it does not fall under public domain no
matter how many times it is passed around
without my name attached. But that didn’t stop
one man from claiming, "Daddy’s Day"
as his own, or from altering my poem with lines
pertaining to 9/11. I wasn’t even aware of
this man’s existence until a few days ago, and
unfortunately, he wasn’t the first to
plagiarize my poem, and sadly, he probably won’t
be the last. That is why it is extremely
important to never display, copy, or circulate
any material without the author’s name
attached.
I
learned from a journalist, who’d received
"Daddy’s Day – author unknown" in
an e-mail, that by typing in a line from my poem
within quotation marks into the google.com
search engine that she was able to track the
author’s name (myself) down within four
seconds. She made me aware that over four
hundred sites were displaying, "Daddy’s
Day", the majority without my name
attached, and numerous of those sites were using
various titles. It was from one of those sites
that undoubtedly, those who have plagiarized my
work viewed or received, "Daddy’s
Day", and the door was left wide open for
them to willingly claim my work as their own.
Normally in the past, it has been fairly easy
eliminating the damage of plagiarists, but this
latest plagiarist has caused tremendous problems
for me, and I could really use your help in
getting his version of my poem off the Internet
once and for all. I know that it won’t be
easy. I know that in all likelihood that it’s
probably impossible, but it’s something that I
have to at least try to do.
I
myself have found over 150 sites displaying the
9/11 version (there may be more). Of course,
that doesn’t include the other sites
displaying my poem without my name attached.
Contacting all of those hundreds of sites will
be a monumental task, but I’m hoping that some
of you will be willing to help me with that
task. By allowing the 9/11 version to remain, I’d
be condoning the act of plagiarism, as well as
copyright infringement, and by not getting my
name rightfully on my work, the door will
continue to be left open for more plagiarists.
Unfortunately, some may even profit from my work
without my knowledge. I’ve already been made
aware of at least two newspapers that have
published my poem as "author unknown".
Those newspapers made no attempt to find me; it
would have been easy enough to do, but I suppose
it was easier to do the wrong thing rather than
the right thing.
Will
you please help me in getting the plagiarized
version of my poem removed from the Internet?
Will you please help me in contacting the sites
that are displaying the correct version of my
poem, but without my name attached, or perhaps
under a wrong title? I know it’s a lot to ask,
but your help would mean so much, not only to
myself, but also to one very special little
girl.
If
you’d like to help, you can find the sites
displaying the 9/11 version of my poem by typing
into the google.com search engine the line,
"You see he was a fireman and died just
this past year".
To
find the sites displaying the correct version of
my poem, but without my name attached; you would
need to type into the google.com search engine,
a line from my poem such as, "Today was
daddy’s day at school".
For
all of those who are willing to help, thank you
and may God bless you tremendously. For those
that can’t . . . I completely understand.
Hugs
and much happiness,
Cheryl
Costello-Forshey
Author
of, Daddy’s Day©2000