I would be ready to take that thief to the mattresses, starting with a letter from my attorney to the newspaper, advising that they allowed stolen content to be published and giving them X days to publish a correction. Then let them rage on the crook.

Email and paper mail letter to Editor in Chief. Dear Newspaper: Please publish the attached advertisement for me in full color, full page as an apology for stealing my copyrighted work. I expect this to run Saturday and Sunday in the Real Estate section. Also please edit any online version of the stolen copy as to be written by John Meussner with my contact information.  Use a flyer that doesn't address the stolen work, advertise a special product or niche quality you have

May want to inform the editor of the paper, they may be having you as their new columnist.

John, Someone I know had something similar happen and wound up with a lot of free services/advertising from the offending company.  And frankly this is something the agent's broker needs to be hearing about too, because the poor reflection extends to the brokerage too.

First I'd talk to the newspaper person in charge and somehow get this credited to you and then I'd be calling the agent. Unbelievable......geez!

Yet again, Candice A. Donofrio and I are cut from the same cloth.

I think Bob Crane gave you some great advice.  Also you might reach out to Lenn Harley 

First of all, good for you in writing such great stuff!  Second of all, I would contact the newspaper and advise them they published an article that was plagiarized and see what they have to say.  Oh, and call the real estate agent's broker. 

Is the agent on AR?

Wow.... that takes gonads....

I would directly contact the newspaper with proof that it is your article then immediately contact the plagarizer and ask for a public retraction and apology.

I'd be chasing them down with a stick... and I'd be after who ever published the material without checking attribution first. I'd have an attorney write a letter to each at a minimum.

I would immediately reach out to the newspaper, via phone and in writing, and to the agent and the broker, probably through an attorney. It's shameful and a clear copyright violation. Sorry to hear this happened to you, John.

First I would ask, "Where did you get the data?"

So, it is original.

Great!

Now I would do a little homework before having a chat with the agent who benefited from using your IP. GIVE  him/her a chance to make you happy and whole or sharing in improved business.

Or, if you are lacking in those skills, or are solely set on vengeance, go the route recommended by so many others.

PS: According to AR Terms of Use #3, you have forfeited ownership of your blog material. If stolen from AR, then AR may be the one with legal standing to pursue action.

Contact the paper and see what they say. I would contact the agent and let her know that you want to be compensated for the article that you wrote. Keep us posted to the outcome.

Wow!!! I would do just what Anna Banana Kruchten said. On a positive note, great job on writing a plagirism worthy article! ;-) -Kasey

As Kenneth J. Jones wrote. This is unacceptable behavior and that real estate agent needs an education, otherwise this behavior will get out of control.

I side with Kenneth Jones on this one.

      I like the "settle out of court" for free, full color advertisement pages, with your photo, company name, and contact information, for a year or so.

Contact the newspaper.

How unconscionable...!!  Please do contact the editor and let us know the outcome.  

wow, I would call the person out on it.

Maybe he's gonna send you a check ???

I like some of the answers already and really think i would have my lawyer send a letter to teh newspaper as well with a cc to the agent and their managing broker. DO you have a copy we can all see/read?

I would first speak to the agent and demand retraction, then the broker and finally the newspaper. 

I would complain to the agent first - and get her take on why she did what she did. If you don't get a good response (i.e. an apology and credit to the paper), then I would escalate this to the board and the agency. 

You would think agent would have the ethics and decency to credit you for the article. My guess is, she also lied to the newspaper claiming she was the author. I would notify the paper, and they will never accept another article from that person. Also consider notifying her broker.

Wow! I'm surprised that the newspaper didn't check for plagiarism before publishing. It's certainly easy enough with websites like Copyscape.com. Seems like a responsible editor would check. 

I would sic Len Harley on 'em....  you know she's a firearm owner, and proficient with both barrels.

Congratulations on the flattery but one should be original so that wasn't kosher.

I would contact the newspaper and let them know.

Lots of good answers. You could also mention the name to the AR staff.

Kenneth J. Jones nailed this one!

that is plagiarism at best

I would publically nail the bastard. That is a high crime in the author-world. 

I'd have the paper print a correction and credit me. Or...

I'd publish my original article and call out the plagiarist. "If you can't trust his words, how could your trust his service?"

I'd also call my attorney and cash in a favor for a nice scary letter. 

I would contact the newspaper and the agent. 

WOW!!! I'd be following Kenneth J. Jones advice pronto!!

Caroline Gerardo nailed this one!

We would definitely be having a conversation with the newspaper editor

I would ask that person out to lunch and after you were through eating walk out and let them pay the bill

1-800-MY-ATTORNEY with a cease & desist letter both to the newspaper & to the agent. I'm sure that it will embarrass the newspaper to no end!  They hate this stuff.

Good luck John, this is so disappointing for you I'm sure.

Sorry this happened to you. I would contact the person that submitted your work and the newspaper it was published in. I am sure there are articles here on AR that talk about this topic and what can be done about it. Lenn Harley used to write about it quite a bit.  

Inform everyone under the sun that it's blatant plagiarism and cannot be tolerated. The nerve!

First you need to make sure you can verify your posting was the original. If you can.. others have already suggested various options... I think a lawsuit is also an option

John - To tell you the truth, I probably wouldn't know what to do, and ask for advice from my broker. I do not have an attorney, so wouldn't even know where to start with that, plus, probably wouldn't want to pay an attorney hundreds of dollars to write letters for me that probably won't get me anything in the long run anyway.

I would probably report them for an ethics violation.

Nicole Solari has stolen multiple articles and published them in that newspaper along with yours.

You might want to contact some of the other authors who she stole from.

Sounds like a call to the local board to start, then the agent's broker, then the paper for a correction, then the state licensing board and then an attorney. 

Dude just stepped in it BIG TIME.

LOL - you gotta love the gaul of some people

Send a cease and desist email with removal instructions

Congratulations in a real roundabout way for writing such steal-worthy content -- lots of good suggestions especially the one provided by Caroline Gerardo.  It's horrible to learn the thief is an ActiveRain member.   

John Meussner - not right. Can you go after her?

I would be talking to a few people about this and it would not be a vvery polite conversation.

I would thank her and her tell glad she enjoyed "your" article so much that she felt the need to share it however, you would like the credit or you will be contacting an attorney. Good luck.

College was ripe with this when I attended in 2003-2005...Nothing stops anyone from taking ideas from others works and using it. It is the ones that don't take the time and just take the work that get in trouble...What to do? Subjective...to be sure

John Meussner Candice A. Donofrio has the answer to this one.