As reported by Mumbrella, Appliances Online has sacked its digital agency following complaints of content theft.Mumbrella has reported Appliances Online terminated its contract with Sydney-based Stencil HQ with immediate effect after bloggers took to Facebook to lodge complaints about content surfacing on social media without credit.
“This whole page is utilising stolen content,” one blogger, Nagi Maehashi, posted to Appliances Online’s Facebook page. “I have reported my content you have stolen to Facebook, as are many other bloggers.
“I hope you are prepared for this page to be shut down as that is the consequence of stealing people’s work. I must say, I’m appalled. I’m an Australian blogger and I’m so disappointed to see a fellow Australian company stealing people’s hard work without giving credit.”
Stencil HQ has confirmed that an investigation revealed third party content had been used, with a member of staff fired as a result, Mumbrella reported.
Appliances Online CEO John Winning stated via Facebook that it was brought to Appliances Online’s attention “that a third party agency working for us has been using content from bloggers without crediting them”.
“We take this matter very seriously and we have terminated the contract with the third party agency, effective immediately,” Winning stated.
“We are investigating the situation and are actively working with the bloggers involved to try and rectify the situation. As an online business we hold the utmost respect for all bloggers and would never knowingly post images without consent.”
