Swipe Files Vs. Swiping
February 2nd, 2010 | 
Author: Every good copywriter has a swipe file. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it’s pretty easy to understand. Writers evaluate the work of other writers. They look for good pieces—copy that’s been highly successful—and they keep a copy of it. Why? To study it and to learn from it. They’re interested in figuring out what makes things work and being surrounded by “masterpieces” can be a way to wake up one’s muse. It’s not much different than a budding artist hanging out at the Louvre in hopes of finding that spark of inspiration.
Some people, however, take the “swipe” part of “swipe file” too literally. They look at great copy—particularly headlines—and basically steal them for their own use. This is often done clumsily, utilizing no more than basic word substitution. If they need copy about “widgets”, they’ll take a good “gadgets” headline and just switch out one word for the other.
Hopefully you can spot the ethical problems with that appropriation of intellectual property without much help. You should also know that the swiping technique doesn’t produce good content. Removed from context and lacking uniqueness, the re-manufactured headlines rarely produce good results.
Feel free to build a swipe file.
Stop short of swiping.
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