@themarkymark that was an really interesting post. I have about 5 course which I sell on Udemy. I pride myself on their quality and usefulness - and I made them myself (they are my little digital babies in some respects). Even though I have been on the platform for about 5 years I have noticed that it is incredibly hard to get sales unless you are one of the top instructors.
Even though it is not hard to believe, it is very upsetting and enjoying to hear about people hijacking other's courses and passing them off as their own. It makes me think that Udemy's verification on their instructors and the quality of the courses that they are uploading needs to be more stringent.
The whole idea of being a 'Premium' instructor is that you are delivering your own PREMIUM courses. There are so many great instructors on their that it does them a disservice!