Many times if something got $300 in rewards it was with the use of bid bots and probably wasn't that well written...or at least not good enough to deserve a $300 payday in the eyes of some. If they find stolen content and you have that level of payout you are guaranteed to end up at zero as the community as a whole will rally behind those that catch it.

This is worth a read if you have time:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@bjgeese/why-are-you-picking-on-me-because-you-are-a-lazy-thief

He was very blunt about the topic so try not to take offense to it. But the message about how using content without permission can effect steemit is pretty dead on. Knowledge is power and now you know about it.

Make sure to find a way to tag me in your next post. I'll check it out and give you an upvote for using all original content. The quality can be lower as long as it's all yours or CC0 images I'll reward you for doing it the right way.