Plagiarism

Della

Della

Well-known Member
Location
Ohio
I've noticed a huge increase in this recently. Many long posts that are copied and pasted from another source without attribution.

Since I consider this a form of theft from the original writer, I'm not comfortable being a part of those threads, particularly if someone complements the plagiarist so that the lie is perpetuated.

I know that the people who write for Wikipedia and many other sites are volunteers who can spend weeks on their pieces, editing, fact checking and rewriting. Whether or not it's against the law, it seems very unfair to take their work and let others assume you wrote it.

Are there any specific rules about this on the forum?
 
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Plagiarism is attributing another's work as your own, as an example, Criminal Simulation. Copyright infringement can be Plagiarism, but not neccessarily. Actual "Fair use" of copyright material, for the sake of a legal premise and argument, is not per se Plagiarism.
 
Della said:
I've noticed a huge increase in this recently. Many long posts that are copied and pasted from another source without attribution.

Since I consider this a form of theft from the original writer, I'm not comfortable being a part of those threads, particularly if someone complements the plagiarist so that the lie is perpetuated.

I know that the people who write for Wikipedia and many other sites are volunteers who can spend weeks on their pieces, editing, fact checking and rewriting. Whether or not it's against the law, it seems very unfair to take their work and let others assume you wrote it.

Are there any specific rules about this on the forum?
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whenever I post articles from the media.. I always leave a link to the original article...or writer
 
I know what you mean, Della, but I think a lot depends on what the post is about. Usually it's pretty obvious that the poster is quoting something, such as a news item which others may not be aware of. The difference in time can mean that the UK is made aware of an event before the US.
However, simply stating facts can give the impression that the poster has done the research her/himself, which is misleading.
 
Lewkat said:
To copy and paste information is not plagiarism unless one claims it to be the poster's.
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Isn't there always an assumption that the person whose avatar is at the top left of the post is the author of that post?

You don't need me to claim that I, Della, just wrote the above to expect it to be mine.
 
Della said:
Isn't there always an assumption that the person whose avatar is at the top left of the post is the author of that post?

You don't need me to claim that I, Della, just wrote the above to expect it to be mine.
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Yes I agree, we do presume unless it's stated otherwise that the person who posted the thread is the author of the post . When we see people writing reams of posts and then adding that they studied history.. or journalism or some other specialist subject, and then we discover everything they've posted has been written by someone else, without them acknowledging that.. that's fake... and dishonest
 
https://cws.auburn.edu/OVPR/pm/tt/copyrightvplagiarism
Yes, thank you for that link, @CallMeKate. It says this regarding plagiarism:

"Plagiarism on the other hand is when someone passed off the work of someone else as one’s own or without acknowledgement of the original source. Plagiarism is avoidable by making sure you always give credit to the original source when using the ideas or works of someone else in your own work. This is an ethical situation that is addressed by university policy and may have negative repercussions if violated, but it is not a legal matter."

I think that's what I'm talking about, an ethical problem. I don't expect anyone here is going to get in legal trouble, although it might depend on the original writer's attitude.
 
Gaer said:
This goes for artwork too! Quotes from other sources should always have quotation marks around them
and the name of who originated the thought. Good point Della!
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..and photography too..

I have seen my photos posted on other websites.. can't do anything about them since I hadn't copyrighted them .. in one way it's flattering, but annoying in another when they claim the photo is theirs.. but without copyright there's little I can do..

I do now however add my signature to my posts ...
 
I think it is good practice when posting to attribute things that have been copied, or even paraphrased to others. I try to.

Sometimes with shorter things I have a hard time remembering if those are really my words or someone else's I heard long ago, liked and memorized. I am probably not the only one. So some inadvertent plagiarism is possible, but here would be no big deal.

No one is making any money off of what they post here, so I doubt any copyright infringement would ever be charged. Damages, if any, too small to matter. I suspect a lot of the media things folks paste in here, even with attribution, would technically be infringement, but in this forum not likely a big (or even small) deal.
 
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hollydolly said:
..and photography too..

I have seen my photos posted on other websites.. can't do anything about them since I hadn't copyrighted them .. in one way it's flattering, but annoying in another when they claim the photo is theirs.. but without copyright there's little I can do..

I do now however add my signature to my posts ...
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Yes, photos too. I had to contact someone (a professor who should have known better!) for using one of my articles to distribute in his class. It was not plagiarism because he did not claim to write it and my copyright notice was right there on it... but he had not requested permission from me (or my publisher in that case) to distribute it, so it was actually copyright infringement. I was flattered (as @hollydolly said!) but my publisher wasn't. :giggle:
 
People used to take our food photos all the time and use them as they wanted to...never bothered us in our business but it
depends on the biz and the use of course. As for photos, lot of companies imprint their names somewhere in the photo...they probably view the use as good possible business for them. We used to pay $1 for every photo we used - belonged to a photo club.
 
Whether it is legal or not to do so, I believe it's ethical to give credit to the author if you wish to use their words, articles, or studies. There are those who don't care about acting morally and will post other people's works as their own. You don't have to be brilliant to figure out who's doing it. ;)
 
Della said:
Isn't there always an assumption that the person whose avatar is at the top left of the post is the author of that post?

You don't need me to claim that I, Della, just wrote the above to expect it to be mine.
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Quite often posters will be asked for the source if one isn't part of what was posted. For me anything long usually I pass on reading it.
 
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