A good example...

[laptopwriter]

A few weeks ago I was griping about Lit rejecting a story of mine saying it didn't allow rewrites of other author's stories. I wrote here that I have seen this done many times and got bombarded with negative comments saying I was plagiarizing even though I only used two sentences from the original story and even paraphrased them in my own vernacular. Several of you said they've never seen someone else actually rewriting another author's story on Lit.

This is copied and pasted from the prologue of an author who is running his story currently and obviously had no problem getting his story publish on Lit even though he literally copied and pasted a good portion of the original story.

(The first part of this tale up until the ***** break will be copy/pasted from Agena's tale itself. Everything after that will be all me. That is the pivotal point in the tale for me, so it's where I'm going to take over.)

 

[Stella_Omega]

The owners of the site, and most of the public as well, have a very shaky notion of what "plagiarism" actually is.

 

[GradeACdnBeef]

Perhaps it's because the author was up front about the fact that the section was a quotation and not original. Even rephrasing can be a bit of an issue, though, I think it would be a perfect start if you were trying to be sarcastic about the original authors writing. 50 shades comes to mind.

 

[sr71plt]

Stella's right about the understandings of the Web site and many of its users.

I don't see any links to anything, so don't really know what you are trying to show--beyond that, though, finding other examples of it on the Web site doesn't lessen my view of it being lazy and sleazy anyway.

 

[Tx Tall Tales]

A few weeks ago I was griping about Lit rejecting a story of mine saying it didn't allow rewrites of other author's stories. I wrote here that I have seen this done many times and got bombarded with negative comments saying I was plagiarizing even though I only used two sentences from the original story and even paraphrased them in my own vernacular. Several of you said they've never seen someone else actually rewriting another author's story on Lit.

This is copied and pasted from the prologue of an author who is running his story currently and obviously had no problem getting his story publish on Lit even though he literally copied and pasted a good portion of the original story.

(The first part of this tale up until the ***** break will be copy/pasted from Agena's tale itself. Everything after that will be all me. That is the pivotal point in the tale for me, so it's where I'm going to take over.)

Not the greatest example. The site had Iron Dragon pull that story and he's rewriting it, for having too much of the original author's text, even though it was an invitational story.

Using elements of another's story with permission is generally approved. Continuations are approved. Rewrites tend to get examined carefully. You are correct though. I've seen stories on here that have gotten away with massive rewrites.

In my version of The Joke, I purposely selected a couple of paragraphs of the author's continuation, to maintain the same characterization. I mentioned that, and had no issues from the readers, so I'm not sure what the issue was in yours. Without links, I didn't go back to check.

As Stella and sr71plt said, the site is not always consistent, and many people around her don't have a firm understanding of what plagiarism is.

If you would like to learn about plagiarism, study magic. Magicians are insanely protective of everything they do. If you develop a trick and claim it as your own, you'd better learn the history and provenance of every single element, and provide attribution or they will come down on you like a ton of bricks. If you're borrowing an idea from someone else, even if it's only as inspiration, just say it. It doesn't cost you anything to give credit where it's due. I had a good friend who was a Magician and helped him while he was writing a book of some of this best routines. The amount of research that went into that book was astounding. After almost a year of effort, the book was sent out to a dozen or so 'experts' for review and testimonials. He received an avalanche of comments, questions, and additional history. It was extremely daunting, and eye opening.

 

[Celedriel]

 

[sr71plt]

First, who are you calling "screaming idiots"?

Second, who do you think you're foolling? Hire a private investigator to follow up on a story that you slapped on a free-use Web site? Guess you really do think we're screaming idiots to swallow that.

 

[Celedriel]

lol that's rich

 

[sr71plt]

Sure you would, wink, wink.

That's just a bunch of ignorant, empty bravado (speaking of screaming idiots).

Let's see hands of those who believe her.

(And apparently you don't read none too good, as that post you erased tagged thread posters for screaming idiots for something that none of them posted. )

 

[horrorotica]

I feel sad for a so-called writer who can't come with their own ideas for a story. The thrill of writing for me is taking an idea and developing it into a story. Where's the fun in developing someone else's ideas? Where's the merit in that?

I have nothing against people using a mish-mash of ideas they have read in other stories to create their own stories. Nothing new under the sun and all that. But taking someone's words and passing them off as your own is a low act.

 

[sr71plt]

But taking someone's words and passing them off as your own is a low act.

Not that that has anything to do with the topic of this thread.