copying and plagarizing.

[mcfbridge]

Is it acceptable for members to produce files which are an expansion of existing themes or stories without the consent of the original author?
yes
no
Only when the original author is unclear


Your vote is shown above. You can change your vote until the poll is concluded.



The above poll is actually running at a Yahoo group called Arrogant Women Embarrassed. Personally, I find it appalling that anyone thinks there is even a chance that this is acceptable.

However, this poll was created because a woman took a story she had not written and posted it to this group, adding pictures to illustrate it. She didn't manage to contact the author and no one in the group seemed to think this was a problem.

This poll was started when I objected.


I really would like some feedback on this. Am I making too much of this, or is this as offensive to you as it is to me.

Personally, I am very picky about where my work is posted. I really don't want it on every website on the internet without my permission. Yes, I know that realistically I can't stop it, but I do try to when I can.

If you are as upset about this as I am, please log into this group and vote in this poll.

 

[cloudy]

I'm in complete agreement with you. It's not acceptable at all, end of story.

Got a link so I can go vote?

 

[Guest]

I pitty the fools who cannot write, or read.

 

[Guest]

It is completely unacceptable. It's a breach of copyright and therefore it's theft.

Lou

 

[mcfbridge]

I'm in complete agreement with you. It's not acceptable at all, end of story.

Got a link so I can go vote?

Here is the link to the poll. You will probably have to subscribe to the group before you can vote.


[url]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArrogantWomenEmbarrassed/surveys?id=1431170[/url]

 

[Black Tulip]

I'll go over and vote. Absolutely unacceptable.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

Except where the author has given or sold his rights to the original story/novel, to a publishing house to become a series, the answer is a decided NO!

An example of what I mentioned above is the Nancy Drew series, or the Hardy Boys series. The author who created and wrote the first several stories (under a pseudonym) eventually sold both the series, and his (pen) name to the publisher. From then on, house writers were assigned as the publisher saw fit.

Some writers do write further adventures of classic characters — "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" by Nicholas Meyer, for example — but only with the copyright holder's permission, or after the copyright has run out.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

No. It isn't just a moral question, it's a legal one too. It's breech of copyright. if it's really bugging you, you should report it to a moderator at Yahoo. They will probably take it down reguardless of the Poll's "findings"

-Colly

 

[Mhari]

100% unacceptable.

However...apparently, these days people are being taught that it's okay to use someone's work without proper citation, etc. What you've encountered may be an offshoot of this horrifying trend.

I taught history at a new college this past semester. They had to write papers. Before their first paper, I briefly went over plagiarism and proper citation. They all claimed they understood. Then I received 50 papers, 45 of which had *no* citations whatsoever. Research papers. With no citations. When I, appalled, queried the students about just what the hell they thought they were doing, they said that their high schools teach that unless something is a direct quote, it needn't be cited.

I slapped them around a bit (verbally), but I swear they still don't understand what constitutes plagiarism.

Not quite the same as what you're talking about, but I can see how being taught lax rules about plagiarism could lead to "Well, it's okay to just take this person's story".

*shudder*

~M, appalled

 

[Guest]

Zdrast', Mhari. You caused me to think of something re. students 'today', at least in the U.S. I finished my degree at fifty and was in classes with the average-age student. In English lit. classes especially, professors always explained plagiarism in depth; yet students plagiarised. It seemed to me that they did not really understand what "research" was, and then what it meant to think cirtically about their subject and put the research to use. Sometimes it seemed they just thought the research was 'extra reading' and they had to prove they'd done it by quoting it. (!?!)

I thought then that unless someone deliberately plagiarizes to pass something off as 'their' work, I'd work with what they had done to explain what they should have done, or should do next. Yeah, that's a lot of work for a uni prof. who expects her students to have a certain level of scholarship, but it's easy for me to say as I'm not a teacher . Just thought I'd give you my two rubles.

Perdita

 

[Mhari]

I definitely take your point, Perdita, and I did (with this last class) attempt to do that, on a large scale. (I mean, almost *everyone* in the class plagiarized!) Where I had been teaching prior to this semester, students somehow seemed a bit more grounded in what plagiarism is. (Perhaps because the school has a strict honor code that gets pounded into their little skulls throughout the week of Freshman Orientation.)

The thing is...when I was in high school, I was taught precisely what plagiarism was and how to avoid it. (I was actually taught that in 4th grade, but I don't think they really cared much till we got to HS.) It's not a difficult concept to grasp, and I don't understand why it isn't being taught now. Honestly, every year it seems like the kids come to us with less and less knowledge. It makes me wonder just what *is* being taught in our schools. (But that is another thread entirely!)

~M

 

[Weird Harold]

However, this poll was created because a woman took a story she had not written and posted it to this group, adding pictures to illustrate it. She didn't manage to contact the author and no one in the group seemed to think this was a problem.

This poll was started when I objected.


I really would like some feedback on this. Am I making too much of this, or is this as offensive to you as it is to me

Personally, I think you're making too much of this.

In the specific case that prompted your poll, the "offender" did NOT apparently change the story or claim it as her own, nor is she apparently making any sort of profit from the story and she apparently did make an attempt to gain permission to use the story as an adjunct to her artwork.


I think her actions could be possibly be defended in a court of law as "fair use" because "fair use" is a huge loophole in the copyright laws -- especially where the original author is an uncontactable psuedonym and/or makes no objection to the use.

Copyright laws exist to protect "intellectual property" and insure that one person's work is not claimed as another person's work. That doesn't seem to be the case in this instance -- one author's work is used as an adjunct to an artist's artwork and is NOT being claimed as the artist's work.

 

[FlyontheWall99]

My take is it is unacceptable 100% of the time. The only time another writer should be joining in on a series or contributing to a story is with the express permission of the author. I enjoy listening to other readers and writers ideas and collaborating. It's a fruitful relationship for both parties. But if I was ever asked if another author could pick up on one of my series I would be very guarded in giving permission. Simply put, my words, characters and ideas are mine and mine alone .....

 

[dr_mabeuse]

If you wander over to the Chyoo sextion of Lit you'll see this going on all the time. In Chyoo you can write a chapter to an ongoing story and anyone can add on to your story as they wish.

I suppose this is different, though, because everyone who posts there knows how it works.

I also wonder whether fan fiction doesn't fall under this heading too. If you're writing some Star Trek story, aren't you plagiarizing the characters and situations from someone else's story?

---dr.M.

 

[mcfbridge]

If you wander over to the Chyoo sextion of Lit you'll see this going on all the time. In Chyoo you can write a chapter to an ongoing story and anyone can add on to your story as they wish.

I suppose this is different, though, because everyone who posts there knows how it works.

I also wonder whether fan fiction doesn't fall under this heading too. If you're writing some Star Trek story, aren't you plagiarizing the characters and situations from someone else's story?

---dr.M.

You make an excellent point. Certainly any published Star Trek, Star Wars, or any other book based on a series has to get the permission of the creators or owners of the series before publication. Why do we allow stories to be submitted which are based on copyrighted material?

 

[oggbashan]

I just did a google search on 'oggbashan'.

Many of my stories have been posted, without my permission, on pay to view sites.

I don't know if their customers are going to be enthralled by my writing. I don't think any of my stories fit in 'Anal Teens' for example.
.

Og

 

[cloudy]

I just did a google search on 'oggbashan'.

Many of my stories have been posted, without my permission, on pay to view sites.

I don't know if their customers are going to be enthralled by my writing. I don't think any of my stories fit in 'Anal Teens' for example.
.

Og

Og, that's scary. It'd be hard to do a search with my handle here - too common a word. But then, I'm not near as prolific as you.

 

[FlyontheWall99]

You make an excellent point. Certainly any published Star Trek, Star Wars, or any other book based on a series has to get the permission of the creators or owners of the series before publication. Why do we allow stories to be submitted which are based on copyrighted material?

I supposethe magic line is drawn at erotica writers and other members of Lit. I 've never used other authors characters from an existing series in my stories nor have I ever been tempted. It's an interesting balancing act though ....