Plagiarism and A Free Site

[Lifestyle66]

I read a Loving Wives story which posted today, and when reviewing the comments, several pointed out that the story was plagiarized from one written five years ago. So, I looked up the other earlier version. Sure enough, the poorly written newer version was somewhat different in the opening and structure of the story. But there are whole paragraphs and the entire plot pulled from the original story, with only some new additions to the beginning.

As an example (from the original "The Meeting" posted by "TRYTSTYN"
***************************************************
The corporate lawyer started the proceedings off. I had known him for years and to say he was disgusted by what they were doing was an understatement. He had wanted to resign from representing the company, but I had actually asked him to stay on to help implement the terms of the divorce and ensure the remaining employee's interests were looked after. He pushed some paperwork over to me.

"Robert Williams, it is my sad duty to inform you that you are being released, effectively immediately, from your duties and offices as President and CEO of Wil-Cor Industries. You will be allowed supervised access to your office to remove any personal effects at a mutually agreed upon time."

"Thank you Peter I know this is difficult for you as we have been friends and colleagues for a long time. I have already cleaned out my office. We can discuss the terms of my severance payments at a later date though."
**************************************************



And from today's story (from today's story "My Greedy Wife" by "loveofmylife75"
**************************************************
My corporate lawyer started the proceedings off. He had wanted to resign from representing the company. But I had already asked him. To stay on. To help put in place. The terms of the divorce. To ensure the employee's interests are looked after. Then he pushed some paperwork over to me.

"James Thornton, it is my sad duty to inform you that you are being released. Effectively immediately. From your duties and offices. As President and Managing Director of Thornton Industries. You will be allowed supervised access to your office. To remove any personal effects at a mutually agreed upon time," he said to me.

"Thank you so much, Paul. I know this has been difficult for you as we have been friends and colleagues for a long time. I have already cleaned out my office. Can we discuss the terms of my severance payments at a later date though," I said to him.
************************************************************


That's just a brief sample, but there's substantially more with identical wording throughout the story. (Yes, the newer story's punctuation REALLY sucks!)

I have to wonder what goes on in the heads of some people to blatantly copy & paste the work of others, ... and on a web site which provides ZERO compensation! Is it merely to build up a following and for the views? Or do they think they actually provided some value-added to the original with maybe a 20% change in additional fluff of a beginning (and worse grammar, even when copying & pasting)?

 

[SimonDoom]

That's an extremely obvious and blatant example of plagiarism and copyright infringement. It's clearly against Site policy, and I imagine the Site would take down work 2 if it found out.

 

[NoTalentHack]

That's such a weird thing to do, especially for this particular writer. I'm not a fan of his work--too many grammar/punctuation errors drive me absolutely nuts when I try to read it, for one--but he's had some decently novel ideas here and there and a long list of stories. Not sure why he'd do that.

 

[Yarglenurp]

I read a Loving Wives story which posted today, and when reviewing the comments, several pointed out that the story was plagiarized from one written five years ago. So, I looked up the other earlier version. Sure enough, the poorly written newer version was somewhat different in the opening and structure of the story. But there are whole paragraphs and the entire plot pulled from the original story, with only some new additions to the beginning.

As an example (from the original "The Meeting" posted by "TRYTSTYN"
***************************************************
The corporate lawyer started the proceedings off. I had known him for years and to say he was disgusted by what they were doing was an understatement. He had wanted to resign from representing the company, but I had actually asked him to stay on to help implement the terms of the divorce and ensure the remaining employee's interests were looked after. He pushed some paperwork over to me.

"Robert Williams, it is my sad duty to inform you that you are being released, effectively immediately, from your duties and offices as President and CEO of Wil-Cor Industries. You will be allowed supervised access to your office to remove any personal effects at a mutually agreed upon time."

"Thank you Peter I know this is difficult for you as we have been friends and colleagues for a long time. I have already cleaned out my office. We can discuss the terms of my severance payments at a later date though."
**************************************************



And from today's story (from today's story "My Greedy Wife" by "loveofmylife75"
**************************************************
My corporate lawyer started the proceedings off. He had wanted to resign from representing the company. But I had already asked him. To stay on. To help put in place. The terms of the divorce. To ensure the employee's interests are looked after. Then he pushed some paperwork over to me.

"James Thornton, it is my sad duty to inform you that you are being released. Effectively immediately. From your duties and offices. As President and Managing Director of Thornton Industries. You will be allowed supervised access to your office. To remove any personal effects at a mutually agreed upon time," he said to me.

"Thank you so much, Paul. I know this has been difficult for you as we have been friends and colleagues for a long time. I have already cleaned out my office. Can we discuss the terms of my severance payments at a later date though," I said to him.
************************************************************


That's just a brief sample, but there's substantially more with identical wording throughout the story. (Yes, the newer story's punctuation REALLY sucks!)

I have to wonder what goes on in the heads of some people to blatantly copy & paste the work of others, ... and on a web site which provides ZERO compensation! Is it merely to build up a following and for the views? Or do they think they actually provided some value-added to the original with maybe a 20% change in additional fluff of a beginning (and worse grammar, even when copying & pasting)?

There are so many people out here who really have nothing of value to offer to the world. They just want a modicum of attention and they don’t care if they have to steal to get it.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Well, the story is down. Did the author at least say that he was "inspired" by that older story? This seems so blatantly silly.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

That happened to me with my Summer Lovin' story just two days after it was posted a few weeks ago. A new "author" copied my story, mangled and truncated it, and then posted it with my copyright tag still on it. I'm not sure how it slipped through, even thinking it was a posting mix up at first, but Laurel sent me a nice note when it was taken down and the poster was banned.

Strange things....

 

[Lifestyle66]

That's such a weird thing to do, especially for this particular writer. I'm not a fan of his work--too many grammar/punctuation errors drive me absolutely nuts when I try to read it, for one--but he's had some decently novel ideas here and there and a long list of stories. Not sure why he'd do that.

But are they HIS novel ideas? Or might there be even more from other stories from the past?

Once we see such a blatant example, I have to question the author's other stories and where they might have come from.

 

[Yarglenurp]

But are they HIS novel ideas? Or might there be even more from other stories from the past?

Once we see such a blatant example, I have to question the author's other stories and where they might have come from.

Yeah… generally for these things, when you catch someone, it’s not the first time they do it, it’s just the first time they’ve been caught.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

I'd like to point out that this is the THIRD story posted by that particular author I have heard about, that people quickly pointed out as blatant plagiarism. Dude has a pattern.

*EDIT*: Here's the last one that also made it into the forum.

 

[NoTalentHack]

I'd like to point out that this is the THIRD story posted by that particular author I have heard about, that people quickly pointed out as blatant plagiarism. Dude has a pattern.

Well, there ya go, then.

 

[SimonDoom]

Well, the story is down. Did the author at least say that he was "inspired" by that older story? This seems so blatantly silly.

I messaged the author directly, after seeing Lifestyle66's post, so it's possible he removed it after getting my message.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I messaged the author directly, after seeing Lifestyle66's post, so it's possible he removed it after getting my message.

He removed it? It's Laurel who removes a story, no? I'd say it's way more likely that she saw this thread or that someone reported the story.
Then again, why doesn't she simply ban the guy who repeatedly plagiarizes stories? Why would anyone who repeatedly tramples over the website's rules, and even the rules of the basic ethics of writing, stop doing their shit if there is no punishment? The worst that could happen to the guy is that someone recognizes passages from a story and reports it as plagiarism and then that story gets taken down. The same goes for other kinds of abuse. This policy of Laurel's completely baffles the mind.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

He removed it? It's Laurel who removes a story, no? I'd say it's way more likely that she saw this thread or that someone reported the story.
Then again, why doesn't she simply ban the guy who repeatedly plagiarizes stories?

Yes, Laurel would remove it, not the author. As for the ban, she did that quickly with the person who ripped off my story (their first submittal, don't I feel honored!), but she's probably checking to see if there are more than one instance since this person has so many stories. With at least two cases confirmed, it shouldn't take much to find more and take them all down and ban the poster.

 

[RejectReality]

More than once, I've seen where the original author has an account on another site, and the story was stolen from there. The thieves don't even think to check whether you're on multiple sites. I had it happen with one of mine on another site. It was stolen from here ( complete with a couple of errors I'd fixed before posting it on the other site ) and posted over there. To add insult to injury, it was marked with a Recommended Read award over there when the original hadn't received one. The one with the errors stolen by someone else had gotten the award.

At least when I reported it, they banned the thief, and the mod who had awarded the RR to it transferred it to my story.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I have to wonder what goes on in the heads of some people to blatantly copy & paste the work of others, ... and on a web site which provides ZERO compensation! Is it merely to build up a following and for the views? Or do they think they actually provided some value-added to the original with maybe a 20% change in additional fluff of a beginning (and worse grammar, even when copying & pasting)?

Some people seem to get off just on the attention and the kudos for a work that isn't actually theirs. I can't relate, but I've seen it so many times in situations like this where there's no tangible reward.

 

[lovecraft68]

That's such a weird thing to do, especially for this particular writer. I'm not a fan of his work--too many grammar/punctuation errors drive me absolutely nuts when I try to read it, for one--but he's had some decently novel ideas here and there and a long list of stories. Not sure why he'd do that.

I clicked on him, and it says he has 94 stories, but yet only one shows up from last year.

 

[SimonDoom]

He removed it? It's Laurel who removes a story, no? I'd say it's way more likely that she saw this thread or that someone reported the story.
Then again, why doesn't she simply ban the guy who repeatedly plagiarizes stories? Why would anyone who repeatedly tramples over the website's rules, and even the rules of the basic ethics of writing, stop doing their shit if there is no punishment? The worst that could happen to the guy is that someone recognizes passages from a story and reports it as plagiarism and then that story gets taken down. The same goes for other kinds of abuse. This policy of Laurel's completely baffles the mind.

You are correct. I like to think that he responded to my comment by asking Laurel to remove the story. Maybe he didn't say why. Maybe Laurel never saw this thread. Who knows. I will tend to give someone the benefit of the doubt until the evidence proves it's not warranted to do so.

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't approve of anyone stealing another's story, but in threads like this I always remind people that if you don't want your work lifted, don't post it on a free site like this.

No, people shouldn't plagiarize, but yes, they do.

Posting here is a risk/reward.

 

[Lifestyle66]

You are correct. I like to think that he responded to my comment by asking Laurel to remove the story. Maybe he didn't say why. Maybe Laurel never saw this thread. Who knows. I will tend to give someone the benefit of the doubt until the evidence proves it's not warranted to do so.

He POSTED a highly plagiarized version of another author's story claiming it as his own. And as been pointed out by OverconfidentSarcasm it's the third time for that author that this has happened.

There were others leaving comments of plagiarism on his story at the time I read it! And one commenter even pointed out that he deleted their first warning comment! Others were then commenting his story was plagiarized and they were going to report it!

 

[ChloeTzang]

I'm a bit more forgiving about plagiarizing on this site anyhow. When I started here I had no real idea of how to write and I did exactly that, plagiarized someone elses story as a starting point, I think because I read some best selling author somewhere saying that a good way to start was to take something you liked and rewrite it in your own words. So that was more or less what I did, expect it was a few too little rewritten words and a few too many copied, so of course it got rejected eventually. Lauren was very forgiving tho - after 3 or 4 rewrites it eventually made it thru and by then it was original, except for the plot of course. LOL.

So I am quite forgiving of new authors who are learning. It's actually not a bad way to start - the rejections force you to edit and rewrite. Only happened to me with my first story and it was a great education. So when I see others doing it, I shrug and say good luck.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I don't approve of anyone stealing another's story, but in threads like this I always remind people that if you don't want your work lifted, don't post it on a free site like this.

No, people shouldn't plagiarize, but yes, they do.

Posting here is a risk/reward.

Or not post at all. I've seen KDP authors mention how they got their work copied, and it was on KDP for sale.

 

[Omenainen]

He POSTED a highly plagiarized version of another author's story claiming it as his own. And as been pointed out by OverconfidentSarcasm it's the third time for that author that this has happened.

There were others leaving comments of plagiarism on his story at the time I read it! And one commenter even pointed out that he deleted their first warning comment! Others were then commenting his story was plagiarized and they were going to report it!

Ah, but you see, now it’s “Simon says stop stealing”

 

[Lifestyle66]

Ah, but you see, now it’s “Simon says stop stealing”

On a free site like this, I just have to wonder at the mentality behind such an act. They're not making any money off of plagiarizing another's work, and in this case even deliberately changed the punctuation to F!@# it up! Was that to try getting it past any automated method of comparing it to earlier posted stories?

But, Yeah, I agree Simon is being rather arrogant in believing that the author took down the post due to HIS e-mail ... (after so many other comments and even prior violations, LOL.)

 

[Yarglenurp]

On a free site like this, I just have to wonder at the mentality behind such an act. They're not making any money off of plagiarizing another's work, and in this case even deliberately changed the punctuation to F!@# it up! Was that to try getting it past any automated method of comparing it to earlier posted stories?

But, Yeah, I agree Simon is being rather arrogant in believing that the author took down the post due to HIS e-mail ... (after so many other comments and even prior violations, LOL.)

You underestimate how desperate some people are for even a bit of attention.

 

[Omenainen]

On a free site like this, I just have to wonder at the mentality behind such an act. They're not making any money off of plagiarizing another's work, and in this case even deliberately changed the punctuation to F!@# it up! Was that to try getting it past any automated method of comparing it to earlier posted stories?

I don’t get it either. If I post a picture somewhere that’s made by, say, Picasso, and then people tell me how great it is, what’s in it for me? Because the praise that’s not about something that I’ve done is just… nothing to do with me. I sincerely can’t understand that. Now if someone is trying to make money off it then at least there’s some tangible motive, though thoroughly morally reprehensible.