This last week alone I've read more than twenty instances of online plagiarism, where articles have been cut-and-pasted into writers' message boards without decent accreditation or proper acknolwedgement of their original source.
The only place where it has been dealt with, in regard to both the laws and the moral, "respect your fellow writer" issues, is here at Absolute Write. The mods here dealt with it very firmly, and not only edited the comments to cut the amount of material plagiarised and to provide a link to the original source, but explained on more than one occasion why such use was not allowed.
Everywhere else it's been allowed to pass without comment, at which point I've challenged it. Even then, it's been insisted that such use is acceptable because it's personal, non-commercial use (which is clearly isn't), and that if the owner of the piece wants to make a fuss, then they are free to do so (assuming, of course, that they find out, which they are unlikely to do unless I tell them).
Most of the works plagiarised came from news sources, although several were from writers' websites.
What are your views on this? Are newspapers and TV stations fair game for this sort of cut-and-paste plagiarism? Would you tell a national paper that their work had been used in direct contravention of their terms and conditions as they are, after all, great big organisations which won't be hurt by a bit of message-board cut-and-pasting? Do you consider the rights of the writer involved, and jump right in and inform them? Or do you think that it's not really your job to police the internet, and move quietly along?
The only place where it has been dealt with, in regard to both the laws and the moral, "respect your fellow writer" issues, is here at Absolute Write. The mods here dealt with it very firmly, and not only edited the comments to cut the amount of material plagiarised and to provide a link to the original source, but explained on more than one occasion why such use was not allowed.
Everywhere else it's been allowed to pass without comment, at which point I've challenged it. Even then, it's been insisted that such use is acceptable because it's personal, non-commercial use (which is clearly isn't), and that if the owner of the piece wants to make a fuss, then they are free to do so (assuming, of course, that they find out, which they are unlikely to do unless I tell them).
Most of the works plagiarised came from news sources, although several were from writers' websites.
What are your views on this? Are newspapers and TV stations fair game for this sort of cut-and-paste plagiarism? Would you tell a national paper that their work had been used in direct contravention of their terms and conditions as they are, after all, great big organisations which won't be hurt by a bit of message-board cut-and-pasting? Do you consider the rights of the writer involved, and jump right in and inform them? Or do you think that it's not really your job to police the internet, and move quietly along?
