Ahhh... plagiarism. Every time I have to hand in a college assignment I have to sign a plagiarism declaration form, which is only right. But while I respect the general idea behind it, a point recently came up in my varsity newspaper, where a student claimed he hated the idea of plagiarism, not because of its implementation at university level, but because of this.
Say for instance, you come up with a radically brilliant idea that is your own intellectual work, your own research, whatever, only to find out that some old bloke who lived 200 - 300 years ago had the exact same ideas. What would that be considered as? How would you convince your superior that it really is your own idea?
Lyla, I've come across such several times. I've had a great idea for a story - only to find out someone's happened to have had a very similar idea before. Then I've gotten discouraged to use that since I'd fear people would consider it - yes, plagiarism.
Ditto. That's what I fear as well. How on earth do you convince someone the idea is really and truly your own? Hmm, I notice this doesn't seem to apply to many RPGs of today. Most of them just use the same ideas over and over again... ><
Let's not twist around what plagiarism is and isn't. The list I gave was pretty clear, and when in doubt, cite. Check out the website I provided. It states that it is rare for two people to have the exact same "brilliant" thought in the same context.
Easy enough, eh? Even scholars with original ideas give citations for giving their thesis or argument support. Citations and bibliographic info is gathered through doing research. It is one thing to write about something, or create an art piece with a similar theme, than blatantly steal intellectual ideas and attempt to pass them off as your own. That is called intentional plagiarism: plagiarism.org/plag_article_educational ... ntion.html
The key point of this thread is that it's wrong to take anything of someone else's work and attempt to pass it off as your own. Doing so is called fraud.
That doesn't stop Anime and manga creators. Nor video game makers.
Anime hashes the same ideas around all the time. So do video games. In fact, the anime/manga industry gets away with it all the time.
Two people can have the same ideas and write out their stories. That's exactly how all those romance novels with the same generic plot get published, no one sues.
In fact, someone is suing Stephanie meyers because one of her twilight books is similar to her own. She also has a valid grounds for plaigarism.
The link is very safe for work but I won't post it. Posts of some people get scrutinized alot.
The point is, original ideas really don't exist anymore. Anyone who writes anything or makes anything is taking from their experiences of what they've read and seen and putting it down on paper. Same with games.
Getting too caught up in plaigarism means that nothing ever gets published or made. There has to be a legal grey area or else no one could ever use anything.
That Grey area is what allows every romance novel/vampire story and Anime/manga to rehash the same ideas over and over.
Besides, you can't really sue over Fan Fiction/Fan Games/Fan artwork to begin with. That is the grey area.
I couldn't disagree more, and I make this statement as a librarian.
Look in the back of published books and you'll see a bibliography. Authors give credit to any information borrowed. This is basic knowledge you learn in Writing 101.
I can say with absolute certainty that my own meager fanfiction has been plagiarized. This includes others "being heavily influenced by" my own work without asking my permission nor crediting me, for that matter. While this can be flattering to many, all in all, it is dishonest.
I'm an author to and of what I won't brag. There is no point. It's none of anyone's business.
I'll show you a dozen books or even a dozen shows using the same ideas and plot schemes. Even a dozen tokatsu shows and such..
The first story a child writes and the stories they make up with their toys are influenced by events around them. What they read or see on TV. It is then that the creative edge comes and you add something different to a formula.
Heck, I have a story and I use a city called Crystal Tokyo which is something I thought of and is different from anything else and yet.. Certain people read it and immediately think the name was ripped off.
Tanith has read one of my stories and anyone on this board would read it and probably accuse me of stealing some idea from somewhere even though I haven't. That is the damn problem.
Medical journals and literature are not the same as fantasy/scifi/unreal things.
In fact, the only originality really lies in Medical journals/research/experiments. I'll give you that.
As for the fantasy/scifi/imaginary medium? Very few original ideas exist.
Anyways, my post keeps switching places by someone editing things so I kindly make my way out of this argument. LOL My apologies.
Last edited by Rick on Sun Jun 20, '10, 11:04 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Mind how personal you make this. Anything interpreted as direct hostility is against the site's rules.
That said, Srijita is one of my best friends and has openly shared that she is an author. I am merely stating facts when I say that as a librarian I can pull her journals off a database and/or periodical shelf, which I have, and read them to boot. Now, kindly tell me how is that a boast?
Sure. But I'll also show you that bibliographies are part of books, as well. Anything that is directly taken from another author is plagiarism. That is a fact. Authors who know what they're doing give credit. How is that difficult to understand?
Unless you can provide evidence to said statement, then you can say anything of the sort. The issue is whether your accusation has merit. I, as well as two other members on this site, can give direct evidence as to how my own fanfiction has been plagiarized from someone who has been known to plagiarize, anyhow. And I will agree that it is a problem.
Where did I say they were the same thing? I didn't.
I disagree. Medical doctors and professionals attend seminars and, considering their profession and expertise, are aware of new research and discoveries. Generally, they write their journals and books based upon research that is known within the field. You can't box certain subjects and say, "Well, this is a medical terminology book, so this has more originality than any other book in any other field." Show me evidence (statistical) that supports your claim. Until then, it's unsupported and unreasonable.
Says who? You are giving human creativity and intellectuality too little credit.
Last edited by Rune_Walsh on Mon Jun 21, '10, 4:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
You made a point of noting that although certain aspects of your story were similar to a certain other something, at least you noted it, and as far as I know, you took no ideas verbatim from other sources.
I think there's a major distinction between similar ideas and outright fraud, and plagiarism isn't about merely similar ideas. At the point when a similar idea crosses the line into same words exactly, or same story completely, then it's plagiarism. And as RW pointed out, when in doubt, cite. Cite, cite, cite.
Yes but someone said they were afraid to write their story because someone had a similar basic idea. That is the problem I am referring to. That person shouldn't be afraid of plaigarism in that case.
Similar ideas isn't plaigarism. That is when you take plaigarism too far. The similar ideas is the grey area I mentioned. Taking a story, changing a few words or omitting paragraphs and a different ending is plaigarism.
Outright word for word copy is plaigarism. Paraphrasing without reference is too.
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, '10, 7:59 pm 
