Plagiarism.

[darkangel76]

Quick Note About Plagiarism:

1) BMR does NOT condone plagiarism.

So, do not attempt to take anothers' work (written, artistic, digital, whatever) and make it off to be your own, not give credit where it's due, rework it into something so that you can try and lay claim, etc. You link it if possible, you give that credit and, depending on the situation, you get that permission. Use your head please.

2) If you plagiarize on BMR, what happens?

Simply put, you won't be looked favorably upon by your fellow members. Who likes to have the things they work on stolen? I'm betting no one. Also, if found, the works will be taken down and staff will do what they can to remedy things with the original authors, artists, etc etc. As for the plagiarist? It will be a case by case situation as to the consequence.

3) How do you protect yourself from plagiarism?

There's no 100% perfect way to protect yourself. However, there are things you can do to make it harder. One--when you post something on the internet (stories, art, whatever)....PUT YOUR NAME ON IT, MAKE SURE IT'S DATED! These are big. Two--if they are on a journal/blog or forum, make sure it's one where you can be contacted in some way (ie, the admins can contact you, your email is linked, something) so that you can be notified if needs be. Three--be alert. Just by paying attention to the goings on of things around you, you might be surprised by what you notice...things that seem off or are your own works stolen right from under your nose. Just following these simple precautions will help you out immensely and prevent a lot of potential shenanigans.

So there's your Plagiarism 101 from your friendly BMR Staff. If you have any questions, drop us a PM or what have you. We're here to help you and make sure you're stuff is safe. As always, we're on the look out for you. ; )

DA.

 

[PsionicCuttlefish]

Question.

Plagiarism in regards to standalone stories and artwork is straightforward enough. But what about in regards to roleplays and requests? Example; Person A writes up a certain idea/plot request which Person B likes but for whatever reason can't play out with that specific partner, so Person B duplicates the idea in their own request thread, without 'crediting' the original 'author' of the idea or getting permission. Similarly, say a person reads an active roleplay and decides they want their own version of it, so they put the premise of the RP they read into their own request thread and again, does not 'credit' where they got the idea from. Is any of that considered plagiarism?

Not that I've ever actually done this (yet), but it is something that I've been curious about a few times.

 

[darkangel76]

Personally, I've had this and my actual standalone story writing plagiarized and it's not fun. It's even worse when not just the ideas are taken in full (and I'm not talking a basic run of the mill, but a complex idea that you don't see over and over), but your characters too. I mean, I'd give a little leeway for an idea to an extent, but once my characters are plagiarized on top of it, a line has been crossed with me. However, I'd prefer to be asked first and for the asker to wait to get a definitive answer before proceeding. If they are unable to make that contact, caution should be heeded and credit given. People might wonder how this then relates to fandoms. However fandoms are well established and known and we have section for them. Credit is obvious. That said, if you chose not to ask someone and they got mad and reported you, they'd be within their right to claim 'plagiarism'.

As a note, however, the reason this has been brought up as of late is because we are having issues in Storytelling. People are posting stories that are not their own and trying to pass them off as such. We do not condone that here. If it's found, the stories will be deleted and the original author contacted. Plain and simple. We'll do our best to work with those plagiarizing, but they need to work with us. It's not a one-way street.

 

[PsionicCuttlefish]

Personally, I've had this and my actual standalone story writing plagiarized and it's not fun. It's even worse when not just the ideas are taken in full (and I'm not talking a basic run of the mill, but a complex idea that you don't see over and over), but your characters too. I mean, I'd give a little leeway for an idea to an extent, but once my characters are plagiarized on top of it, a line has been crossed with me. However, I'd prefer to be asked first and for the asker to wait to get a definitive answer before proceeding. If they are unable to make that contact, caution should be heeded and credit given. People might wonder how this then relates to fandoms. However fandoms are well established and known and we have section for them. Credit is obvious. That said, if you chose not to ask someone and they got mad and reported you, they'd be within their right to claim 'plagiarism'.

Huh, I see. So to be on the safe side, if you see a complex idea you like and want to use it yourself, ask the original author first. And plagiarizing original characters is right out, that makes sense. As for asking about ideas, if I were to do this, I'd probably also say that if I don't hear back one way or the other in a reasonable timeframe, I would use the idea anyway (while crediting) so I could at least say I made a good-faith effort just in case of dealing with a flakey person who doesn't always respond to PMs.

As a note, however, the reason this has been brought up as of late is because we are having issues in Storytelling. People are posting stories that are not their own and trying to pass them off as such. We do not condone that here. If it's found, the stories will be deleted and the original author contacted. Plain and simple. We'll do our best to work with those plagiarizing, but they need to work with us. It's not a one-way street.

Ah, I was wondering what prompted this particular announcement.

 

[darkangel76]

I'm still of the mind that I just wouldn't go there and use something until I heard back. I might reconsider if the person was inactive or something, but if they were around? I wouldn't feel comfy just forging ahead without consent. Maybe it's because I've been on the flip side. Who knows. But that's me. However, if you did go ahead and even credit, if that person came to you and asked for removal, etc....you'd have to abide by their wishes. The good, however, is that intent to take and personalize will clearly NOT be there. So you wouldn't have anything to worry about per se. Just that you might have to up and stop/delete because someone got upset and wants you to.

And yeeeeeep. This happened just recently. Such is though.