What to do in a case of plagiarism

While I realize that to copy another person's words verbatim and post as your own is actually a form of flattery, I do not appreciate it being done without permission and/or at least a credit to the author. Here on ATS, we are under a strict guideline to link and credit anything we use from other authors and sites. I would expect the same courtesy from the other end I guess.

I received an email from a friend pointing to an exact replica of my thread:A moment for the innocent that are about to die on another site. Not even a mention of ATS as being a source.

What do we do in these cases? Do we email the user, the site or post here and let ATS handle it?

It's happened to a few of my threads but at least they used only pieces of it and that was ok I guess. But this was used verbatim.

Here: forum.bodybuilding.com...

Or just leave it alone completely?

Peace

reply to post by jude11


Personally, I would email the owner's of that site, and join, and post up the corrections in that page, along with a reminder to please link original authors. I'd keep it nice, but I'd join, post, email, then watch the responses.

Yep, that was pretty flagrant, they only changed ATS to misc. Geez. Yeah, I'd pursue that over on their forum, as ATS has no ability to remove off-site content. They can only police their own backyard, not the neighbors.

Originally posted by Druid42
reply to post by jude11

 

Personally, I would email the owner's of that site, and join, and post up the corrections in that page, along with a reminder to please link original authors. I'd keep it nice, but I'd join, post, email, then watch the responses.

Yep, that was pretty flagrant, they only changed ATS to misc. Geez. Yeah, I'd pursue that over on their forum, as ATS has no ability to remove off-site content. They can only police their own backyard, not the neighbors.

If I remember reading on ATS somewhere, all original content posted on site becomes ATS property so that's why I mentioned it. But I think you're right. Just go after the author?(loosely used term) and let him/her know that it just ain't cool.

If it were a published work and I was getting paid, that would be different but damn! At least a credit would have been nice.

I had a few others here ask to use it on their own forum and FB actually. Gladly gave permission. But to not be asked is the insult.

Oh well...

reply to post by jude11


I would definitely make a polite post reminding the OP to please credit the source of his info. I would love to see the reaction of the community as well as the OP......and the OP did this on a bodybuilding site of all places where its most likely going to be ignored by the majority of forum users considering the subject matter of the site. Pursue it with civility....one thing my HS ancient history teacher taught me is that plagiarism is not acceptable and not a proper way to expand on ideas.

I would contact a mod here and ask them what to do.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I would contact a mod here and ask them what to do.

I think a Mod will chime in here somewhere.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting my knickers in a twist about it. Just curious as to what members and/or a Mod would do and that's where I'll go.

It's so easy to ask permission of the author as that's what I do myself, so it's what I would expect of others I guess.

Peace

Originally posted by topherman420
reply to post by jude11

 

I would definitely make a polite post reminding the OP to please credit the source of his info. I would love to see the reaction of the community as well as the OP......and the OP did this on a bodybuilding site of all places where its most likely going to be ignored by the majority of forum users considering the subject matter of the site. Pursue it with civility....one thing my HS ancient history teacher taught me is that plagiarism is not acceptable and not a proper way to expand on ideas.

I think you may be right on this one.Be polite...DAMN!

I wish you weren't so sensible...

Peace

Well Im pretty sure this falls under this following paragraph I found in the ToS:

6) Use Of Content; Copyright. All content created by Users of TAN website are governed by an "Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 3.0 Unported" Creative Commons Deed (hereinafter "Creative Commons License"). Users can share, distribute, copy, and transmit the work Users find on TAN websites provided Users provide proper attribution that includes the name of the Website User, the name of the Website, and a link to the content thread. These usage rights do not apply to any commercial use of the content found on TAN websites, and such use is strictly prohibited without prior written authorization from TAN. These usage rights also do not apply to derivative works, and such use is strictly prohibited without prior written authorization from TAN. Each post of each thread contains a "copyright" link that clearly specifies the method in which the material may be shared, distributed, modified, or used.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

So From what I can see there is an implied copyright that anyone who is using the direct info must credit the website and the forum user. Though I could be misinterpreting that.....

Originally posted by topherman420
Well Im pretty sure this falls under this following paragraph I found in the ToS:

6) Use Of Content; Copyright. All content created by Users of TAN website are governed by an "Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 3.0 Unported" Creative Commons Deed (hereinafter "Creative Commons License"). Users can share, distribute, copy, and transmit the work Users find on TAN websites provided Users provide proper attribution that includes the name of the Website User, the name of the Website, and a link to the content thread. These usage rights do not apply to any commercial use of the content found on TAN websites, and such use is strictly prohibited without prior written authorization from TAN. These usage rights also do not apply to derivative works, and such use is strictly prohibited without prior written authorization from TAN. Each post of each thread contains a "copyright" link that clearly specifies the method in which the material may be shared, distributed, modified, or used.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

So From what I can see there is an implied copyright that anyone who is using the direct info must credit the website and the forum user. Though I could be misinterpreting that.....

edit on 6-11-2011 by topherman420 because: (no reason given)

That's what I was looking for, thanks.

As I mentioned, I am not going to get all righteous on it. Just want to get some member feed back and that's the path I'll take. If the general consensus is to just leave it alone, so be it.

Peace

To update as to what action I took, I sent the user a private message:

Although I do appreciate that you found my thread useful, I would ask that you at least credit the author (me) and the site it was originally posted on: www.abovetopsecret.com...

I am sending this privately and not contacting the site Admin here so as to give you the benefit of doubt in that it may have been sent to you and you in turn re-posted without knowledge of its origin. Thank you, jude11

reply to post by jude11

I think you will find that ATS admin will be willing to help you on this, because it affects their copy rights as well as yours.
Try contacting them if the private approach gets nowhere, and they might do their own approach..

reply to post by jude11


If your work is posted elsewhere, and NOT attributed back to ATS, that is the problem.
Just as if you posted stuff here, ATS stuff posted elsewhere needs to be sourced.

I'm not sure what can be done about the email issue, though....let me see what I can find out

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
reply to post by jude11

 

If your work is posted elsewhere, and NOT attributed back to ATS, that is the problem.
Just as if you posted stuff here, ATS stuff posted elsewhere needs to be sourced.

I'm not sure what can be done about the email issue, though....let me see what I can find out

Thanks for that.

I'm hoping that it is taken care of by the poster before going any further but who knows.

Peace

Originally posted by jude11

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I would contact a mod here and ask them what to do.

I think a Mod will chime in here somewhere.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting my knickers in a twist about it. Just curious as to what members and/or a Mod would do and that's where I'll go.

It's so easy to ask permission of the author as that's what I do myself, so it's what I would expect of others I guess.

Peace

edit on 6-11-2011 by jude11 because: (no reason given)

I'd think I'd be common courtesy by now on the interwebs to link sources. I mean, gosh, everything is so interconnected, if it's something new on Yahoo, or MSN, or email, I'll always link back. That's me. You are due for a source link, unless plagiarism is de-facto there, then you are screwed. Hopefully you solve it using civil methods, and now I'm interested in the results. Let us know how it works out. Post a link of the solution.

Originally posted by jude11
To update as to what action I took, I sent the user a private message:

Although I do appreciate that you found my thread useful, I would ask that you at least credit the author (me) and the site it was originally posted on: www.abovetopsecret.com...

I am sending this privately and not contacting the site Admin here so as to give you the benefit of doubt in that it may have been sent to you and you in turn re-posted without knowledge of its origin. Thank you, jude11

Excellent wording. Civil, precise, and encompassing all possibilities. Very succinct, and it should work. If they post the source, problem solved. If there is negative feedback, contact the admin.

Originally posted by Druid42

Originally posted by jude11

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I would contact a mod here and ask them what to do.

I think a Mod will chime in here somewhere.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting my knickers in a twist about it. Just curious as to what members and/or a Mod would do and that's where I'll go.

It's so easy to ask permission of the author as that's what I do myself, so it's what I would expect of others I guess.

Peace

edit on 6-11-2011 by jude11 because: (no reason given)

I'd think I'd be common courtesy by now on the interwebs to link sources. I mean, gosh, everything is so interconnected, if it's something new on Yahoo, or MSN, or email, I'll always link back. That's me. You are due for a source link, unless plagiarism is de-facto there, then you are screwed. Hopefully you solve it using civil methods, and now I'm interested in the results. Let us know how it works out. Post a link of the solution.

Will do.

As mentioned, I opted to give the benefit of the doubt to the poster by sending a private nudge. I'll post back on what transpires.

Thanks,

Jude11

I come across this all the time - I am
a photographer, I sign my work but others
use it on their websites. I use to send an
email to the person thanking them for
taking interest in my photo but would
appreciate it if they would ask next time.
In this case it is the written word - your thread
on ATS. I would leave it alone with the
exception of sending them an email letting
them know you saw your thread there
and would appreciate it if they removed it
or gave you credit for it. Anything else
above and beyond this is a great deal of
trouble to deal with - copyright laws equals
attorneys and then the chances of winning
anything is pretty slim - this is if it is done on
the internet. If it was done from your home or
car its called theft. Strange, huh.

Originally posted by crazydaisy
I come across this all the time - I am
a photographer, I sign my work but others
use it on their websites. I use to send an
email to the person thanking them for
taking interest in my photo but would
appreciate it if they would ask next time.
In this case it is the written word - your thread
on ATS. I would leave it alone with the
exception of sending them an email letting
them know you saw your thread there
and would appreciate it if they removed it
or gave you credit for it. Anything else
above and beyond this is a great deal of
trouble to deal with - copyright laws equals
attorneys and then the chances of winning
anything is pretty slim - this is if it is done on
the internet. If it was done from your home or
car its called theft. Strange, huh.

Great minds think alike!

Exactly the approach I took.

Here is what I sent thru their private messaging:

"Although I do appreciate that you found my thread useful, I would ask that you at least credit the author (me) and the site it was originally posted on: www.abovetopsecret.com...

I am sending this privately and not contacting the site Admin here so as to give you the benefit of doubt in that it may have been sent to you, and you in turn re-posted without knowledge of its origin. Thank you, jude11


Peace

So here is my latest action. I confirmed that the poster logged in and out without responding to my original request to give credit to the author and link to the source. (ATS)

My next step was to post on the thread:

"Although I do appreciate that you found my thread useful, I would ask that you at least credit the author (me) and the site it was originally posted on: abovetopsecret.com... Instead of stealing and posting as your own.

I sent this privately at first and did not contact the site Admin so as to give you the benefit of doubt in that it may have been sent to you, and in turn you re-posted without knowledge of its origin.

Seeing that you have decided not to respond to my request, I will ask that you either give credit to the author and the original site on which it was posted or remove this thread completely."
Thank you,

Jude11

Author

Peace

Let me know if they don't comply, I'll send a DMCA Notification to the site owner. They absolutely must credit you, ATS, and provide a link back to your original post. They are also only supposed to use a snippet (10% or less) of your original work.

Springer...