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Who REALLY cares?
A few months ago one of the "writers" on this site asked if anyone minded if he rewrote their stories and published them under his name.
I stated flatly I didn't want him to go near mine and to my knowledge he hasn't. Of course I don't read his stories all that often so . . . when a tree falls in the forest????
However -- a whole gaggle of authors told him they didn't mind at all if he doctored their stories. To a confused person what sort of license did that provide for "rewriting"?
I've asked a couple of authors if they would mind if I rewrote their stories and then did, giving them a different perspective. Those authors have read the rewrites and were okay with the process, especially since I told everyone at the top of the story what I had done.
If a confused person watched that process and decided it would be okay to cut and paste passages from other stories, am I at least partially to blame for showing a bad example?
I'm not being a character witness for anyone and will stay out of the judgment business except to say "NOTHING is ever black and white."
Several of my favorite authors have been accused of plagiarism: Stephen Ambrose, Rowling, and that Shakespeare guy. Of course in Shakespeare's day they had another word for plagiarism -- they called it "writing".
Aren't a few of us taking ourselves a bit too seriously?
Jill
Comments
In popular music
don't they call it remix?
Even the Bible is plagiarism. Who are we to grumble?
Angharad
Angharad
Well...
Amenemope son of Kanakht, has had a plagiarism suit going for well on three thousand years, but the celestial courts, as is well known, are exceedingly slow in their deliberations:
I believe he is represented in pro per, and we all know that this tends to slow things down.
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Remixing
Not just in music - that's the Creative Commons term for making derivatives of your work.
You may have noticed this little image appearing in the title section of my attempts at fiction:
It's known in shorthand as CC-BY (Creative Commons Attribution License) and translates as:
There are five other CC licenses available - that's the most free. However, unlike public domain, the author retains full copyright and derivatives must attribute the original author, while also making it clear the original author doesn't endorse or authorise the derivative work.
-oOo-
In terms of writing, without a CC license, public domain notice or explicit permission from the author, if you are quoting chunks of their work, it's probably a good idea to (a) attribute them anyway, and (b) if you're quoting big chunks (e.g. entire paragraphs), it's probably a good idea to somehow distinguish between original and borrowed content.
-oOo-
Needless to say, a lot of remixing (often without attribution) has happened in history. Cinderella's probably one of the most famous, with the earliest known version originating in China. Will Shakespeare borrowed parts of various Greek plays to form the basis of his, and several of his plays have in turn been remixed into other plays (Romeo and Juliet being one of the better known - inspiring West Side Story and [heaven forbid] a CGI comedy featuring garden gnomes). Ovid's Pygmalion (which in itself may have been inspired by various Greek myths) inspired numerous plays, including one by W. S. Gilbert (of Savoy Opera fame) in which the statue decided she was happier as a statue and reverted 24hrs later (!), and of course a (then) contemporary very loose adaptation by George Bernard Shaw, which in itself was adapted into a musical film called "My Fair Lady".
-oOo-
And in music, using other people's tunes isn't just a contemporary phenomenon. You don't have to search far to find composers borrowing or adapting the works of others, or even pop artists borrowing or adapting classical tunes. Of which, the chord sequence forming the basis of the classical world's most famous one-hit wonder has been reused over and over and over and over again.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Thank you for the information in your comment
I intend to write a few stories that have borrowed sections of text, characters and or plots used by other authors, I've been wondering how and to what degree to attribute to them, or for that mater if I could even do so. One such story is Tom Swift and the Morphic Adaption Unit which I'll be building in the near future.
I take myself seriously.
I have allowed for very few exceptions for people to use my work. I made the wishing blanket open for anyone to use the device - which nobody has. And I allowed someone to continue the Christmas Diary after the point when I was done with it. They did that with my permission, so I was flattered.
However, several years ago, someone re-wrote one of my stories "How Life Can Change" without my permission and without giving me credit. I hate to think I'm shallow, but it still pisses me off. They stole it and to make matters worst, I read it and thought that perhaps I inadvertently plagiarized because the story was so similar. Then to add insult on top of injury, I had to read people praise this thief for their great story and even had someone email me telling me that I was a poor imitator.
Now, if someone wants to use a device or a theme from one of my stories, I would carefully consider it. However there are a few things that I would not allow to be touched.
I would never allow the God Bless the Child series to be tampered with. I would probably raise holy hell if I saw it plagiarized. Why? Because I put a lot of work into it, but also my soul. I think if someone wants to borrow, have the decency to ask. And to any author that gives blanket permission to use their materials, then you get what you deserve.
K.T. Leone
My fiction feels more real than reality
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
A Sad Commentary On Life ...
It is indeed sad that people here place such value on their work that they are willing to go to drama over a bit if food stealing.
For me, BCTS was a wonderfully friendly place to work out my issues, to try to improve my writing skills, and to read great fiction. I doubt that I will ever be paid for my work and I do not have the life force to fight it out with people who steal my ideas and sell them.
Some of the old writers in the pre-PC epoch, used to exchange story devices all the time, and as long as no one got too upset, yeah what ever. I actually morn the days when I could walk down to the store and buy a nice paperback book for $2 to read for the week end. And, at the end of it, I had some great cover art, and a book to molder away on my shelves.
Now the books I read simply molder away in my dying brain and so much of what I read, I can't even remember the next day. It is a shame and I feel that the advent of the evil wizzards Microsoft and Apple have made the world a poorer and less personable place.
Gwendolyn
Oh for Gosh Sakes FM!!!!!
My friend, the concert pianist will compose new versions of classic hymns. I am not sure, but I think that you can only copyright your version of classics.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
oh jesus...
i'm going to be very, very sick.
What borders on stupidity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
hmmm...
I don't believe I know that hymn...
Welcome to my world...
Jim Reeves, 1964! Ironic, ain't it?
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
Love, Andrea Lena
Surely It's About Permission
If Angela Rasch (for example) approached me and asked if she could take one of my stories and put a different spin on it or take it to somewhere new I would be very flattered (never gonna happen BTW) and I am sure I would agree. I am also certain that she would give me the opportunity to view the finished product before posting it and ask if I approved. There would also be an attribution at the top of the story to tell readers of its derivation.
Whereupon my heart would swell with pride.
That is a whole different kettle of fish to waking up one morning and going to BCTS or FM and finding that one of your stories has suddenly appeared under someone else's byline with large chunks of your own prose copied verbatim along with articles from Wikipedia.
Then I would be seriously annoyed, regardless of the quality of the product.
Read Stanman's take on what is and is not fair game for copying in his comment here and I am sure you will get the point,
Joanne