Comments on: Plagiarism Is a Fancy Word for Stealing

By: John Peragine

John Peragine — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 16:01:02 +0000

In reply to dholcomb1. Great info Denise! Thank you so much for sharing that . It happens more often than people realize !

By: dholcomb1

dholcomb1 — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 05:49:31 +0000

Copy-Paste-Cris *allegedly* lied and was blaming ghost writers, had won at least one award, and she was plagiarizing major bestselling authors. It was blatant and mass plagiarism--close to 100 authors. Readers told Courtney Milan, she went public, then other authors started checking their works.

And, it wasn't the first time it had happened to Nora--the other time was with Janet Dailey.

https://fallintothestory.com/plagiarism-then-and-now/

If you republish a work you had with another publisher, always be sure to have a reversion of rights in writing--make sure the reversion covers all bases, too, if needed. Audio rights are tricky.

Check your contracts. You can sometimes publish parts of a book which didn't make the final edit--the contract usually covers the final edit which goes to print. So that scene you cut can probably be posted on a blog.

Know your IP and how it's protected as far as characters, settings, and series. Meaning: you and your friend can both have a Jane Doe living in Small Town USA, but there can be a point of crossing the line. That's where having a book bible comes in handy. This happened to a friend and it was settled with the publisher having the IP in the other person's book changed so there was no question. It had been an accidental thing, but it's something to aware of. It was found by a reader.

Probably the best known case of song copyrights was "Happy Birthday." That's why all the restaurants came up with cute birthday rituals. For years, even through multiple publishing buyouts, "Happy Birthday" was protected by copyright and the publisher would fine people for using the song. A judge finally ruled against Warner Chappell, and in 2016, the song became part of the public domain. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/warner-music-pays-14-million-863120

denise

By: John Peragine

John Peragine — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 01:59:22 +0000

In reply to Linda Ruggeri. Book pirating happens a lot in other countries as well. It is pretty common- although I don’t believe it is cultural - it is just stealing for profit.

By: Terry Odell

Terry Odell — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 19:23:36 +0000

In reply to John Peragine. I think those authors in question would never have availed themselves of that button, and I don't think it would work for a book you were reading that 'sounded familiar'. I believe it was readers who notified the authors that they thought something was fishy in the plagiarized books they were reading. And sorry, I can't remember the program that had that feature, so I don't know if it's available.

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 16:18:29 +0000

I use Copyscape for every article I write, but I absolutely hadn't considered it for books. SO smart!!

By: Linda Ruggeri

Linda Ruggeri — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 15:58:34 +0000

Great piece John! I'd like to chime in that from a cultural perspective, what we consider plagiarism, in other countries sometimes isn't. I've had to learn the cultural nuances, and how to explain them to multilingual authors who are looking to publish in the US, and have used passages from another book or publication in their own work w/o citing the original source. As an editor, a lot of tact has to be used here because you don't want to offend your client (who doesn't know better), but instead educate them so they are not set up for failure in the future. In some countries borrowing other people's words is sometimes considered a sign of admiration/respect for them (even if you don't mention who they are), and in other countries there are no laws that protect authors against plagiarism and it blatantly occurs with no recourse.We are lucky to have laws in place that protect our work, but as writers (or editors) knowing the different types of plagiarism that exist and how to avoid it is key. As is knowing how to tactfully inform someone else why and how they are committing plagiarism and how they can (and should) fix it.

By: John Peragine

John Peragine — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 14:46:23 +0000

In reply to ecellenb. Songs are a common misstep.Copyright owners and organizations like BMI don't play around. I remember sitting in a coffee shop in a tiny little town in North Carolina. Population was like 1,000. The coffee shop I think had three tables. A rep from BMI walked in, and asked the owner if they had a license to play the radio in the shop. They threatened to fine them thousands of dollars if they did not shut it off or get a license. They said, they send in agents to places like that all the time- uncover. That coffee shop was silent from then on. Not worth the risk!

By: John Peragine

John Peragine — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 14:40:29 +0000

In reply to Terry Odell. I think every writer should have that button!!!

By: John Peragine

John Peragine — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 14:39:02 +0000

In reply to Miss Blue. Thank you Miss Blue!

By: ecellenb

ecellenb — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 14:08:47 +0000

For my WIP I'd planned to include a few songs that looked to be within the public domain. My editor suggested I consider removing the songs because they might not really be legal to use. I removed the lyrics and just mentioned the titles, not copyrightable, and a bit of what one of the three was about. I'm so glad I did! Curiosity caused me to do more digging. Not all of the songs were in the public domain although by year of publishing they looked clear. Better to be safe than sorry.