My $0.02 : Plagiarism

There's a bit of a storm among the Twizards lately, and it's understandable. It doesn't affect me, directly (that I'm aware of), but still evokes the need for me to state my position on it.

Copy/Paste: Cute for Twins, ugly for bloggers

Plagiarism: The re-posting of another's content without permission, quotation, or link-back referencing. A definite "No-no" among bloggers, in general, and in the W101 blogosphere, especially.

I've only had to deal with this once, long ago, when a blogger mistakenly took one of my pics for the "Great Gobbler Giveaway" as KI stock art. (A bit of a compliment, actually). Once that blogger discovered it was a HiaG "original" derivitave work, they were quick to edit their blog with an attribution link. "no harm, no foul", there.

Not so, currently, where I have witnessed point-blank copy/paste of a Community Leader's recent post, (one of several examples, I've been told). I'm not here to point out the perpetrator(s) nor the victim(s), merely to highlight the action, itself.

Any long-time blogger can tell you that "content creation" is the hardest part of blogging, really. When you're first starting out, your head is swimming with all the ideas of things you're going to write about. Over time, that pool of inspiration gets depleted, and has to be replenished. Ever-changing conditions help keep "ideas fresh", (such as the explosion of content with WinterTusk), and there's plenty of room for everyone to write their views. The idea that someone would routinely cut/paste someone else's content (KI press releases, excepted), is just plain wrong, and to me, a violation of Oath Keeping. W101 bloggers who persist in taking the "easy road" in blogging will fast find out they've lost their seat on the Community Bus.

Did a fellow blogger write something you liked? Exellent! You want to forward it, on your blog? Quote, and attribute it:

Fallon Shadowblade knows how it's done.

Why, DoaW had a "field day" with the "Mystery Composer tRick-roll", and Fallon Shadowblade followed every proper step (Thanks, Fallon!). Everybody wins, everybody is happy. (And I promise, no more 'tRick-rolls', for the rest of 2011). So, as you can see from this example, even reporting another's blogger's posts can be content, itself, if done properly.

Keeping in mind that a "truly, truly original idea" is about as rare as Unicorns (outside The Spir@l ), there are as many ways to "say" the same thing as there are people to say them. That being said, pasting someone else's words in your blog, without attribution, is akin to saying "I have no ability to speak for myself". If that's truly the case, perhaps it's time to re-examine why you want to be a blogger.

"Where have I seen this before?"

Be Original, and Be Well.