Avoiding Plagiarism

Interbane · Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:05 pm

"Plagiarism occurs when one writer takes the exact text or the specific ideas of another writer and passes them off as original work. Plagiarism is the worst accusation that can be made about a writer, and one that has ended professional writing careers. Charges of lifting text verbatim from academic or research texts are widespread, but some fiction authors have also been accused of plagiarizing novels. Not all plagiarism, however, is intentionally or consciously done. There are some concrete steps you can take to avoid plagiarism when writing a novel.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions

1
Make plot and outline notes. An author strives to be fresh and original at all times, but in reality this is not possible. All literature owes something, in terms of style or content, to earlier fiction. There is no reason that your new novel can't show the recognizable influence of other writers. When you've finished recording the major plot points and outline notes, do some research on the Internet to see what turns up. Search under keywords taken from the plot and outline notes.

2
Take a break and proofread the text again. Honesty is your only resource. When you write, you may find yourself unconsciously imitating a passage in fiction that you have read and admired in the past. To help in detecting this, proofread your text a few days after writing, with a fresh eye for unconscious plagiarism. If something sounds overly familiar, check a few plot summary texts and input key phrases on the Internet.

3
Join an authors' group. Share your manuscript with other writers in the group. Someone will usually catch a borrowed plotline or text.

4
Check your work carefully using plagiarism software. Even if you plagiarize unintentionally, others may not care why it happened. Your good reputation is all you have. Go the extra mile and make sure that your work doesn't pirate that of other writers by using the free online plagiarism tests listed in Resources. Many colleges and universities also have online portals to input sample text. Take the time to test any passage that seems overly familiar, or that others have suggested may derive from other sources."

From: How to Avoid Plagiarism When Writing a Novel | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4867338_avoid-p ... z1a9Pr57Nx

Now, I have other questions but couldn't find the answers, perhaps someone can answer. Let's say I want to make a secondary reference to something in pop culture. For example, a character within my story likes to quote Dirty Harry, as a joke. Technically, I'm using a quote in my book from a movie. Or, perhaps the main character makes references to Lord of the Rings as a joke about his new wedding ring.

My question is; where do I find good copyright rules that only apply to novelists? I've googled a few key phrases but can't find a lead. I know that past a certain date, a work of art becomes public domain if it meets some unknown(to me) criteria. Classical music in commercials for example. At what point and under what conditions do you need to either A) reference a source or B) pay reimbursement to the source.

Robert Tulip · Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:25 pm

Ah sweet irony. Allusion is not plagiarism. TS Eliot lifted continually, hiding his references as a cryptic game. I assume the writer of "How to Avoid Plagiarism When Writing a Novel" has paid royalties to Jesus Christ for his unattributed quotation 'go the extra mile'.

johnson1010 · Sat Oct 08, 2011 8:52 am

In the later books of the dark tower, i was actually getting pretty fed up with King's constant references to pop culture. I understand he was leaving bread crumbs for us to deduce the relationship between the world of the gunslinger and our world, but it was still tedious.

For instance, in Wolves of the Calla, the band of raiders were Dr. Doom robot duplicates.

and he deliberately named them so.

Later in the book they use a kind of flachette grenade which King points out looks exactly like the golden snitch of Harry Potter Quidich games.

I am not sure what hoops he had to jump to make that happen, but they weren't used as though they actually were the things they looked like.

So, King didn't appropriate Marvel's property and have the read Dr. Doom show up, he just used the likeness. I think that has bearing on whether you can use them, but i do not know authoratatively.

It seems more pains are taken in movies to avoid name dropping, or using similar images. I remember a production story about the show Supernatural, where one of the characters was meant to fight his worst nightmare, and it was originally set out to be Jason from Friday the 13th.

Even though this wasn't meant to be in the continuity of the Friday the 13th franchise, they had legal hurdles to clear before they could get it going, and in the long run production schedule made them leave the idea behind.

It does bear a bit more research.

President Camacho · Sat Oct 08, 2011 9:16 am

I just read Eco's The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana and that book is packed with quotes from all types of media. Nearly the entire book is stolen material. The lead character has lost some of his memories while others are photographic and so he just goes around quoting (without saying who said such and such)and reciting pieces of literature constantly but without reference on each page! How is this possible without charges of plagiary? Is it because it's packaged differently and only a portion of the work is used?

johnson1010 · Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:46 am

Here's a good place to start for copyright info.

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_a ... index.html

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_a ... 9-c.html#1

I have worked for public television in the past and much of that content is generated by people who blatantly steal copyrighted material to supplement their own lame attempts to generate material.

I'm looking at you "intimacy with jesus".

The basic premise goes that you can use portions of another's work when the delivery produces a different effect than the original.

So, you could copy lines from a famous book if they are used in different context by different characters to illicit different reactions.

If on the other hand you just have a superman cameo where he shows up and takes care of your problem for you, then you have used somebody else's intellectual material without permission.

It doesn't sound like it would be, but this site on copyright is pretty interesting reading.

johnson1010 · Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:56 am

Take my own use of other's work in the image above.

First, it is a replica of the last supper. If DaVinci were alive and vindictive, he might call this a copyright infringement.

What protects me is that this is a work of parody. The use of Superman in the far right is an obvious borrowing of somebody elses intellectual material, but the use to which he is being applied differs substantially from their use. It is used to illustrate an original idea. It is used in parody of the idea of both gods and modern superhero/mythic hero legend. And it does not detract from DC's ability to make money with that property.

What could get me in trouble here is if this was an illustration from a new comic book i was starting, called "Superman and the God-friends", in which i started to produce comics where superman and other gods go around do-gooding and fighting evil together.

In that case, i have just stolen one of DC's properties for use in my own competing book with the express purpose of using the investment they have put into that property over the decades to increase my own sales in direct competion with the work they are doing with the same property.

Another recent example which hits home to me is a fan creating an encyclopedia of Harry potter. In it they quote extensively from the Harry Potter books but also produce their own tome of knowledge about that world.

Rowling sued and won because it was in competiton with her own works, or would have been competiton if she (inevitably) creates or authorizes her own version of the Harry Potter encyclopedia where the very same topics would be explored.

johnson1010 · Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:58 am

Many you-tube videos get away with using clips from television, or the speaches of political talking heads and evangelicals under the guise of education or parody.

Avid Reader · Sun Oct 09, 2011 7:57 am

This is all great information, but one thing that is not addressed (at least directly) is using material that is in the public domain. I did a little research on the subject, but the available information seems confusing, not only from the standpoint of what can be used and how, but in relation to exactly what works can be considered public domain (this is because the copyright laws differ in various countries). If anyone can offer advice in this area, I would appreciate hearing it.

johnson1010 · Tue Oct 11, 2011 2:59 pm

For the US crowd.

Check it out, Avid Reader.

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_a ... index.html

follow yon links.

Avid Reader · Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:33 pm


	johnson1010 wrote: For the US crowd. Check it out, Avid Reader. http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_a ... index.html follow yon links.

Thanks. I've been there, but the opening phrase sort of says it all for me: "As a general rule ..." The rest is supposed to be very informative, but it's still pretty confusing to me. Maybe it's just that I am too dumb to grasp it all. Anyway, I appreciate the effort.

kelstan · Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:07 pm

Visit the US Copyright Office at www.copyright.gov The FAQ is pretty easy to understand. Your best bet is to try to get permission for use.

Avid Reader · Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:12 pm


	kelstan wrote: Visit the US Copyright Office at http://www.copyright.gov The FAQ is pretty easy to understand. Your best bet is to try to get permission for use.

Been there, done that, still don't get all the nuances. Still, thanks for the post.

kelstan · Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:18 pm

My company was involved in a patent infringemnt lawsuit a few years ago - we shelled out 40 grand to buy the patent, because it was cheaper than dealing with the lawsuit. If you intend to use ANYTHING that might be questionable, try to get permission.

Suzanne · Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:51 am

Hello Avid Reader:

Have you ever visited the site: "Project Gutenberg"? All the books offered on this site are considered public domain and are free. The ways you can use these public domain books are explained in great detail on this site. It may be useful.


	Quote: Public Domain Books These books are in the public domain in the United States and everybody — including Project Gutenberg and you — may read and distribute them. If you don't live in the United States you'll have to check the laws of the country you live in before downloading and distributing our ebooks. A Project Gutenberg ebook is made out of two parts: the public domain book and the non public domain Project Gutenberg trademark and license. If you strip the Project Gutenberg license and all references to Project Gutenberg from the ebook, you are left with a public domain ebook. You can do anything you want with that

http://www.gutenberg.org/

A few years ago there was a trend by some writers to take a public domain novel, such as "Sense and Sensibility" and change a few words, add a new component, such as sea monsters and produce a new novel called, "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters". Now these writers, and there were a few, always used the original author along with themselves even though they may not have been required to. If the name Jane Austen is on the cover of a new book, people will buy.

Does anyone want to join me in writing a novel with Dickens, "Great ExSPLATations" or maybe "David COVENfield"!

R. LeBeaux · Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:52 pm


	Suzanne wrote: Does anyone want to join me in writing a novel with Dickens, "Great ExSPLATations" or maybe "David COVENfield"!

Too late . . .

Forum rules

Avoiding Plagiarism Tweet This Topic

Who is online

Chat Room Always Open!