Plagiarisers of the World Ignite?
First rate bloggers like Guido or Iain Dale complain, and rightfully so, about the newspapers, radio and TV ripping off their original material for their own stories. A couple of years ago a radio programme took some things that I had written and used it - unashamedly - without any credit. I was not angry, just saddened. As I trawl around reading blogs I'm increasingly aware of people picking up on other people's stories and presenting them in a slight rearranged form as their own. Now there's nothing to stop people doing this, but I just knock the plagiarisers off my list of blogs to look at. Maybe that's why newspaper circulation continues to drift ever downwards.
9 comments:
This is a problem. It is important, when quoting someone else's material, to cite is as such. That's just common courtesy--not to mention the law. And most people don't mind a bit as long as you cite them and give them a little plug in the process.
Another example of the erosion of courtesy and ethics in daily life.
A friend of mine, who was a WWII POW, had his book used by a major historian as a main source for a chapter in the historian's book. The historian never bothered to ask, never attempted to contact the POW, and when the POW contacted him, promised to send him a book---but never did. Sad.
I think the national media assume that anything published on the web is open source public material and they don't need to credit it as they would a published author.
I have sent stories from my blog to The Times diary and been paid for it. Maybe that's what these guys should do to take control of their editorial content. Journalists are used to paying a tip off fee, but using a blog instead to publish some juicy gossip means Iain et al are selling themselves short.
It's so easy to give a link or credit. Most of my posts are sparked off by an article or a blog post and I wouldn't dream of not recognising the original But I guess the plagiarisers plagiarise because they choose too and not because linking is difficult.
Passing them by in future is a good response.
I agree with Calum.
Ellee, you are right, that blogs are kind of a gray area. Still, fair is fair and any time you 'lift' someone else's words without attribution it is plagiarism.
Probably best to make sure you have a © copyright notice of all content material on the home page of your site. That way they don't have a leg to stand on and you're well within your rights to send them an invoice should they use your material. Now, whether they pay that invoice is another kettle of fish . . .
Calum is right and we stay alive by those linking to us. Bloggers generally do it with hat tips, so why can't the MSM? This is disrespect.
As you may have noticed I 'outed' Jamie Oliver on my blog...
Hels the press would love that story
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