Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Plagiarism makes me a bit cranky.

As you may have noticed, I've posted a Copyscape warning on my blog. Unfortunately, I have been forced to do so.

There are serious legal and ethical ramifications for those who plagiarize. Plagiarism is different from linking to a post you like or to referencing another blogger. When a blogger links to something I've written, I am flattered. When a blogger copies everything I've written and claims it as their own material, I'm not so flattered.

Plagiarism in the blogosphere involves cutting and pasting all or part of another blogger's material, posting it on your blog with no reference to the original author, thereby claiming the material as your own.

It is illegal. It is serious.

If you're a blogger, beware of those who plagiarize. Several bloggers are talking about this issue right now.

If you are a reader and/or blogger who finds a post you would like to share, please link to the original author.

Blogging is fun. Most of us blog to share our lives and maybe even share some thought-provoking ideas. The blog community is almost always friendly, but when plagiarism is involved, well, that's no fun at all.

More on this topic in a later post.

4 comments:

Roxanne said...

Uh-oh. .. sounds like you've had a run-in with it. I need to talk to you about how to get the copyscape button on my blog. . .not that anyone would copy it, but still. :) (I've never been successful with the whole buttons thing on blogs.)

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

Well, I don't think anyone has copied me. What does that say about my blog???

Susanne said...

Wow, how did you ever find out before you had copyscape? Frustrating, I feel for ya!

kris said...

Wow, really? Why do they blog then if not to share their own stories and experiences? Strange! No one would copy anything of mine either girls, so I'm not worried! ;) Waiting to hear more about this!